Europe's off the Rails | VPRO Documentary

The train is the perfect metaphor for today's Europe: it doesn't quite make sense. The borders have been removed, the network is in place, and yet it often proves to be an absurd undertaking to cross Europe by train. VPRO Documentary boards the train with various train dreamers and doers who want to change the system, to make sure that Europe really does fit.
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[@fischX]

There should be one train from Athens to Lisbon just to show of the magnitude of issues and possibilities of European train integration.

[@Arltratlo]

the bribes you have to pay in Greece and the Balkan countries would be really high!

[@RF31Productions]

I live in France and the statements about our railways doing their own thing is completely true. The only reason we're bringing back night trains here is because of environmental reasons, nothing to do with uniting Europe. We have been moving forward these past few years with our domestic sleepers but most of them are a joke. Bad train times, long waits at stations, no sleeping cars only couchettes and seats... Not to mention cancellations due to the long backlog of railway works, resulting in a bus being put in the trains place. Some international night trains in eastern Europe are shorter in terms of time than french domestic sleepers. We sent the coaches to rot just to bring them back and renovate them. So much potential but a lot has to be done, hopefully we'll continue to move forward this decade.

[@shirshenduroy]

Even connections to other countries are so poor and overly priced. But when it works, its the best mode of transport. That is why it is so frustrating!

[@jeffreywenger281]

This is shocking. In 1993, I had a Eurorail pass and traveled all across Europe for the entire summer, almost exclusively on international night trains, from Spain to Poland. It was easy! This was when each country had its own currency, before English had taken over, and included a trip though East Germany before it had really been integrated, and a trip across Czechoslovakia, right as it was splitting up. There didn't seem to be any coordination problems then! What on earth happened?

[@RIZFERD]

Nothing last forever. And Karma Never Sleeps. Now Asia is leading especially China and Indonesia. @sashagallaway1945 Are you even in China and Indonesia. I am a complete multiracial born Indonesia, fluent multilingual, living around the world all alone since childhood including in The Netherlands till end 2010. Real rich will never colonize others and even world map is so inaccurate since Mercator projection 1569 belittling Indonesia the world's richest natural resources in reality Indonesia is so huge even Jakarta is 6 times size of very poor Paris Europe's largest city. Western world, Middle East and surroundings including Japan are eternal criminals. Including stealing Australia, Madagascar, etc from Indonesia. Please people do your research instead of stuck inside your tiny box your entire life and only commenting for the sake of commenting but your life experience and brains are empty. Nothing surprising very poor western world.

[@jeffreywenger281]

@@RIZFERD I hope Eurorail passes still exist! Night trains were what everyone did back then to save the cost of a hotel. I traveled all across Europe all summer long for so little money and it was such an awesome experience. Picked the next city to go to on a whim, no reservations for a hostel, which were shared with other kids traveling around, or even went with someone we would meet at the train station who had a room to rent in their apartment nearby. I even ran out of cash just before heading home and slept my last night in a park in Belgium.

[@raileon]

My argument is: Privatisation happened. Back then, most states had one national operator, who ran the tracks and the trains. Due to EU rules, that had to be split up into separate infrastructure companies and train companies. The infrastructure company's interest and involvement ends at their border points. They often don't think internationally. Only the railway companies do, but since more and more high speed lines were built, they focused on that market and didn't invest in night train rolling stock or the old fashioned international trains. Renfe didn't care about trenhotel, their cash cow is the AVE. So when Covid came along, they canceled all trenhotel services. The video mentioned both the terrible connection to Lisbon and this tedious change of trains from Hendaye to Irun. Until covid, Renfe ran a direct night train from Lisbon to Hendaye. That has now gone. And since the French SNCF now started to compete against Renfe within Spain, Renfe now want to compete in France, both only on the profitable High speed routes such as Paris-Lyon or Madrid-Barcelona. Right now there is no chance in hell seeing those two companies cooperate to run an international night train again. And this is just one example. But it's not always as bad as with Renfe and Sncf. By the way: Yes, Eurail still exists! It's now just a lot more of a hassle to get (and pay for) the required seat reservations on high speed trains (which can go up to 30€ per train in extreme cases).

[@yaush_]

@@RIZFERDif you think china is ahead of Europe you are incredibly misinformed. Chinas high speed rail is incredibly under utilized and it was built as a vanity project to inflate the Chinese economy. In Europe it is actually used by people as a serious mode of transport. Sure Japan may be ahead but there’s nothing wrong with being #2. Additionally Japan doesn’t have (as many) coordination problems because it’s one country.

[@basstrip73]

​@@yaush_China built 40k of highspeed rail lines in 20 years, something that Europe in its present state could never do. As for Chinese HSR being an underused vanity project this is just sour grapes from someone obsessed with Europe being #1 and is not based on reality.

