14 APR 2024 · Overloaded trains remain a problem in South Asia — Bangladesh, in particular, but India is also seeing a lot of riders. In China, this was previously a problem as well — people were even getting onboard via the windows!... Things are, however, quite different these days in the High Speed era...

12 APR 2024 · Want to take a sh*t in China's railway stations? Not so fast. To the uninitiated, half trying to use a squat toilet can well be folks to feel it's s like bloody murder. Yet it didn't have to be... and thankfully, it's no longer really the case. The throne toilet we're used to is making its way back...

11 APR 2024 · What's the "tallest" (as in: station at highest elevation) High Speed railway station in the world? Much as yours truly is a Swiss, it's not in Switzerland — or Europe. Enter Shandan Racecourse/Shandanmachang railway station, which at around 3'600 metres above sea level, is as "up high" as it gets for an HSR station...

10 APR 2024 · Talk about spending time in front of the onboard microphone! Classic Rail services in China are known to have long, varying-in-topics, music-rich, and occasionally news in the onboard announcements. You're told how long your next leg will be, but also how to stay alert and avoid fraudsters on the go. Love it or loath it, it's what makes Chinese Classic Trains — the Green Trains — them, themselves!

10 APR 2024 · Loud/annoying/effective enough door close chimes fast/slow enough to ensure ontime departures? Thick enough rubber strips to prevent the door slamming into your fingers and crushing your bones? As a commuter, specialist, enthusiast, and just everyday-traveller with the railways, I've been on, or seen, some networks where doors are done right — and some that struggle. The last thing we want is for people to be dragged with a door shut — and rider taken hostage!

9 APR 2024 · It's supposed to be a Green way to get around, but pre-2008, the Beijing Subway suffered from a paper-intensive, outdated ticketing system making frequent journeys rather less attractive. These days, though, it's all smartcards and QR codes, making the system smarter — and genuinely Greener...

8 APR 2024 · As families across China honour their ancestors over Tomb Sweeping Festival, the spring travel season has also kicked off — and Chinese railways are carrying more people than ever, with a new one-day record set in early April 2024. The railways are getting busy, once again.

7 APR 2024 · Zürich Airport always seems to have this, that, and the other part renovated, expanded, or renewed. Everything from the toilet flush buttons to the immigration desks have been refreshed. The only thing missing: an expansion to its railway station. In this day and age where flight shaming very much remains a thing, perhaps the airport can share its bit of short-haul international flights with the trains — slash the number of planes from Zürich and Munich, Germany, and add more trains! Allow more intercontinental flights to use the airport — if you have to fly, at least make it more ecologically sound!

6 APR 2024 · With expats returning and first-time foreigners inbound, it's no longer just OK for the Chinese railways to have partially bilingual signage. The world's largest HSR network needs a better English-language service — at info desks, online, everywhere. China has reopened. It's time to get China's Rail English improved, once again!

2 APR 2024 · 28 March 2024 (Impromptu Announcement 2): Classic Rail in China, For Cheap? For Good, Too! Get mileage for just the equivalent of 10p — as low as it can go on a Permit to Travel in the UK, but in China, it's a short-haul full-fare ticket on a classic Green Train on Classic Rail! The Green Trains are still here in China — and they're here for good. For cheap, of course, but also, for good...