Jean-Baptiste Bonaventure is an author, journalist and deputy editor of the LR Media news agency. He writes about social issues, travel and the links between technology and society.
In the nineteenth century, a huge railway was built through the Massif Central.
Jean-Baptiste Bonaventure
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25.2.2023
24.5.2023
Known for its ultra-modern, avant-garde architecture, it makes for quite the scenic getaway too.
It’s official: the Thalys brand is no more. But rest assured that this legendary passenger service isn’t going to disappear from the European railway industry.
24.2.2023
An early-twentieth-century Autorail (a French word for a single powered railcar) called La Richelaise was revived.
18.2.2023
Scotland’s third biggest city (population 200,000) is often ranked among the country’s happiest cities, quite often coming top.
Train buffs are often the sorts of people who like numbers, thought experiments and the poetry of long journeys.
17.2.2023
We’re in the middle of the Gobi desert in the autonomous Chinese region of inner Mongolia, and this railway leads to one of China’s most important spaceports.
11.2.2023
Because while it may only have 230,000 inhabitants, the various civilisations that have called this city home have let behind a gloriously rich and diverse heritage.
5.2.2023
This is Metlaoui, a city of around 40,000 inhabitants in the west of the country. The atmosphere in the white and blue building on the station platform is relaxed.
4.2.2023
This new railway is supposed to link up the port of Mombasa on the Kenyan coast with central Uganda.
3.2.2023
Known for their speed, cleanliness and legendary promptness, the Japanese bullet trains or Shinkansen are admired by train buffs the world over.
28.1.2023
Puisque les trains de la Renfe s’arrêteront bientôt à Montpellier, nous avons décidé de vous faire visiter cette ville du sud de la France, son légendaire ciel bleu et son inarrêtable énergie.
After the arrival of Trenitalia on the Paris-Lyon line at the end of 2021, this time Renfe – the historic Spanish operator – is also making moves in France
27.1.2023
Having already visited Stockholm and Copenhagen, we’re heading back to Scandinavia to visit a city that’s not quite as well known as those capital cities: Bergen.
21.1.2023
As it had announced in 2022, SNCF, the French national rail operator, increased train ticket prices on January 10 2023.
20.1.2023
Today, to pay homage to this struggle (and the incomparable beauty of Iran), we’ve decided to take you on board one of the world’s most spectacular trains: the Trans-Iranian Railway.
14.1.2023
We’ve decided to whisk you off to a place where influences from that part of the world mingle with those of the Old Continent: Yerevan, the splendid (albeit little-known) capital of Armenia.
The result of an agreement signed by Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in February 2021, the initiative was thrown into disarray by the coming to power of the Taliban in August of that year.
13.1.2023
Nicknamed ‘the city of the Dukes of Brittany’ and ‘the Venice of the West’, this small city of around 300,000 inhabitants is famous for its relaxed pace of life and architectural heritage.
7.1.2023
It’s no secret that trains don’t float. People could be forgiven for opting for a vessel of some sort over a TGV to get across a river or ocean.
Since Laos has been involved in China’s new Silk Road initiatives, for better or worse, things have changed.
6.1.2023
Dépêchez-vous, le train va partir ! Alors que vous courez comme un dératé à travers la gare londonienne de King’s Cross en poussant votre chariot de bagages, vos parents ne cessent de vous presser.
31.12.2022
There’s a train – yes, an actual train – that allows travellers to visit his house in Finnish Lapland. So roll up and climb aboard!
24.12.2022
Make sure to wrap up warm and definitely remember to pack a camera – we’re about to see something truly magical.
It was first a Swedish word, flygskam, comprising the words flyg (plane or aviation) and skam (shame or dishonour).
23.12.2022
Only a handful of trains on the east coast get anywhere close, but the journeys are so short that the trains don’t reach top speeds. It’s an astonishing quirk that can be put down to a mix of historic, demographic, geographical and cultural factors.
20.12.2022
With just over 500,000 inhabitants, it stands out for the concentration of unusual sights to be discovered in the city centre. So put on your Gore-Tex, a woolly hat and some gloves – it’s time to discover Europe’s northeastern corner.
17.12.2022
Could all those who’ve never dreamed of driving a train raise their hand? Yep, just as we thought: there are no hands in the air.
16.12.2022
In 1910, the City of London hosted The Japan-British Exhibition. Aiming to celebrate the renewal of the Anglo-Japanese relationship, this enormous international expo went all out to promote the Land of the Rising Sun among the British public.
10.12.2022
The city is so underappreciated by travellers, in fact, that we’re sure many of you would struggle to even imagine what it looks like, not in the same way you can for London, Paris or New York. We’re here to change all that.
Clearly referring to the mythical route that transcontinental salesmen used in centuries gone by, it is essentially a vast web of commercial rail and sea links that will allow the country to transport goods to Europe and Africa.
9.12.2022
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome on board the RBBX, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
3.12.2022
Just because you’re more of a train person, that doesn’t mean you should miss out on a trip to the ‘Pink City’.
