In Europe, trains are full, and more are on the way

Post by hannob » Sat, Jan 06, 2024, 1:48 PM UTC

hnaccount_rng wrote: post #72

hannob wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have experience with InterRail, but the bad experience often starts with buying a ticket. The amount of "we cannot sell you that ticket, we can't even tell you the price" I have gotten when checking international connections is wild. It is slowly improving (I just checked a particularly absurd example where Deutsche Bahn was unable to sell a ticket to switzerland through if it wasn't bought a long time in adv…

Oh that's nothing. 5 years ago DB couldn't sell you all tickets within Germany (if you didn't cross a Verkehrsverbund boundary the local train company could refuse to license that right to DB). So yeah. Improving ;)

Post by porompompero » Sat, Jan 06, 2024, 2:20 PM UTC

DrNosferatu wrote: post #29

enaaem wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just built a separate international network, with its own separate system and tracks. The way Japan handles complexity is through redundancy. Japan runs both really old trains, hyper modern high speed rail and everything in between. Each system runs on separate tracks, are from different companies, and are not interconnected. This can be a lesson on how to run complex systems in general.

Enaaem: It already works that way. The Iberic Peninsula has a different rail gauge from Central Europe, but - in parallel to Iberian Gauge - is building and expanding its TGV network, which is in the Central European gauge. So, a secondary network.

Post by GrumpySloth » Sat, Jan 06, 2024, 4:22 PM UTC

mondaymusings wrote: post #168

GrumpySloth wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your second link also gives an alternative explanation of people being motivated economically, not environmentally. And quote from the first link: > 91% say they want to replace short-distance flights by fast, low-polluting trains in collaboration with neighbouring countries See how a train being fast was bundled into the question. Let’s forget about environment for a moment. Going by plane is a lot less convenient,…

> See how a train being fast was bundled into the question. Fast doesn't entail faster than a plane. > the train would need to be more expensive In my experience international train travel in Europe is always more expensive, sometimes 3-4 times more expensive, than airtravel. Due to subsidies and externalities. https://stay-grounded.org/privileged-position-revealing-the-... Against your "almost nobody thinks like tha…

Post by testrun » Sat, Jan 06, 2024, 5:31 PM UTC

maxwell22 wrote: post #182

rspoerri wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who subsidizes the air traffic?

Tax payers. In Germany, airplane fuel is not taxed. See this Greenpeace study (in German) about how much cheaper flying is than train rides and why: https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/regional/nordrheinwestfalen... .

Post by The_Colonel » Sat, Jan 06, 2024, 8:40 PM UTC

feitingen wrote: post #174

The_Colonel wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really see this dynamic working in rail. In Japan, many of the companies operate trains on two gauges. People read too much into this, it's mostly just historical reasons. Most slow Japanese rail has a quite narrow gauge which is less suitable for high speed trains. The interoperability benefit is limited since you typically won't want to operate both Shinkanzens and local trains on the same rail. Having diff…

> The interoperability benefit is limited since you typically won't want to operate both Shinkanzens and local trains on the same rail. > Having different gauges provides no real benefit. The only place it would be beneficial to have the same gauge would be at stations, to have fewer, more flexibile platforms and smaller train stations.