𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@taras-grescoe.com
Author of Straphanger, Shanghai Grand, The Devil’s Picnic | Words NY Times Nat Geo Smithsonian WSJ | Latest book Lost Supper | Talks: http://taras-grescoe.com/contact
https://www.highspeed.blog (Transit, trains, bikes)
https://linktr.ee/tarasgrescoe
https://www.highspeed.blog (Transit, trains, bikes)
https://linktr.ee/tarasgrescoe
Pinned
𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@taras-grescoe.com
· Mar 21
Need some positive news?
Around the world, a passenger rail renaissance is well under way.
I document the train-love in my weekly newsletter HIGH SPEED.
🚅🧵
Around the world, a passenger rail renaissance is well under way.
I document the train-love in my weekly newsletter HIGH SPEED.
🚅🧵
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
Told my editor this morning that I almost threw up in a sink while attempting to recreate garum, but the truth is I also threw up learning how to tan Roman leather using urine and feces to clean the hides.
Reconstructive archaeology: not for those with weak stomachs.
Reconstructive archaeology: not for those with weak stomachs.
November 10, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Told my editor this morning that I almost threw up in a sink while attempting to recreate garum, but the truth is I also threw up learning how to tan Roman leather using urine and feces to clean the hides.
Reconstructive archaeology: not for those with weak stomachs.
Reconstructive archaeology: not for those with weak stomachs.
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
We took the NightJet from Basel to Amsterdam at the end of our EuroVelo cycle tour this October. Sadly, SBB doesn’t allow you to take a bicycle, so we had to book 2nd class regular seats (on the same train) via ÖBB. Less than comfortable, but still very easy. Get with the program, SBB!
November 10, 2025 at 4:23 PM
We took the NightJet from Basel to Amsterdam at the end of our EuroVelo cycle tour this October. Sadly, SBB doesn’t allow you to take a bicycle, so we had to book 2nd class regular seats (on the same train) via ÖBB. Less than comfortable, but still very easy. Get with the program, SBB!
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
Oh great, now I have to go to #Rome.
Italy celebrates 120 years of Italian state railways with train exhibition in Rome.
Italy celebrates 120 years of Italian state railways with train exhibition in Rome
Italian Railways exhibition at Vittoriano from 7 November to 11 January. Rome's VIVE complex, comprising the Vittoriano and Palazzo Venezia, hosts a railway-themed exhibition to mark the 120th anniver...
www.wantedinrome.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Oh great, now I have to go to #Rome.
#Switzerland to #Sweden on a new sleeper train.
Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) offers new night train which will travel from Basel to Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden starting April 2026.
www.euronews.com/travel/2025/...
Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) offers new night train which will travel from Basel to Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden starting April 2026.
www.euronews.com/travel/2025/...
This new night train will travel 1,400km from Switzerland to Sweden
Tickets for the EuroNight service are expected to go on sale starting 4 November.
www.euronews.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:42 PM
#Switzerland to #Sweden on a new sleeper train.
Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) offers new night train which will travel from Basel to Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden starting April 2026.
www.euronews.com/travel/2025/...
Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) offers new night train which will travel from Basel to Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden starting April 2026.
www.euronews.com/travel/2025/...
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
November 9, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
November 9, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
...including #Montpellier and #Dunkerque in France; #Tallinn in Estonia and Kansas City.
With mixed results.
Does "fast and free" work? I take a look...
With mixed results.
Does "fast and free" work? I take a look...
November 9, 2025 at 9:54 PM
...including #Montpellier and #Dunkerque in France; #Tallinn in Estonia and Kansas City.
With mixed results.
Does "fast and free" work? I take a look...
With mixed results.
Does "fast and free" work? I take a look...
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
🎵 C'mon and take a free ride... 🎵
Edgar Winter pioneered the idea in '73.
Now a mega-city is going down the road, as Mamdani promises to make buses in #NYC fare-free.
Has this worked in the rest of the world?
Other cities have tried it...
🧵
Edgar Winter pioneered the idea in '73.
Now a mega-city is going down the road, as Mamdani promises to make buses in #NYC fare-free.
Has this worked in the rest of the world?
Other cities have tried it...
🧵
November 9, 2025 at 9:54 PM
🎵 C'mon and take a free ride... 🎵
Edgar Winter pioneered the idea in '73.
Now a mega-city is going down the road, as Mamdani promises to make buses in #NYC fare-free.
Has this worked in the rest of the world?
Other cities have tried it...
🧵
Edgar Winter pioneered the idea in '73.
Now a mega-city is going down the road, as Mamdani promises to make buses in #NYC fare-free.
Has this worked in the rest of the world?
Other cities have tried it...
