Ben Jones's Avatar

Ben Jones

@flywheelmedia

Freelance rail/travel journalist for UK rail magazines and CNN Travel, Euro rail explorer, Wednesdayite #swfc Sheffielder, Yorkshireman, European, cat butler.

343
Followers
350
Following
81
Posts
25.10.2024
Joined
Posts Following

Latest posts by Ben Jones @flywheelmedia

Preview
Want to rival Eurostar on Channel Tunnel routes? How do you differentiate yourself? - Jon Worth For three weeks in late March and early April I am running a project called #CrossChannelRail that is looking at the future of long distance high speed train services through the Channel Tunnel. The f...

As @philgeorgiadis.ft.com has written about Virgin's plans to finance Channel Tunnel trains for FT this morning www.ft.com/content/2240... then also have a read of my piece about how a rival to Eurostar could differentiate from the incumbent jonworth.eu/want-to-riva... #CrossChannelRail

09.03.2025 09:53 πŸ‘ 39 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Deutschlandticket - Bayern will sich nicht mehr an den Kosten beteiligen Die bayerische Landesregierung will sich nicht mehr an der Finanzierung des Deutschlandtickets beteiligen.

Ah. CSU in Bayern wants out of the Deutschlandticket from 2026

www.deutschlandfunk.de/bayern-will-...

Short sighted. Non collaborative. Smug. Superior. And wrong. Exactly what you'd expect from the CSU on transport policy.

10.02.2025 09:48 πŸ‘ 62 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 1

Word of the Day is β€˜bayard’ (16th century): one who has the supreme self-confidence of ignorance.

05.02.2025 08:52 πŸ‘ 13051 πŸ” 3416 πŸ’¬ 385 πŸ“Œ 316
Post image Post image

Things to do in Copenhagen when you’ve got to wait an hour and a half for someone else to arrive No.1:
Go to Sweden for a bit.

29.01.2025 10:29 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image
22.01.2025 15:44 πŸ‘ 130130 πŸ” 31699 πŸ’¬ 1786 πŸ“Œ 2059
LNER 91111 For the Fallen. King’s Cross

LNER 91111 For the Fallen. King’s Cross

LNER 91111 For the Fallen. King’s Cross

LNER 91111 For the Fallen. King’s Cross

LNER 91111 For the Fallen. King’s Cross

LNER 91111 For the Fallen. King’s Cross

Nice to get some thoroughbred traction on the front for tonight’s 2133 @lner.co.uk from King’s Cross.

20.01.2025 22:20 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Off to London to find out about First Group’s open access plans, on an open access train operated by First Group. @railmagazine.bsky.social #hulltrains

20.01.2025 16:48 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

lol, a clip of a Tesla's vision system trying to understand a train

labyrinth.zone/notice/Aq5V7...

15.01.2025 14:23 πŸ‘ 20454 πŸ” 3417 πŸ’¬ 950 πŸ“Œ 765
Preview
Bitte wΓ€hlen Sie aus, von welchem Unternehmen Sie die Webseite aufrufen mΓΆchten.

Well that didn’t last long. DB Fernverkehr has put its Stadler KISS/IC2 double deck EMUs (acquired from Westbahn a few years ago) up for sale.
Decent trains. They will do a good job for someone, but where?

www.db-gebrauchtzug.de/f?p=222:751:...:

14.01.2025 17:22 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

It was.

14.01.2025 14:40 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

It was great. Good to catch up with some familiar faces and to see the new livery up close. Looks very smart!

14.01.2025 12:51 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image

@lner.co.uk Azuma 801207 showing off its new β€˜Darlington’ livery to kick off the Stockton & Darlington Railway 200 celebrations. @gawuffy.bsky.social

14.01.2025 10:28 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
LNER Azuma arriving at Grantham

LNER Azuma arriving at Grantham

First northbound trip of 2025 with @lner.co.uk - off to Darlington for a Railway 200 themed β€˜do’. Probably the first of many this year! @railmagazine.bsky.social

14.01.2025 07:50 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Not a big thing in itself, but yet another example of an organisation making its offer slightly worse, reducing convenience for passengers.

14.01.2025 07:41 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

It was only β€˜resting’ on their drive.

13.01.2025 11:49 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Can’t wait. One of my favourite working weekends of the year. Better start getting everything ready!

11.01.2025 18:45 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

The Rail Sale is back! Over 14-20 January, selected Advance and Off-Peak fares for travel between 17 January and 31 March will go on sale at up to 50% off. All UK train operators, except Hull Trains, Lumo, Merseyrail and Translink Northern Ireland, are participating.

10.01.2025 09:41 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
LNER Class 91 Kings Cross

LNER Class 91 Kings Cross

LNER Class 91 Sir Bobby Robson

LNER Class 91 Sir Bobby Robson

My @lner.co.uk taxi home from London tonight. Sir Bobby on the business end.

09.01.2025 21:31 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Hoping for a bit of this action later on the 2133 from Kings Cross!

09.01.2025 16:53 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

First train trip of what promises to be a very exciting year of travelling. Off to that there London to talk to the world’s oldest model railway club.

09.01.2025 16:13 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

That one.

07.01.2025 18:38 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

It looks like the hotel we stayed in near Salou in the 1980s.

07.01.2025 17:36 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Good news. This should help freight and encourage more Eurostar and open access international services.

06.01.2025 18:43 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

β€œAs an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that job. So I have decided to leave the Washington Post”

β€” Ann Telnaes, after drawing this cartoon, which included the image of a supplicant Jeff Bezos

04.01.2025 01:07 πŸ‘ 16619 πŸ” 4620 πŸ’¬ 328 πŸ“Œ 251
Preview
What is the bright light near the moon this evening? | Stroud Times If you look into the night sky this evening, you might spot a bright light above and to the right of the moon.

It’s the emergency backup moon, which NASA is manoeuvring into place while the regular moon is taken away for its annual servicing. This year they’re replacing the old-style light bulbs with LEDs, and GB News is furious that the moon is now woke.

04.01.2025 09:33 πŸ‘ 267 πŸ” 37 πŸ’¬ 11 πŸ“Œ 4

Sadly not the Orient Express, which is much posher and runs from Calais to Venice. It looks like the engine they’ve been using for the London Polar Express trains over Christmas, heading home to Cumbria with its support coach. Good spot and great pic tho!

03.01.2025 15:55 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
The most exciting new trains coming in 2025 | CNN The world’s greatest railway journeys are an unforgettable experience that can immerse you in the culture of a new country. From ever-faster Chinese trains to trans-Europe sleepers, these 2025’s best ...

Searching for ideas for your next adventure by train? Here are a few to suit all kinds of budgets - new piece for @cnn.com has just gone live.

edition.cnn.com/travel/most-...

02.01.2025 14:09 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Word of the Day is one I keep posting at the end of the year, hoping its time will come.

β€˜Respair’, from the 16th century, is fresh hope, and a recovery from despair.

Here’s to a few drops of respair in 2025.

31.12.2024 19:12 πŸ‘ 10004 πŸ” 2674 πŸ’¬ 203 πŸ“Œ 169
Post image

Happy New Year everyone. Just booking the first of (hopefully) many trips for 2025 and discovered that Eurotunnel offers a β€˜ferrets’ option for pets travelling on Le Shuttle.

01.01.2025 12:22 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1