Jon Worth tried to cross all internal EU borders by train. His conclusion: EU transport policy loves high-speed trains – at the expense of everyday commuters’ hardships.
On a hot Sunday afternoon in late July, on the bridge over the Danube that runs from Calafat, Romania, to Vidin, Bulgaria, Jon Worth asked himself the inevitable question: what exactly am I doing here? He missed the train, took a taxi, then blew out the tire on the folding bike he always carried with him on his months of traveling around Europe. There are funnier summer experiences than the one the 42-year-old Briton had as part of his US Borders Rail Tour.
It all started during the pandemic, Worth told Die Presse. The communications consultant and pro-EU activist, who used to campaign for British Labor politicians, campaigned against Brexit, then moved to Berlin and joined the German Greens, was impressed by the former Liberal MP’s Missing Links report Dutchman Michiel Scheffer 2017 in hand. He listed 15 intra-European rail links that could be revived at low cost. “My original idea was to drive around these 15 places and see them,” says Worth. But he quickly realized as he planned his trip: “A good half of the lines on this list are hopelessly lost.” That’s how the idea for the EU Borders Rail Tour came about, explains Worth: “I wanted to travel all the internal trains at the EU borders by train.”