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.

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

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. 

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.

Here's why Poles don't use trains much  Large investigation

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  Large investigation in depth

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.

Europe is getting warmer, and it’s not looking like it’s going to cool down anytime soon  Large investigation

An exclusive analysis of over 100 million meteorological data points shows that every major city in Europe is warmer in the 21st century than it was in the 20th. Subarctic regions, Andalusia and southern Romania are most affected.

Western Europeans more seduced than their Eastern neighbours by Volkswagen diesel “fix”   in depth

Volkswagen Group is much more successful in convincing Dieselgate-affected consumers to have the illegal defeat device removed from their car in Western Europe than in Eastern Europe.

The top 100 European places where Dieselgate kills the most   in depth

Excess diesel emissions produce a tiny portion of harmful dusts. Yet, they cause dozens of deaths in Europe’s highly populated road traffic hotspots.

The carbon footprint of European ships 

The first of its kind, a new study quantifies the volume of European shipping companies’ greenhouse gas emissions. Despite being among the most polluting companies, European fleets are under no obligation to reduce their emissions. 

Accessibility to cities

Accessibility to cities offers a first step toward tracking the spots where gaps in accessibility remain, and where the world can collectively address the most fundamental inequalities still experienced today.