Large investigation

“Warning, No Signal”

Only 30 km of the whole rail network in Greece has functioning train traffic lights. The installation of new European Train Control System has derailed in the country because of mismanagement – costing tens of millions of public funds and several fatalities.

How the European Rail Traffic Management System works (and why it's not working)

In order to increase security, capacity and competitiveness of European railways, the European Commission is encouraging the adoption of a common railway signage system throughout the entire EU, which is called ERTMS. Its implementation is much more expensive and slow than anticipated however.

Greece’s deadly rail tracks

Greece takes the bloody lead in terms of deaths and injuries in rail accidents in the EU, with about 25 victims per year. Problems are mainly caused by unsafe level crossings, poor infrastructure and traffic management systems, and understaffed companies.

How effective is the Slovenian railway network compared to the rest of the EU?

EDJNet's large investigation on trains in Europe compared the accessibility of train stations, the price of tickets and the speed of train travel. Slovenia performs well in terms of accessibility and price, and much worse in average speed.

Here's why Poles don't use trains much

Political decisions, wrong investments and increasing competition from buses resulted in longer and longer train travel times, and to a shrinking service. Train transport remains popular, but it has to be made more efficient.

Poland has a new train schedule. But problems are far from over

As the Polish government claims to fight against transport exclusion, trains are coming back to some routes that were not operated anymore. The merits and impact of these changes are not clear-cut though, as much larger investments would be needed to rescue local lines.

Don't miss the train: Methodology

What we did and how we did it

This article tries to answer a seemingly straightforward question: how easy it is for citizens in Europe to travel by train, and what explains differences within countries? In our attempt to answer this, we wanted to look at two measures – distances to train stations and the proportion of people who are well connected to (less than 10,000 steps to a station) versus poorly connected from (at least 30,000 steps to a station) the railway network.

These six graphs show how affordable and fast trains in Europe are

Where in Europe is taking the train fast and affordable, and where is it not? The European Data Journalism Network has gathered data on train journeys from 28 booking websites across Europe, collecting more than 8,000 single journey ticket prices and travel times for 73 sample routes. 

For at least 350 million Europeans, a train station is less than 10,000 steps away

It's 2019, and travelling by train is more popular than it’s been in decades. But how easy is it for people across Europe to go for a walk and then jump on a train that can take them all the way to the capital in their country? EDJNet simulated more than 40 million journeys to over 20,000 stations in an attempt to answer this question

Cities slow to respond to challenges posed by climate change

An update on the temperature data from 558 cities and their surroundings in Europe shows that 2018 was the warmest year since 1900 in 203 cities. Local response to the climate breakdown varies widely, according to a survey of a 61 local authorities in six countries by the European Data Journalism Network.