Nearly forgot to add: When ticket machines were installed in the 1990s, we thought they would take sales away from the T/O. They didn't. T/O sales remained the same, the machines took additional revenue, apparently out of thin air...

...people buying tickets when the t/o was busy or closed, which would otherwise have disappeared. There is a real danger that the reverse will happen if T/Os close: Some T/O revenue *will* disappear and not be captured by the machines. Needs to be taken into account!

Glad we didn’t move to a ‘genteel Yorkshire village’. Here it’s ‘great you’ve brought the average age of the village down, can you help design a cycle network?’ ❤️ 🇫🇷 theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/j…

Message to Rishi Sunak on Wednesday UK Prime Minister over the proposed closure of up to 1000 train ticket offices in England ‘There is a real anger, frustration and bewilderment across the country. Why has this been announced? Stop this attack on the ticket offices’ RMT

Thread on history of X dot com and Melon Husk will have to wait until tomorrow as need to stream. But in the meantime here is a quick story called: That Time Elon Totalled his McLaren F1 While Trying to Show Off in Front of Peter Thiel 🧵/1

It’s continental travel by train time. Heading down from the mountains to catch the sleeper. First train Villefranche Vernet les Bains to Perpignan

Here it is! A whole €1 to get to Perpignan. This is among the many ace things about France.

Train de nuit time!

So 900+km of France flew by while I slept. It’s a long way from a to b - or indeed Perpignan to Paris

Walked the last bit to Gare de l’Est. The bike lanes and pedestrian improvements mean it’s quite a calm route these days.

Bye bye SNCF Voyageurs TGV. Hello Deutsche Bahn AG… rapid change in Frankfurt but Erfurt beckons!

Tax in relation to road wear … calculated as proportional to fourth power of axle weight. Seems pretty fair

Germany will never forget Sir Nicholas Winton's inspirational role in the unique rescue effort involving the Kindertransport 85 years ago. This deeply moving clip shows what a true hero he was and is to so many people, including myself.

East German summer 🙄

When you go to sleep in southern France and wake up in Northern Europe… kit change for the last leg in Erfurt

Tram time! Erfurt, population 200k ish, has a great tram system, super bus routes, cycle lanes and bustling pedestrian zones.

“Ticket offices do so much more than sell tickets” Fantastic interview with Tanni Grey-Thompson on #TicketOfficeClosures Ticket offices are so much more than four walls. Help save them: bit.ly/SaveTicketoffi…

One of my favourite cycle paths in Germany runs between Plaue and Angelroda through a wheat field, with the main road it avoids inaudible in the distance.

Cycle road. Mother for scale.

Well well well.....Rishi Sunak, Infosys & his family's business partnerships with oil and gas giants Facts from Byline Times and Adam Bienkov ⏬️ North Sea