[@GegoXaren]

This makes my blood boil! Public transport via rail and buss should have lower taxes than bloody aeroplanes. There needs to be more done to fix this. New laws!

[@ralphzechendorf1644]

About 20-25 years ago, from Brussels you could take night trains to Munich, Vienna, Berlin, Zurich, Milano, Rome, Warsaw, Minsk and Moscow. Now all we have is Berlin, Munich and Vienna. And last time i used it, the train from Berlin/Vienna didn't reach Brussels, it had to stop in Aachen due to works, and even arrived there nearly 5 hours late. (and we almost missed it because it departed 40 minutes early without any warning).

[@Arltratlo]

i can jump on a local train, 3 stations down, i hit high speed train to central Switzerland...1000km from here!

[@O530CarrisPT_C2]

Portugal's train transportation is similar to what the U.S. has in cross-border lines - Amtrak has only the Maple Tree New York to Toronto and the Adirondack to Montreal. Portugal has the Celta from Porto to Vigo. All slow and expensive.

[@unconventionalideas5683]

In the US, this is easier because we only have to talk with Mexico and Canada, and actually, the various companies involved recognized this years ago and sorted everything out years ago. All the crash impact standards, tunnel sizes, corner radii, and the like are similar and broadly compatible. However, we did manage to screw up the signaling systems, but that is likely to be rectified with new legislation requiring positive train control anyway. So, we are much closer to international, transcontinental travel here than in most of Europe.

[@TomNook.]

So thats how EU politicians handle dissent.... Listen, but not listen 😭

[@Arltratlo]

imagine in the UK, they stopped building a high speed railroad, because people in the North of the UK would benefit from it... so they rather build in the south of the UK... because the people there would keep voting for the Tories!

[@cx5307]

I have been traveling a lot through Europe by train and I really liked I, but honestly its hard to recommend. The worst think is that you can’t book a single ticket from one place to another. For that reason I usually spend one night at any place I have to change from one operator too another.

[@macleod3111]

5:00 this is a bit off: a european rule prohibits sncf for sell, lease, or donate carriages that have asbestos. It's certainly not because sncf is individualistic.

[@guisas04]

That's strange, in Portugal CP bought old renfe (spanish national railway company) trains with asbestos a few years ago. After a renovation they're now called CP Arco.

[@richardschulz6797]

I live in South Africa and the state of our railway system makes these problems seem insignificant. I can however understand all of the concerns voiced in here. Its the same all over the world when it comes to politicians VS the populace - they don't really care. They are more focused on legacy or being promoted - not by leaving something which works for future generations and the improvement of their society.

[@val-schaeffer1117]

Shoes on the seats (mostly white / mediterranean youth), should invited 50 Euro fine.

[@josdesouza]

He should be kicked out of the train for his disrespect.

[@RIZFERD]

If western knows manner, colonialism won't happen either. Nothing last forever. And Karma Never Sleeps. Now Asia is leading especially China and Indonesia.

[@val-schaeffer1117]

@@RIZFERD It is not about rise of a power. It is about European youth being entitled, and see everything as rights and nothing as accountability. Japan is also a rich country. But their youth are not like this.

[@cooltwittertag]

​@@RIZFERDyou so desperately try to associate indonesia with china to make it sound successful. Indonesia is full of corruption and failure.

[@bart9522]

it's a € 90 fine in the Netherlands

[@raysalinas1874]

It would be nice to be able to travel troughout all of the Americas with no visas the way Europeans can, most LatinAmericans aren’t able to travel to Canada for instance, I personally am able to travel all the way from Guatemala to Alaska, but there isn’t an openness to all citizens of the Americas to do so!

[@Arltratlo]

i went thru 20 European countries....i only had to show my passport in the UK in 2017, wich isnt a surprise, the Brits are not Europeans!

[@yaush_]

It’s because Latin American countries are incredibly unstable and north(excluding Mexico)and south America are completely culturally different. The reason that Canada and the US have tighter boarder restrictions with each other has a lot to do in fact with instability in Latin America and the mass immigration north that it causes.

[@yaush_]

@@Arltratloyes Brits are Europeans they’re just not part of EU

[@Da__goat]

This is because all Latin American nations are inherently worse off than the US and their people just decide to cross the border illegally into the US then have anchor babies to prevent US immigration from rightfully throwing them out of the country.

