Tomorrow is Brexit day. What a sad day for Europe. Whatever the pros and cons for this most British of moves may be, it’s the move of the day: GETTING OUT. No matter the cost, or logic or common sense. 

The German government yesterday announced its exit from coal-based power generation by 2038, 18 years from now. In 2011 Chancellor Merkel announced the exit from nuclear power generation by 2022. The street hysterics want us to exit from diesel, beef and planes as well. This may or may not save the climate, but we have no honest alternatives yet to cover the gaps (other than importing not quite so clean energy from our neighbours or growing soybeans in monoculture).

But here comes the cavalry – ahem the perfect alternative to everything: railways, at least as far as the statements go. In positive news, the German government and Deutsche Bahn just announced a triple digit billion Euro investment programme for the railroads, with heavy tax payer support. Most of the funds will be spent on long overdue maintenance and infrastructure upgrades. That’s an improvement over the status quo, but hardly anything new is being added. Take the northern corridor to connect to the Brenner tunnel: while Italy and Austria are busy digging, the German side is delaying the process, and it is unlikely that the connector to Munich will be available once the tunnel opens. Building a new railway line today takes 20 years from the concept through planning and construction. (By comparison: between 1840 and 1900 – equivalent to three times 20 years –Germany’s rail network grew by over 40,000 km).

This makes me think about the speed of change. If we’re getting out of the technologies and processes that work faster than getting into something that may (or may not) work, our path for the future is pretty clear-cut: decline! And once decline has reached the famous tipping point, there won’t be any funds available for future “getting into” projects and the downward spiral will likely accelerate.

As Germany and other countries in Europe gyrate over several mammoth projects, a number of simple small changes would be the solution we have been waiting for, at a fraction of the cost of the big investment projects: for instance, a simple booking system for rail travel across borders, as we have had for a long time in air travel. (OK, not exactly simple, but there are plenty of services that make it simple for the customer). Another suggestion: sensible European train itineraries, linking the major capitals. Currently, trains from London to Paris, need less than three hours. By contrast, from London to Berlin it takes almost an entire day. A boat couldn’t be much slower. How about a night train that would allow us to switch from planes to trains? We would happily leave our diesel BMW behind and eat a veggie burger on the train.