🧵
Oh great, now I have to go to #Rome.
Italy celebrates 120 years of Italian state railways with train exhibition in Rome.
Italy celebrates 120 years of Italian state railways with train exhibition in Rome
Italian Railways exhibition at Vittoriano from 7 November to 11 January. Rome's VIVE complex, comprising the Vittoriano and Palazzo Venezia, hosts a railway-themed exhibition to mark the 120th anniver...
www.wantedinrome.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Oh great, now I have to go to #Rome.
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
Italy celebrates 120 years of Italian state railways with train exhibition in Rome.
Italy celebrates 120 years of Italian state railways with train exhibition in Rome
Italian Railways exhibition at Vittoriano from 7 November to 11 January. Rome's VIVE complex, comprising the Vittoriano and Palazzo Venezia, hosts a railway-themed exhibition to mark the 120th anniver...
www.wantedinrome.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Italy celebrates 120 years of Italian state railways with train exhibition in Rome.
🎵 C'mon and take a free ride... 🎵
Edgar Winter pioneered the idea in '73.
Now a mega-city is going down the road, as Mamdani promises to make buses in #NYC fare-free.
Has this worked in the rest of the world?
Other cities have tried it...
🧵
Edgar Winter pioneered the idea in '73.
Now a mega-city is going down the road, as Mamdani promises to make buses in #NYC fare-free.
Has this worked in the rest of the world?
Other cities have tried it...
🧵
November 9, 2025 at 9:54 PM
🎵 C'mon and take a free ride... 🎵
Edgar Winter pioneered the idea in '73.
Now a mega-city is going down the road, as Mamdani promises to make buses in #NYC fare-free.
Has this worked in the rest of the world?
Other cities have tried it...
🧵
Edgar Winter pioneered the idea in '73.
Now a mega-city is going down the road, as Mamdani promises to make buses in #NYC fare-free.
Has this worked in the rest of the world?
Other cities have tried it...
🧵
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
The Amazing World Of Tomorrow
November 3, 2025 at 6:48 PM
The Amazing World Of Tomorrow
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
So it turns out... the US air travel system was incredibly, deeply dependent on federal funding to just run day-to-day all this time, to the benefit of private airline shareholders, when everyone thinks that state-run trains are leeching off the government. Weird!
November 9, 2025 at 12:10 AM
So it turns out... the US air travel system was incredibly, deeply dependent on federal funding to just run day-to-day all this time, to the benefit of private airline shareholders, when everyone thinks that state-run trains are leeching off the government. Weird!
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
We can’t afford to do what every other country did years ago for our railways, but people need to drive their kids to school in a tank
Govt scraps all electrification investment. Midland Main Line to stay forever diesel Leicester Nottingham Derby Sheffield. Hugely embarrassing and inexplicable
www.ft.com/content/5ecd...
www.ft.com/content/5ecd...
UK transport secretary says full electrification of railways ‘not affordable right now’
Heidi Alexander says focus will be on other projects such as HS2
www.ft.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:05 AM
We can’t afford to do what every other country did years ago for our railways, but people need to drive their kids to school in a tank
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
I am digging this new train! Way to go @amtrak.com - it was worth the wait! Keep the rollout of the new fleet going.
November 9, 2025 at 1:05 PM
I am digging this new train! Way to go @amtrak.com - it was worth the wait! Keep the rollout of the new fleet going.
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
And like Mamdani he was both controversial and popular. John F. Hylan was elected in 1917 and reelected in 1921, running largely on the 5-cent fare.
November 9, 2025 at 1:47 PM
And like Mamdani he was both controversial and popular. John F. Hylan was elected in 1917 and reelected in 1921, running largely on the 5-cent fare.
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
Mayor Hylan was also a former transit employee, having served as an engineer on Brooklyn’s elevated railroad. Much like Mamdani’s critics, Hylan’s enemies said he a socialist. They called him “Red Mike,” claiming that had been his sobriquet when he was an engineer on the L.
November 9, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Mayor Hylan was also a former transit employee, having served as an engineer on Brooklyn’s elevated railroad. Much like Mamdani’s critics, Hylan’s enemies said he a socialist. They called him “Red Mike,” claiming that had been his sobriquet when he was an engineer on the L.
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
The winner is John F. Hylan, mayor from 1918 to 1925. A century ago the analogue to fare-free transit was the 5-cent fare, and that cause was Mayor Hylan’s obsession. He campaigned almost exclusively on the 5-cent fare – to the point of being ridiculed for it.
November 9, 2025 at 1:41 PM
The winner is John F. Hylan, mayor from 1918 to 1925. A century ago the analogue to fare-free transit was the 5-cent fare, and that cause was Mayor Hylan’s obsession. He campaigned almost exclusively on the 5-cent fare – to the point of being ridiculed for it.
