Many years ago, on a whim, I decided to sign up to Twitter (today: "X"). I was sitting in a fairly new electric train of the Czech Railways, had WiFi and thought to myself that "Railway Line" was a name that was as dubious as it was worthy.

Many years later: I was sitting in a Viennese coffee house with my girlfriend at the time. A woman came to our table and asked if we liked it here. I thought: it's great that the boss is personally looking after the guests, but then she said to me: "I recognized you. I just said to my husband: there's a train track over there! And I wanted to say hello..."

Until the end of 2019, I worked as a train attendant and train driver for Deutsche Bahn. Followers brought me apple wine, snacks and little surprises on the train. That year I was traveling in Slovakia with nine friends I met on Twitter and since then I have met a lot of great people. Twitter connects us - and I'm trying to use our shared interest in railways to inspire even more people to enjoy a culture of travel.



"In the new millennium, things will continue in this direction." (Photo: Marco Bereth)

Fascinated by the railway as a child

For me it was a classic story: we didn't have a car, so I didn't know any other way to travel than by train. My first memories include the night train rides to the island of Rügen, where my dad was deployed as a construction soldier. When I was traveling with my grandpa, I always read the timetables for him, because he couldn't read the small print very well.

Sometimes I was allowed to check the tickets on the train. Later on I always lugged my thick timetable to school so that I could give my classmates information about connections during lunch break. I have kept this slight craziness to this day. Unlike other freaks, however, I don't stand at the tracks and wait for the perfect photo, but instead make sure that the trains keep running by using them a lot.



"Incidentally, we are not restricting a rail passenger's right to squeeze into the corridor of a fully occupied ICE train as the 136th herring for a lot of money." (Hartmut Mehdorn)

From train attendant and train driver to tour guide

After school, I had no other option: I could never have forgiven myself for not having worked for the railways for at least a few years. So I completed an apprenticeship as a transport services clerk and later worked as a train conductor on regional trains in Swabia. And although I enjoyed making humorous announcements and interacting with customers, I eventually trained to be a train driver.

From then on, I was alone in the driver's cab almost all day long, driving railcars and locomotives day and night through the southern German provinces. Later, I tried studying political science before returning to the railway as a train manager, this time for long-distance transport. But as wonderful as this time was, it left little room for my passion, traveling to various European countries by train. Since then, I have been offering my guests guided train trips.



Timetable, tap water and #OpenWindow: that's all it took for a happy childhood.

If you would like to travel with me, please take a look at my annual program. Of course, I can also accompany you on a train trip tailored to your individual wishes. And for a small beer donation, I can help you book tickets and find the best train connection. Write to me, I look forward to hearing from you.

Wide local media interest in the broad-gauge country.

"Step by step"

The weekly newspaper Die Zeit came along on one of my tours.

Cultivated travel culture and station pub tours

In Gregor Börner’s Slow Travel Podcast I report on my railway journeys.

"In these Bohemian pubs, you're likely to be confused"

The "Morgenpost am Sonntag" with a descriptive double page about my station bar tours.

The day I was kicked off the train

I just know too much about it. Sorry!

Train pride - after us the rail

The weekly newspaper »Die Zeit« discusses how many people are starting to think differently and how train travel is experiencing a renaissance. The article also presents my intentions to the interested reader.

Travelling by train

I was a guest on the WDR Reisen program and answered viewers’ questions on the topic of “traveling by train.”