121–130 of 267 posts
I did the OBB overnight train from Vienna to Venice a few years ago. I did the baller move and bought the 4 person sleeper room for myself, that came with a bathroom / shower. So from a privacy and point to point travel it was great. From the restfulness point of view, not so much. I am not a light sleeper but the train was noisy and jerky and the bed narrow with your body perpendicular to the direction of travel so…
I love travelling by train. You are not treated like a criminal before you can board a train. You can sit and watch the landscape pass by. It's comfortable.
Some countries (China is the most notable example) have security checks prior to boarding a train comparable to flying. In Poland, if you buy your ticket for an Intercity train online, the conductor will ask for your ID to ensure the names match. The state, or perhaps just the operator, seems to be concerned about who is paying and traveling in this case. One can still buy tickets with cash, though.
train travel is almost always the most expensive option compared to car, bus or plane alternatives. from a sustainability perspective an insanely lobsided state of affairs, the result of a century long of distorted incentives and policies. what could be more pleasant than being able to criss-cross Europe in night trains that are affordable, comfortable and sustainable? makes sense both for business and tourism. you c…
Sadly commercial aviation fuel is currently tax exempt in the EU while the railroad companies do have to pay taxes for the fuel and energy.
Generally speaking, though, it doesn’t make sense to compare subsidies and taxes individually. Both planes and trains are already heavily subsidized, and if you removed all subsidies and taxes, I suspect planes would win handily.
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You're right that China has security checks for trains but I don't consider them comparable to flying. The train security checks are much faster. I've rarely had to wait more than 5 minutes in line. You don't have to take off your shoes, don't have to take out laptops and things from your luggage, and drinks and liquids are generally allowed. I've only on a couple occasions been asked by security in China to take a s…
The shoe thing is an American peculiarity. In Europe I never had to take off my shoes, even when I flew to the US. And now some airports (eg LCY) don’t even require taking liquids and laptops out of the luggage.
Possibly thanks to the shoe bomber.
I travelled from Germany to Croatia and had to book a 2 person sleeping cabin (100€ more expensive). When we entered, the sleeping wagon was a seating wagon. We (2) were stuffed with 2 other people into a cabin. No one told us what was going on. Well we travelled for 13h without getting any sleep. I created a support ticket on the same day from inside the train. Only generic response. 2 weeks later I created another…
No, the reason is that there's no penalty for the behavior you just witnessed, so it's more profitable to stonewall victims in hopes they go away, and only refund when the authority actually forces them to, which only happens in a small percentage of cases where the fraud victim actually escalates their complaint to the relevant authority.
Imagine if shoplifting by the common man was treated the same way - you can shoplift all you want and the worst-case scenario is that you'll have to give the goods back if the police actually catches you.
I love night trains. I’ve taken them from Warsaw to Prague, Prague to Zurich, and Verona to Paris. It’s by far my preferred option - you get a decent nights sleep and whilst the tickets are more expensive it’s one fewer nights in a hotel which normally offsets it. I still really want to do the two in the UK, the Caledonian Sleeper and the Night Riviera.
I love night trains. I’ve taken them from Warsaw to Prague, Prague to Zurich, and Verona to Paris. It’s by far my preferred option - you get a decent nights sleep and whilst the tickets are more expensive it’s one fewer nights in a hotel which normally offsets it. I still really want to do the two in the UK, the Caledonian Sleeper and the Night Riviera.
You pay extra to sleep 10 hours on a train versus 2 hours by plane at half the cost?
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Get rid of half of it. Especially the liquid limits, unnecessary pat downs, shoe removal, etc.
The shoes and belts thing is ridiculous, I agree. But there's a legitimate reason for the liquid ban to which I'm not sure there's much of a solution, is there?
If those checks were actually deterring terrorism I'd expect those other public places with less checks but just as much potential victims be attacked instead.
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>what could be more pleasant than being able to criss-cross Europe in night trains that are affordable, comfortable and sustainable? Doing it by plane at a fraction of the time and cost.
For the distances where night trains are feasible "a fraction of time" is not really true if you take into account the time costs associated with air travel: * airports are usually far at the outskirts of a capital (45m travel there) * you need to get to the airport 2h before to checking-in/passport control, etc. * you need to wait to pick up your baggage (30m) * travel into the city again (45m) Not to mention the st…