[@qjtvaddict]

@@yaush_USA is not much better just stop interfering in south America and they will get stable

[@Dovndyr13]

1997 copenhagen had an exhibition about fast trains in Europe. It among other talked about a 120-150 minute connection between Copenhagen and Hamburg A treaty between Denmark and Germany was signed 2008 to built a bridge standing 2018 over the Fehmarn belt. Paid by the danish state, Germany could not see the idea of it. Germany only signed that the tracks in Germany should be ready in 2028. In 2010 the bridge was turned in to a tunnel, that should stand in 2029 (as far as I understand a bit delayed). The Fehman sound bridge should be the same according to the original plans, but in 2020 a tunnel was anounced that also should be standing in 2029. The trains should be able to drive on danish and german voltage. The distance is 350 km, the trains can drive up to 200 km/h. After Copenhagen there will only be 1 stop in Denmark. But lets see how fast the trains will go in reality - I have heard up to 4,5 hours So connecting Europe really goes slow. And yes the Madrid-Lisbon connection is absurd.

[@neiss2]

All true, but this video only focuses on the negative of the current situation of European railways, it fails to mention the first opening of a railway market in the world, namely the high speed train system in Spain, where as of 3 years there are 4 different railway companies competing (Spanish AVE and AVLO, Italian IRYO and French OUIGO), which has brought the high speed train prices to a 4-fold reduction in price. This is an example worth mentioning and the future of the European railway system.

[@touyats1]

1) different voltages on the eu network is a non-problem since all loco producers build multi-voltage Locomotives…. And it has been so for a decade now. 2) why no voice was given to incumbent national railways ? Why is European sleeper eschewing answering who their shareholders are ? Many see European sleeper’s venture just a scheme to complicate life to the Austrian nightjet? Is this loving eu trains at all ?

[@fischX]

It's not the biggest issue but it's one - a multi system loco starts at 4 million Euro, and they are usually not used in freight. The economic of train traffic is the biggest reason for it's downfall so cost is an issue in general.

[@thefareplayer2254]

34:49 What he described from Paris to Brussels is EXACTLY how the Northeast Corridor operates!

[@pommesschale5440]

25:13 Herr Wissing, we are still waiting for your answer. :)

[@gentuxable]

23:58 he sounds like he enjoyed her a lot on the night train.

[@marw08]

The Lisbon-Madrid situation is ridiculus. Two Major capitals in adjacent countries without direct connection by train, not even daytime.. And the air route, of course, is very busy. It used to be trains obviously, and only night trains lately until no night trains policy at all in the Iberian península arrived after COVID with the justification that all those lines run in budget deficit.

[@patoeend8118]

The traveller by train must pay a lot of tax and a traveller by plane don't pay tax. The train is much better when you also the cost of environment count.

[@fabiodeoliveiraribeiro1602]

I'm Brazilian and I imagined that rail transport in Europe was more integrated. I was totally wrong. This documentary is very good, but it doesn't show the real problem. National and European public authorities (with the exception of Austria, perhaps) do not show much interest in improving the European railway system. Is the reason for this lack of interest to preserve profits and business as usual for manufacturers of cars, trucks and passenger planes? Should we assume that air transport in Europe does not face the same problems that were shown in this documentary? Is the European air transport much more integrated and easier because airlines have more political influence than railway companies?

[@bengoodrick]

How are the railways in Brazil? Oh wait, they don’t exist

[@Arltratlo]

how many high speed trains you have in Brazil..... i am living next to one, 250kph and you can barley hear the train from 1km away! i can jump on the train and hit Paris in a few hours ride...

[@ultrasoft5555]

Exactly, European leadership suppresses rail for political reasons, something utterly tragic regarding the future of Europe

[@RicardoCristofRemmertFontes]

The answer to all questions is yes.

[@justsamoo3480]

This reason doesn’t stem for the profits of planes, cars etc. Most European countries don’t have massive car companies or plane manufacturers. Those are only really present in France, Germany and Italy. And yes aviation does not face the same issues. Planes fly through the European airspace, which has the same regulations throughout the EU and pilots communicate in English with control towers. Planes only need an airport of origin and the destination airport, they don’t have to deal with sufficient/insufficient infrastructure. That makes it much easier to operate an airline, which is why 7 different airlines fly between Milan and Paris, but only 2 rail companies (both owned by their respective countries) operate on that route. From the consumer perspective, they are also much easier to book than trains. For example: if i open up Skyscanner/Google Flights/Kayak on my computer, I will have planes sorted by Cheapest, Fastest and “Best” from all the companies that fly on that route. Whereas for trains I would need to look up websites of different companies and then do the math of what train i would take. This gets even more complicated if I would take the Italian train to Lyon and then the French train to Marseille. If my Italian train was late and I missed my French train, I would not get any reimbursement, because they are two different companies.

[@hugolandberg7504]

just bring back trans europe express as a eu operator!