SNCF, for example, has launched a service known as Flexy, which can carry up to 14 passengers on lines where trains can travel between 10 and 30 kilometres an hour.
2.12.2022
When railway services restarted between Russia and North Korea in early November 2022, the first train that travelled from one country to another was in fact a convoy filled with… 30 horses: five stallions and 25 mares.
26.11.2022
You’d be foolish to leave Krakow off your bucket list. For this must be one of Europe’s most beautiful and exciting places.
Having run an inaugural trip between Madrid and Valencia on November 21 2022, Iryo aims to run 16 return journeys daily between the Spanish capital and the city of Barcelona.
25.11.2022
It’s 3.30pm on June 9 1865 in the county of Kent. A train travels from Folkestone to London. On board was the writer Charles Dickens,
19.11.2022
Nicknamed the ‘City of a Thousand Trades’ and the ‘Workshop of the World’ because of its importance during the Industrial Revolution
Gulf Railway, a project that aims to link up the various member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
18.11.2022
One thing few people know about this veritable symbol of luxury and excess, on 301 Park Avenue, in Manhattan, is that it has a secret railway station hidden beneath it.
12.11.2022
You can’t ignore all the history here. So start by mooching around the Plaza Mayor and its splendid arcades.
On the initiative of Gérard Leseul, the Socialist MP for Seine-Maritime's 5th constituency, this sum was based on figures from se Réseau Action Climat
11.11.2022
Except in Australia, that is, where you’ll find what is considered to be the longest straight train line in the world.
5.11.2022
For proof that Zurich is far from boring, head straight to Rote Fabrik (literally, the red factory).
The trip took around 45 minutes, at an average speed of between 30 and 35 kilometres per hour.
4.11.2022
As railway workers, you and your comrades have to put into place the Operation Vert which would support the imminent landings of the Allied Forces in France. It was finally time to push out the Nazis.
29.10.2022
Known for its beauty and refinement, the city of Bordeaux is above all famous for its wine.
A column by a group of 15 regional leaders in the newspaper Le Monde. In it, these men and women from across the political spectrum called on the national government to launch a new railway deal worth €100 billion between 2023 and 2033.
28.10.2022
It’s 1932 and the Soviet government has ordered the construction of this gigantic line to create an alternative to one part of the Trans-Siberian.
22.10.2022
Let’s hit up the city sometimes known as ‘little Paris’.You can immediately see why it’s acquired that nickname. First off, the architecture is pretty stunning and definitely brings the City of Light to mind.
At a time when the protection of the planet is an absolute necessity, the modernisation of the railway network in a country known for being flat is no less honourable or important. Let’s dig a little deeper.
21.10.2022
Named KTX, for Korea Train Express, the trains are a symbol of the country’s cutting-edge technology and a very popular means of transport for locals. Let’s take a short trip.
14.10.2022
The unsurpassable 248-kilometre-long, four-kilometre-deep no man’s land has, however, seen several trains passing through that are testament to efforts to make peace between the two Koreas.
Much lesser known than Madrid and Barcelona, this Andalusian city of 580,000 people boasts an exceptional heritage and all sorts of hidden treasures.
Having arrived in Canada at the age of 20, Georges Stephen was one of the principal architects of the railway industry in this part of the world, and was the first Canadian to be ennobled. Quite a character, in other words.
8.10.2022
Lesser known than the eternally beautiful Syracuse, the ‘Milan of the south’ has loads to offer travellers after a mix of beauty, discovery and delicious food.
At the end of September 2022, the European Commission signed off funding worth €101 million to modernise the Palermo-Catania-Messina train line.
7.10.2022
The Vanderbilts is a modest family, descended from Dutch immigrants, would become both rich and incredibly divisive.
1.10.2022
We’re heading for this small, little-known country between the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea. So pack a swimming costume, put on a sturdy pair of shoes and let’s head to this one-of-a-kind metropolis.
The lack of existing lines makes it very easy to tell the story of high-speed train travel in the UK.
30.9.2022
Sweden’s third city (by population), this city in the south of the country is among the continent’s most diverse places, with 30 percent of its inhabitants born abroad.
24.9.2022
You’re snuggled up on the sofa, laptop on your knees, and you’re searching for a train ticket for the following evening. Bad news: the ticket is far more expensive than it was just a couple of days ago.
23.9.2022
They may not be as well known as the other two, but this clan produced two real pioneers of the railways: Edward and his son Joseph.
James in the second instalment of our series on the great families of the European and US rail industry.
17.9.2022
We’re heading to Belfast in Northern Ireland. Lesser known than the likes of Dublin and London, this city is as historic as it is fun. Here’s a whistlestop guide to the capital.
In November 2018, Morocco inaugurated something really rather special: a high-speed railway line connecting Tangier, Kenitra and Casablanca.
