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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[jeffreywenger]

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?

[RFProductions]

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.

[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!

[fischX]

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

[ralphzechendorf]

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!

[OCarrisPT_C]

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.

[cx]

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.

[val-schaeffer]

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

[macleod]

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.

[TomNook.]

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

[Dovndyr]

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.

[raysalinas]

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!

[neiss]

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.

[thefareplayer]

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

[pommesschale]

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

[marw]

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.

[Andrea.]

If you think Europe is bad try the UK!

[fabiodeoliveiraribeiro]

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?

[richardschulz]

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.