[@qjtvaddict]

TEN-T 😅

[@michaeljohndennis2231]

What is needed is radical and drastic changes to legislation in all of these countries with properly firm and uncompromisingly strong enforcement of this and a far more confrontational and combative mindset with the clear objective of raising standards of service and lowering fares - in many cases in mainland Europe as well as in the U.K., the trade unions are holding back progress on the railways and far more drastic and radical legislative changes need to be made to far more radically restrict their destructive activities - because it is now evident in many countries that those tasked with managing the railways can no longer be trusted to do so properly and effectively without close supervision and micro-management, external management teams need to be be brought in from countries like Japan, CCP and Taiwan and they need to be given complete, direct and unfettered management control of the railways backed up by changes to law, with no other interference being legally permitted - people can never at any level be trusted to do the right thing and only by force of law can people be forced to do the right thing by a show of unrelenting and uncompromising force - you cannot have enough enforcement and you cannot afford to let up, even for a second - there are many instances in which the military and the police are the only ones best placed to drive the changes needed and force people to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions or lack thereof, so what is needed is an overwhelming show of force

[@qjtvaddict]

Damn

[@user-lv1wn5wq7n]

goa ingia

[@santaclaus0815]

Restoring old wagons for new passenger cars makes sense to a certain extent. It's OK for short distances, but the driving noise is too loud for long distances. The old undercarriages are in good conditionos, too good to throw away but too uncomfortable for modern passenger transport. They should be re-used for freight wagons.

[@Dave_Sisson]

Freight wagons carry heavier loads, so they are much more strongly built, you can not put freight on a passenger undercarriage. It's expected that other forms of transport like cars, trucks, planes, ferries and cruise ships have a life of 30 years or less because things wear out and too much goes wrong. So the same should apply to old trains. They should be scrapped and new ones built to replace them.

[@santaclaus0815]

@@Dave_Sisson just make shorter cars then. Then the load per wheel is not too high.

[@Dave_Sisson]

@@santaclaus0815 Most freight traffic is either bulk commodities like wheat or minerals that travel in specially built wagons or containers that are a standard length. Most container wagons take 2 or 3 containers. The old days of loading cargo into railway vans by hand are long gone, so the demand for those vans has gone for them too. But as I said, these wagons are very old. Would you like to own a 30 year old car or fly on a 30 year old plane? Of course not, too much is worn out. The same applies to trains.

[@santaclaus0815]

@@Dave_Sisson Wagons for bulk goods could definitely be built. Just in the right length so that the wheel load is still OK.

[@Dave_Sisson]

@@santaclaus0815 Do you understand the terms *worn out* and *unfit for purpose* ? If you don't, I suspect you are kid who has never had to make financial decisions.

[@michaziobro5301]

Eu trains are too expensive I was in Italy and paid 10 EUR per 10 km journeys 2 persons 2 ways 40 euro. Driving diesel car or lpg i i would pay 4euro?

[@konradgola9132]

1:16.... disgusting Passenger with His shoes on the s'est. Maybe His feet were to smelly to take them off. This is very disrespectful

[@yaush_]

I think you will have an aneurism if you take a train in California

[@konradgola9132]

@@yaush_ 😀😀

[@Arltratlo]

funny, i just tried to get a ticket from my state capital to Paris...its took me 1,5 minute to get it.....! via internet!

[@Da__goat]

The perfect example of exactly what is wrong with Europe's trains is reflective of how Europe attempts to function. Many people in the EU, such as the narrator, like to think of the EU as a single country much like the United States. It could never be further from the truth. European countries have no desire to cater to passengers from other nations, of course not, they are independent national state operators. That's how it works because those are independent nations. French taxpayers paid for the TGV system, they don't have to care about Romanian travelers. Nobody needs to care about those from other nations. Nowhere is this more evident in how France chooses to operate as a nation. The French really don't care about the EU at all, and don't care at all about any nations other than France. The Germans don't have the same attitude, the Italians have a different attitude, as do the Spanish. With so many nationalities, cultures, and languages, it is almost impossible to get a full unique vision for the entire continent in a federal system. At the same time, asking these nations to cede authority for their individual systems to a higher governing body, in today's day and age, is very tone deaf.

[@NerdX151]

Yet there has been no issues doing just that in the airline industry. Air France has been providing good services to international passengers for decades, and SNCF used to as well, so why can't it now?

[@djlondon7956]

I can't really believe that train transport is as green as we're told either... Not when you think of the embedded energy to make and maintain a vast network and all the rolling stock. A hundred people on a sleeper train all night long for hundreds of kilometres. I don't think it's genuinely green or even economic.

[@jakob7116]

What? It takes very little energy to keep a train rolling due to the much lower rolling resistance. And right of ways and rolling stock, what about all the cars and roads? And trains are usually used for much longer than cars, easily like 40 years and same for railroads.