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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?

#171

Post by Beijinger »

airstrike wrote: post #157
Beijinger wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I’d arrive in a new city each morning feeling refreshed because of the train’s sleeping accommodations." Aeh, where were you travelling? Many countries did not have sleeper trains. Don't get me wrong. I did the same, travelling at night in trains, and it saved me a night in a hotel. But I did not arrive well rested, I arrived train wrecked.

20 years ago?

Yes. It was called Interrail. You had to have an EU Passport to buy this ticket. And be below 26 years of age. I think it still exits.

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

#172

Post by thatcat »

likeabatterycar wrote: post #167
thatcat wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A ton of new destinations? wow what an amazing improvement! Is it possible that was just inevitable network effect and had nothing to do with intentional investments in R/D? It's almost as if the development of technology and politics are interrelated. Half the cost of building US airports were subsidized by the government when they added them. Path of development and real estate prices are related to accessibility.…

> A ton of new destinations? wow what an amazing improvement! Is it possible that was just inevitable network effect and had nothing to do with intentional investments in R/D? No, not possible at all. Intentional investments in R&D led to more fuel-efficient and long-range aircraft technology such as the B787 and A350 which allowed new point-to-point routes between cities that were never before possible, abandoning t…

Oh yes, the common US route of Auckland to NYC. Not having to stop when you make that flight must save a bit of time for 10s if not 100s of people.

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

#173

Post by likeabatterycar »

thatcat wrote: post #159
karaterobot wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

The proof is in the profits that result from a favorable and otherwise illogical set of choices. Who even cares about the details? The oil and related industries are notoriously corrupt, introducing lead into gas knowing the toxic effects among other policy choices aimed at reducing alternatives to cars such as: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_consp... Where's the logical argument against high…

> Who even cares about the details?

This could be the greatest rebuttal to an argument I've ever seen on this site.

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

#174

Post by lagadu »

lotsoweiners wrote: post #130
yndoendo wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would travel more around the USA if we had a decedent high-speed rail system. Spent too much time flying, red-eyes, and driving for work, 7-12+ hours one way, and hate those modes of transportation. They may get you from point A to B but your time is wasted along with the enjoyment of the trip. Unfortunately the Oil industry won over the politicians in the USA with donations, legal bribes, and they prevent the buil…

I’m not sure about that. I’d imagine that trains are going to have the worst of both worlds. They will take a long time (closer to amount of time to drive to destination). They also will have costs approaching that of a flight. To me a train trip makes sense if you enjoy trains and feel that the travel itself is part of the reward.

Taking a fast train is significantly faster than driving. On short and medium trips they're even competitive with flying, if you factor the time it takes to get to/from the airport and associated lead time associated with airports vs showing within 5-10 minutes of departure right at the city centre.

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

#175

Post by VBprogrammer »

bialpio wrote: post #165
caseyy wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the same as I was reading the comment you're responding to. Arriving rested after public transport? Get a load of that guy :) Not sure how anyone does that, but of course it would be nice to learn this dark magic.

"sleeper train" is the key here. Another keyword to search for is "couchette", I think that's how it's called in some places. See e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couchette_car and the map.

I've used the Caledonian Sleeper a couple of times. The first time it worked reasonably well, I got a reasonable amount of sleep. The second time not so much, not really any fault of the train, I just didn't relax enough to get a reasonable amount of sleep.

Both times I'd say well rested would be a stretch. The first time felt a bit like a magic carpet in that I got somewhere while using up no useful hours but it still wasn't perfect.

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

#177

Post by mh- »

thatcat wrote: post #159
karaterobot wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

The proof is in the profits that result from a favorable and otherwise illogical set of choices. Who even cares about the details? The oil and related industries are notoriously corrupt, introducing lead into gas knowing the toxic effects among other policy choices aimed at reducing alternatives to cars such as: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_consp... Where's the logical argument against high…

[flagged]

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

#178

Post by badpun »

thatcat wrote: post #132
likeabatterycar wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you provide sources for the Big Oil conspiracy you cite? Because nationwide high speed rail isn't as easy - or practical - as you think. California hadn't been able to build a train a fraction of that distance without delays and squandering massive amounts of money. The PNW has been unable to build it from Portland to Vancouver. The US is many times larger than any European country or Japan. There are US states s…

China, Russia, and India have high speed rail. Can you cite the reasons that these large countries are capable of building high speed rail while the US is not? Where is the recent innovation in US air travel? It has gotten considerably worse over the last 30 years. Supersonic passenger flights stopped in 2003 around the same time that TSA added hours to every flight.

Russia hardly has high speed rail, it's just one line (Moscow to St. Petersburg) and top speed is just 200 km/h for most of the line.

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

#179

Post by yumraj »

Question: many of these could be day trips, if train schedule permits, if one is trying to cover many cities during a single trip.

I know it’s not an ideal way to visit Europe, but just humor me please.

What’s a good city to make the base, which has good connectivity with as many different cities in different countries as possible, and is a good destination in itself?

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

#180

Post by lagadu »

Aachen wrote: post #160
throwaway20241 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(throwaway for obvious reasons) CW: suicide Coming from someone who has spent considerable time thinking about and planning suicide by train: lol no Unless you put up walls higher than the highest ladders available (so at least 5m I guess) or completely enlose every train track with a roof and everything, people will climb over things. There's either no space for large fenced areas around tracks (pretty much everywhe…

(Without derailing the topic, I hope you are doing better now! You sound level headed and like someone we want in this world or on our jobs or in our friend groups.) I mostly figured the same as what you said (way too much infrastructure needed to mostly eliminate the possibility), though if you say most suicides are impulse decisions, wouldn't preventative infrastructure in a few key spots be sufficient to shave, id…

Even if it did prevent 10% of suicides by train, it stands to reason that a huge portion of those 10% would simply become suicides by jumping off a bridge.
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