16.9.2022
Emile and Isaac were both born in Bordeaux, on December 3 1800 and 25 November 1806. They were brought up in a Jewish family who had to flee first Spain and then Portugal, and were grandsons of Jacob Rodrigue Pereire, a pioneer of education for deaf and mute children.
10.9.2022
Less touristy than other Croatian cities like Dubrovnik and Split, the capital is really laid-back and full of amazing things to do. Here’s what we’d recommend doing there.
As you may well know, on May 24 2022, another new line appeared on the world’s oldest underground network (which first opened in 1863). It’s named the Elizabeth Line in homage to Queen Elizabeth II.
9.9.2022
So today we’ll be telling you about how US Air Force doctor John Stapp tested the limits of the human body thanks to the Gee Whiz and Sonic Wind n°1.
3.9.2022
Relatively off the tourist radar, the Bulgarian capital is a modern, dynamic and yet laid-back city packed with surprising sights. So put your summer outfit back in your bag (and perhaps a pair of skis) and let’s head east.
We’ve decided to head further north, to Norway’s Lofoten archipelago.
2.9.2022
With its 150,000 kilometres of railway lines, China has the second most extensive train network in the world after the USA. But that’s not all.
On June 1, Germany launched a new initiative that sent what could almost be described as shockwaves through the rail industry
The Numtots, short for New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens.
26.8.2022
Not all that well known in Europe, this was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses that allowed American slaves to flee the southern states.
20.8.2022
We’re continuing our tour of Europe’s most beautiful archipelagos with a trip to the Aeolian islands.
The story of the British railways starts with carriages mounted on tracks made of wood, then metal, and pulled by horses.
19.8.2022
It all started on July 9 1918 in Nashville, the capital of the state of Tennessee.
13.8.2022
Grab your sunglasses and slap on the sunscreen: we’re heading off to a real paradise, not all that far from the Catalan coast.
The railways were taken into the hands of the state in 1937 but not in a single stage. In fact, it was the result of various interventionist moves that are very closely tied to the political history
12.8.2022
Rather than whisk you off to an iconic European city, now we will be suggesting an itinerary for a trip to one the continent’s most beautiful islands or archipelagos (even though it might technically not be possible to get there by train).
6.8.2022
11.8.2022
In 2015, China announced it intended to build a train line linking the Brazilian Altantic coast with the Peruvian Pacific coast: Trans-Amazonian Railway.
It’s a rather unusual case, as the country was for a long time very behind when it came to the development of the railways, and would soon go through an extended period of political instability, what with the Spanish civil war and Francisco Franco’s dictatorship.
5.8.2022
With its rich history and thriving contemporary culture scene, the Hungarian capital brims with treasures that many are still yet to explore.
30.7.2022
2.8.2022
We’re launching a new series on the great nationalisations in European rail, starting with the one that took place in Italy between 1903 and 1915.
29.7.2022
19.9.2022
Whack on some sun cream (yep, you never know) and a pair of comfortable shoes – we’re heading to the north of France.
23.7.2022
24.7.2022
It’s the end of the nineteenth century, the Industrial Révolution is well under way in France, and iron is the manufacturing material du jour.
Although a trip up the Eiffel Tower takes you in a perpendicular direction to that of a train, climbing up the iconic monument really does, somehow and in a way that’s rather hard to articulate, evoke the sensations, emotions and general atmosphere of the railways.
22.7.2022
25.4.2023
Following a climate catastrophe, a new ice age has made the entirety of the planet uninhabitable. Only a handful of survivors remain, and they’re all on board a train that never stops moving.
16.7.2022
19.7.2022
Rather than continue to reel off the environmental benefits of the train, this week we’re going to focus purely on the stats, totting up the real carbon footprint of trains in France. Here goes.
15.7.2022
25.5.2023
Known as being the setting of Shakespeare’s famous play Romeo and Juliet, and also ‘the city where everyone hates each other’ in the musical comedy of the same name.
10.7.2022
So let’s go, and explore a world where the criminal underworld and the rail industry intertwine.
9.7.2022
The opening up of passenger transport stems from the EU’s adoption of its fourth major package of rail reforms in 2016. This essentially divided the sector into two main categories.
8.7.2022
Having introduced you to ‘La Bestia’, the so-called ‘death train’ Central American immigrants use to cross Mexico, Midnight Weekly is returning to those parts this week to tell you about the Tren Maya.
2.7.2022
The tiny Maltese capital, just south of Sicily, only has 6,000 inhabitants. It’s much smaller than Sarajevo, Manchester or even Cádiz, but just as worth visiting if you’re after a sunny weekend break.
The idea of opening up passenger rail transport in Europe isn’t a new one. The first discussions between the member states of the European Union in fact took place in the 1970s.
1.7.2022
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s an Aérotrain. That’s how the credits for a Netflix series about this far-fetched invention would start.
25.6.2022
29.6.2022
From Manchester to Cádiz, Warsaw to Dubrovnik, each week Midnight Weekly takes you on a tour of a major European city. And today we’re heading to Leipzig.