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
I'm still amazed that it took until the year 2025 for a mayoral candidate in *New York City* to finally figure out that a relentless focus on making life better for transit riders is a winning message.
November 6, 2025 at 3:26 PM
I'm still amazed that it took until the year 2025 for a mayoral candidate in *New York City* to finally figure out that a relentless focus on making life better for transit riders is a winning message.
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
"Zohran Mamdani will be the first mayor of New York City in decades not to own a car"
Will be exciting to see if he can implement his vision to pedestrianize areas in the congestion pricing zone and dedicate entire streets as combo busways + active transportation
Will be exciting to see if he can implement his vision to pedestrianize areas in the congestion pricing zone and dedicate entire streets as combo busways + active transportation
How Mamdani could push a bold redesign of New York's streets
The mayor-elect has articulated a vision for reshaping the city streets. Janette Sadik-Khan, the former commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation under the Bloomberg Administratio...
www.fastcompany.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:36 PM
"Zohran Mamdani will be the first mayor of New York City in decades not to own a car"
Will be exciting to see if he can implement his vision to pedestrianize areas in the congestion pricing zone and dedicate entire streets as combo busways + active transportation
Will be exciting to see if he can implement his vision to pedestrianize areas in the congestion pricing zone and dedicate entire streets as combo busways + active transportation
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
"Free" is definitely achievable; whether transit will be "fast" is another matter.
I propose a more realistic slogan in the latest HIGH SPEED dispatch :
www.highspeed.blog/fast-and-free/
I propose a more realistic slogan in the latest HIGH SPEED dispatch :
www.highspeed.blog/fast-and-free/
November 7, 2025 at 2:13 PM
"Free" is definitely achievable; whether transit will be "fast" is another matter.
I propose a more realistic slogan in the latest HIGH SPEED dispatch :
www.highspeed.blog/fast-and-free/
I propose a more realistic slogan in the latest HIGH SPEED dispatch :
www.highspeed.blog/fast-and-free/
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
Montpellier is a city of 500,000. Other places that have tried free transit are also small: Tallinn, Luxembourg.
NYC is 8.5 million, so what Mamdani has in mind is on another scale.
NYC is 8.5 million, so what Mamdani has in mind is on another scale.
November 7, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Montpellier is a city of 500,000. Other places that have tried free transit are also small: Tallinn, Luxembourg.
NYC is 8.5 million, so what Mamdani has in mind is on another scale.
NYC is 8.5 million, so what Mamdani has in mind is on another scale.
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
Since 2023, ridership increased by one third.
Lost revenue was made up for by €124 million "mobility tax" on payroll, for companies with over 11 employees. (They rely on transit to have workers show up at the office!)
"Incidents" (petty crime) is down by 9 %.
usa.streetsblog.org/2025/06/03/f...
Lost revenue was made up for by €124 million "mobility tax" on payroll, for companies with over 11 employees. (They rely on transit to have workers show up at the office!)
"Incidents" (petty crime) is down by 9 %.
usa.streetsblog.org/2025/06/03/f...
November 7, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Since 2023, ridership increased by one third.
Lost revenue was made up for by €124 million "mobility tax" on payroll, for companies with over 11 employees. (They rely on transit to have workers show up at the office!)
"Incidents" (petty crime) is down by 9 %.
usa.streetsblog.org/2025/06/03/f...
Lost revenue was made up for by €124 million "mobility tax" on payroll, for companies with over 11 employees. (They rely on transit to have workers show up at the office!)
"Incidents" (petty crime) is down by 9 %.
usa.streetsblog.org/2025/06/03/f...
Reposted by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
"Fast and free!"
That's what Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani promised to make #NYC 's city bus service.
What kind of impact has free transit had in other cities?
#Montpellier , #France is the largest city in Europe to make transit (5 tram lines, 41 bus lines) free for residents...
🧵
That's what Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani promised to make #NYC 's city bus service.
What kind of impact has free transit had in other cities?
#Montpellier , #France is the largest city in Europe to make transit (5 tram lines, 41 bus lines) free for residents...
🧵
November 7, 2025 at 2:00 PM
"Fast and free!"
That's what Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani promised to make #NYC 's city bus service.
What kind of impact has free transit had in other cities?
#Montpellier , #France is the largest city in Europe to make transit (5 tram lines, 41 bus lines) free for residents...
🧵
That's what Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani promised to make #NYC 's city bus service.
What kind of impact has free transit had in other cities?
#Montpellier , #France is the largest city in Europe to make transit (5 tram lines, 41 bus lines) free for residents...
🧵