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Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?

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Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?

#41

Post by portaouflop »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #35
portaouflop wrote: post #28

In Germany not so far because the train will be 2+ hours late

Literally happened to me yesterday on the way back to Berlin. I arrived 2 hours late. In fairness there was what was labelled "a personal accident" on the track, which is a euphemism for somebody jumping in front of a train. Which unfortunately happens and needs to be dealt with properly and is not really something anybody can do much about. But delays are fairly common on that particular route (Berlin-Amsterdam). Th…

Privatisation was a mistake - it’s only gone downhill since they are able to make profit and cut costs.

We need to get essential services such as public transport back under state control or the quality will continue to deteriorate

Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?

#42

Post by Kwpolska »

Scrapemist wrote: post #21
DoneWithAllThat wrote: post #19

Since train fans always like to point this out when it comes to flying: this is how far you can get in 8 hours on the train . It doesn’t include the time to get to the station, the buffer time you need (if your train leaves at 0700 you can’t plan to get there at 06:59), and the time to travel from the destination station to your actual destination. Actual travel time for an 8 hour train ride is probably at least clos…

How is this different when flying?

You can board a train within a few minutes of the departure time. You can just enter the train station and walk to the train you want to take. Train stations tend to be in the city center, where it’s very easy to get to.

Boarding an airplane ends a long time before the planned departure time. You need to go through security and border control. Airports tend to be in remote locations.

Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?

#43

Post by numpad0 »

kgeist wrote: post #12

I don't understand how it works. First time clicking on Poland, it showed a kind of a heat map around some city. Then I click on another location and nothing happens. OK, there's a "back" button, I go back, click on the map again in a different place and... nothing happens. No heat map. At some point in frustration I accidentally move the mouse while clicking and the map rotates upside down. Don't know, is it me, my…

Focus moves after first click. Second click shows route from first click to second click. You have to clear both "where from" and "where to" box on left top to return to heatmap mode.

Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?

#44

Post by numpad0 »

Scrapemist wrote: post #21
DoneWithAllThat wrote: post #19

Since train fans always like to point this out when it comes to flying: this is how far you can get in 8 hours on the train . It doesn’t include the time to get to the station, the buffer time you need (if your train leaves at 0700 you can’t plan to get there at 06:59), and the time to travel from the destination station to your actual destination. Actual travel time for an 8 hour train ride is probably at least clos…

How is this different when flying?

More startup/shutdown overhead in exchange for bigger peak velocity

Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?

#45

Post by louthy »

FartyMcFarter wrote: post #32
matwood wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if your train leaves at 0700 you can’t plan to get there at 06:59 True, but 6:50 is plenty early enough depending on if you know the station and the size. Getting to and from the stations are a wash because it's not like the airport drops you at the door either. Though, many EU cities have the train station near the city center which makes it easier for people to get to than the airport.

> True, but 6:50 is plenty early enough I don't think so. That gives you a 10 minute margin, which can get uncomfortable quickly if there are any delays in getting there. If I can walk to a station and I know the route, 10 minutes margin is plenty enough. But if I have to drive+park or take public transport, I won't trust a 10 minute margin.

If there’s a train every 30 mins then sure it’s worth optimising, missing a train isn’t like missing a flight most of the time.

Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?

#46

Post by [deleted] »

portaouflop wrote: post #41
jillesvangurp wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally happened to me yesterday on the way back to Berlin. I arrived 2 hours late. In fairness there was what was labelled "a personal accident" on the track, which is a euphemism for somebody jumping in front of a train. Which unfortunately happens and needs to be dealt with properly and is not really something anybody can do much about. But delays are fairly common on that particular route (Berlin-Amsterdam). Th…

Privatisation was a mistake - it’s only gone downhill since they are able to make profit and cut costs. We need to get essential services such as public transport back under state control or the quality will continue to deteriorate

[deleted]

Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?

#47

Post by chmod775 »

DoneWithAllThat wrote: post #19

Since train fans always like to point this out when it comes to flying: this is how far you can get in 8 hours on the train . It doesn’t include the time to get to the station, the buffer time you need (if your train leaves at 0700 you can’t plan to get there at 06:59), and the time to travel from the destination station to your actual destination. Actual travel time for an 8 hour train ride is probably at least clos…

I always just arrive 5 minutes prior to departure. If I miss a train, not a big deal. I'll just take the next one sometime later. Most train tickets are flexible and merely specify the day you're going to take a particular connection. You might miss out on your seat reservation though.

Also I might just be unlucky that it takes me >1h just to get from my apartment to the airport in Berlin, but generally trains beat airplanes for most destinations I have in Germany. For some destinations they're competitive, but rarely ever beat trains by more than a few minutes, while still being much more of a hassle. I'd rather relax in a comfortable train for 4 hours with every amenity I could wish for, going straight from city center to city center, than deal with airports for two hours just to spend an hour in a cramped airplane while still having to organize transportation between the airport and the city each leg.

Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?

#48

Post by phh »

portaouflop wrote: post #28

In Germany not so far because the train will be 2+ hours late

In France you can go very far (Paris Barcelona, 1000km in 6h47, Lille Barcelona 150km in 8h32), but only in the 30 biggest cities, and going from/to Paris. If you take two random points in the map (or even population), you'll likely not be able to do that route in a reasonable amount of time.

Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?

#50

Post by FartyMcFarter »

louthy wrote: post #45
FartyMcFarter wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> True, but 6:50 is plenty early enough I don't think so. That gives you a 10 minute margin, which can get uncomfortable quickly if there are any delays in getting there. If I can walk to a station and I know the route, 10 minutes margin is plenty enough. But if I have to drive+park or take public transport, I won't trust a 10 minute margin.

If there’s a train every 30 mins then sure it’s worth optimising, missing a train isn’t like missing a flight most of the time.

That is only true in the simplest scenario of taking a train on a flexible ticket and without any transfers.

As soon as you have transfers in the mix (as you often would if travelling longer distances) or stricter tickets, not making it to the train is usually a really bad option.

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