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Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

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Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#131

Post by martopix »

SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #100
Mordisquitos wrote: post #33

As someone with significant experience of using the rail networks in both the UK and Spain, I strongly agree with the last point regarding the hybrid reservation model. In addition, there's one further point which I don't think he mentions: the fact that in the UK you can buy a ticket at any station to go to any arbitrary station A from any arbitrary station B (notwithstanding the complexity of determining the best p…

Meanwhile in Japan (Tokyo at least) the red, blue, green, whatever lines aren’t even the same companies and good luck foreigner!

This is exactly the point. In the UK too, they have a plethora of different companies, but you can buy any ticket anyway.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#132

Post by martopix »

Mordisquitos wrote: post #33

As someone with significant experience of using the rail networks in both the UK and Spain, I strongly agree with the last point regarding the hybrid reservation model. In addition, there's one further point which I don't think he mentions: the fact that in the UK you can buy a ticket at any station to go to any arbitrary station A from any arbitrary station B (notwithstanding the complexity of determining the best p…

I came here to say something of this sort too. I have experience trying to buy international train tickets around Europe, and it's very often a big mess. Prices are different on different websites, they won't sell you regional trains, etc. The EU should intervene and make it easier.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#133

Post by jon-wood »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #61

It was 17 years since I lived in the UK, so it may have changed a lot, but my experience with trains was not that great: - very expensive - not enough space, and too small rack areas for luggages - booking that crossed over several private train companies was complicated and unreliable The experience was much better in France. But as I said, it could have changed a lot.

Only the third point isn’t valid still, and to be honest I’m not sure it was valid 17 years ago either. There are many complaints I have about the British rail system, but I’ve never had a problem booking tickets that cover multiple operating companies.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#134

Post by platelminto »

I'm surprised no one (including TFA) has mentioned Trainline yet, as it addresses a lot of the issues mentioned in the comments here:

- buy tickets (with easy explanations of when/where they're valid)

- see which platform a train will depart from/arrive at

- check delays

- see walking times between platforms

- bus connections info

- handles refunds

- etc.

It works across Europe (elsewhere, I'm not sure), but in my experience it's got the most functionality within the UK.

The app itself is fantastic too. I'm not exaggerating when I say it is one of my favourite pieces of software - it does 1 thing, and does it super well. It's fast: no fluff, no ads. Few apps on my phone are like that anymore.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#135

Post by cannam »

I didn't know about Realtime Trains (https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/). I'm definitely going to be using that!

It shows a lot of technical detail, but the exciting bit is that it has the platform a train is booked to use, shown in light text, before the platform is actually confirmed, when it turns bold. Departure boards and other apps that use the standard feed only show the platform once it has been confirmed. That's obviously sensible from the point of view of crowd management and avoiding mishap, but I would often like to have a provisional idea of what to expect.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#136

Post by maccard »

nextos wrote: post #79
Mordisquitos wrote: post #33

As someone with significant experience of using the rail networks in both the UK and Spain, I strongly agree with the last point regarding the hybrid reservation model. In addition, there's one further point which I don't think he mentions: the fact that in the UK you can buy a ticket at any station to go to any arbitrary station A from any arbitrary station B (notwithstanding the complexity of determining the best p…

The problem is usually price and reliability. You can commute Segovia - Madrid Chamartin on a high speed train (95 km, 27 min, 200 euro per month). Reliability and price are top notch. A comparable commute is Cambridge - London (60 mi, 65 min, 500-600 pound per month depending on some details). I have used both, and there is no contest, sadly.

On the price side, Cambridge has 3x the population of segovia, and the same distance. Similarly, London has 3x the population of Madrid. My quick Google says there's 6 million jobs in London and 3 million in Madrid. My napkin math says that the demand for the Cambridge route is likely to be 2x if not 3x the Madrid route.

Youve also missed over the fact that the Cambridge train is more like 45 minutes than 60.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#137

Post by Bayart »

martopix wrote: post #132
Mordisquitos wrote: post #33

As someone with significant experience of using the rail networks in both the UK and Spain, I strongly agree with the last point regarding the hybrid reservation model. In addition, there's one further point which I don't think he mentions: the fact that in the UK you can buy a ticket at any station to go to any arbitrary station A from any arbitrary station B (notwithstanding the complexity of determining the best p…

I came here to say something of this sort too. I have experience trying to buy international train tickets around Europe, and it's very often a big mess. Prices are different on different websites, they won't sell you regional trains, etc. The EU should intervene and make it easier.

> The EU should intervene and make it easier.

They're about to. National train operators were mandated to find a solution to homogenize booking but it's getting nowhere.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#138

Post by BritishTrainer »

platelminto wrote: post #134

I'm surprised no one (including TFA) has mentioned Trainline yet, as it addresses a lot of the issues mentioned in the comments here: - buy tickets (with easy explanations of when/where they're valid) - see which platform a train will depart from/arrive at - check delays - see walking times between platforms - bus connections info - handles refunds - etc. It works across Europe (elsewhere, I'm not sure), but in my ex…

Nobody I know uses that app. They charge way higher admin and booking fees than the alternatives.

Trainline adds a fee to every ticket sold, apps like TrainPal do the same things as Trainline (book tickets, check delays, see platform, walking times, etc), but only charge a fee if they get you the ticket cheaper than buying it from the station. So, including the fee, the price you pay is still less. And it find way better split-ticket deals than Trainline does.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#139

Post by 6LLvveMx2koXfwn »

maccard wrote: post #136
nextos wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is usually price and reliability. You can commute Segovia - Madrid Chamartin on a high speed train (95 km, 27 min, 200 euro per month). Reliability and price are top notch. A comparable commute is Cambridge - London (60 mi, 65 min, 500-600 pound per month depending on some details). I have used both, and there is no contest, sadly.

On the price side, Cambridge has 3x the population of segovia, and the same distance. Similarly, London has 3x the population of Madrid. My quick Google says there's 6 million jobs in London and 3 million in Madrid. My napkin math says that the demand for the Cambridge route is likely to be 2x if not 3x the Madrid route. Youve also missed over the fact that the Cambridge train is more like 45 minutes than 60.

There are also up to 12 trains an hour from Cambridge to London (Liverpool Street, Kings Cross, St Pancras), this is basically as often as some city metros's. Time taken varies between 54 minutes and 1:29 hr.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#140

Post by arcen »

Mordisquitos wrote: post #33

As someone with significant experience of using the rail networks in both the UK and Spain, I strongly agree with the last point regarding the hybrid reservation model. In addition, there's one further point which I don't think he mentions: the fact that in the UK you can buy a ticket at any station to go to any arbitrary station A from any arbitrary station B (notwithstanding the complexity of determining the best p…

Frankly, that pales to what we have here in The Netherlands. A single OV-chipkaart swipe and you can take an NS train to wherever you want without needing to reserve seats and pre-book tickets. When I was in UK I didn't understand why the need for so much complexity when they could make it work like London metro (swipe in/out with a card). Needless to say I am not a fan of the UK system.

edit: grammar

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