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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?

#71

Post by Freak_NL »

sloowm wrote: post #56
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…

There are things that can be done about people jumping in front of trains. Making sure the rails are not accessible with fences around them. Putting camera's at spots where people can get past the fences. In high risk stations you can put walls and gates in that only open when a train can be boarded. It's all just a lack of investment. If the budget for rail and other infrastructure matched the budget for car infrast…

> In high risk stations you can put walls and gates in that only open when a train can be boarded.

That is only possible with fully standardized train units. Which is why you will see this in subways and dedicated high speed networks, but not on the common rail net. Platforms on a larger railway station have to accommodate a range of trains, from metro services (many doors at shorter intervals), to intercity trains (fewer doors, longer carriages), to special trains like night trains (a bunch of carriages from different ages strung together) and rented locomotives with spare carriages to fill gaps in the roster caused by late delivery of new trains.

> Making sure the rails are not accessible with fences around them.

There will always be spots where the rails are somewhat accessible outside of built-up areas.

Besides, all of that is fighting symptoms. Spend the same money on prevention and you'll have much more impact.

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

#72

Post by Symbiote »

yoavm wrote: post #57
hagbard_c wrote: post #31

A rather incomplete list, at least for those starting from Sweden which only seems to allow access to neighbouring Scandinavian countries according to it. Well, no, I regularly - about once a month - take a train from there to the Netherlands, via Denmark and Germany. Given the presence of a Book through Deutsche Bahn button for all trips I'd expect that option to be available but alas, it's Denmark or bust.

You take a train from Sweden to the Netherlands in 8 hours? From where in Sweden? I've done the Stockholm - Amsterdam route a couple of times, and it's usually closer to 16 hours.

Amsterdam is 11 hours from Copenhagen, so from Malmø it's an extra 40 minutes or so.

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

#73

Post by Symbiote »

throw646577 wrote: post #34
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…

> if your train leaves at 0700 you can’t plan to get there at 06:59 Millions of train commuters in the UK optimise for just this sort of thing. Not one minute before, because the doors typically close 30s to a minute before departure, but 06:55 for sure. I am not a commuter, but later in the day I don’t leave the house much earlier than twelve minutes before the train I want to get will leave the station, which is a…

For a one-off journey with limited flexibility, I would normally plan to be at the station 15 minutes prior to departure.

If it's a train that runs every half hour or so, and my ticket is flexible (which is common) I might cut that to 5 or so.

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

#74

Post by Freak_NL »

TypingOutBugs wrote: post #23
withinboredom wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My one and only sleeper train experience involved being woken up at 3am by police with guns to check passports. Never again.

I just took a sleeper train last night from Helsinki to the arctic circle and they had non-reclining seats with no light dimming. Got around an hours nap between 6am and 7am this morning. Took around 14 hours to go 1000km. Very much regret not paying for a proper cabin…

Yeah, that's sleeper train travel 101. Either be young and not too tall and on a budget, or pay for a private cabin.

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

#76

Post by zelos »

ben_w wrote: post #64
portaouflop wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Agreed. Learn the lesson from the UK, who did privatisation first* and have witnessed things much worse than the current state of German trains (which are still *excellent* in comparison, and I say that as one who moved from the UK to Germany in 2018). * or "harder", to the extent that German rail privatisation never went as far as in the UK. I understand there's a constitutional requirement here in Germany for gover…

To be fair though, it's not like the trains were exactly great in the UK before privatisation.

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

#77

Post by Symbiote »

FartyMcFarter wrote: post #50
louthy wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It really depends on the route.

When searching a journey, it's easy to see if the route with connections repeats every 20, 30, 60 minutes or something else.

Stricter tickets mattering or not depends on the country.

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

#78

Post by ianbicking »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #25

Is this actual train journeys, including time traversing stations, or is it concatenated journey times? I think it might be the former, as Bristol to Paris was 4h40, Bristol to Reims was 5h52, but Paris to Reims was 46 mins. Similarly, Brussels to Cologne/Koln 1h48, Brussels to Berlin 6h05, but Berlin to Koln 4h02. Not much different, but still enough to pique my curiosity. FWIW the city straplines/blurbs were in Eng…

I notice if you look at Madrid it includes all of Spain and none of Portugal, and similarly from Lisbon. I assume this is because the schedules don't line up, because it wouldn't really make sense in terms of physical distance.

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

#80

Post by tzury »

About 20 years ago, I visited most of Europe’s major cities over the course of a two-month trip, traveling primarily by night train. Each overnight ride saved me the cost of a hostel or guesthouse, and I’d arrive in a new city each morning feeling refreshed because of the train’s sleeping accommodations.

There used to be a similar service between Toronto and Montreal (both directions), where the train would pause for several hours midway so passengers would arrive at around 7:30 a.m. well-rested.

I’ve taken that route as well, and it’s remarkable how much you see while traveling by train. You pass through countless towns, villages, and beautiful scenery—experiences you simply can’t get from flying.

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