Awful UX! : /
Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
331–340 of 428 posts
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#332For those that think it’s impossible for the USA because of the density or geography or oil economy, please have a look at that map: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Russia edit: traveled with the transiberian as a tourist, it was full of workers, business man, students, whatever, hopping on and of in different places for connections or destinations. Best human experience ever in all three classes. E…
I'm curious what you intend by your comparison to the Russian train system -- Russia has more distance to cover/is more spread out, but the U.S. has over twice as many miles of track. I'm pretty confident that that comparison doesn't hold if we compare passenger rail miles, but I think the point is that the track is there in the U.S., it's just that few people here find passenger rail compelling as an alternative to…
The US also has over 2x as many people and wayyyy more wealth
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#333Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 sti…
The lowland sleeper London-Glasgow/Edinburgh isn’t long enough for a good nights sleep in my view.
Yeah, you can stay on it for a bit longer after they arrive but you'd have to be very asleep not to notice the lack of movement and noise of the station around you. Funny enough the best night I had on it, it was delayed by a few hours (normally a horrible thing on the train but perfect on a slightly too short sleeper!).
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#334Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
I travelled Europe on night trains almost exactly 20 years ago as well, and I was not an EU citizen back then... I guess I just paid more than with interrail? Just wanted to mention it was possible, and must've been pretty cheap as I was broke as hell at the time.
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#335In Germany not so far because the train will be 2+ hours late
Huh really? Whenever I’ve taken the train in Germany it’s been pretty punctual, and looking at the board that’s been the case for most trains. But maybe I just got lucky and/or it’s changed over time. Flakiest trains I’ve experienced anywhere in Europe were in Italy - rolling strikes among train workers are crazy frequent and cause so many delays and cancellations.
The map claims a journey from Berlin to Bremen takes 2h57m. My last one took 6h 33m. And it was only a single connection in Hamburg. The Berlin-Hamburg ICE got stuck for a few hours in the middle of nowhere, then a few trains from Hamburg to Bremen got cancelled... The usual stuff.
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#336For those that think it’s impossible for the USA because of the density or geography or oil economy, please have a look at that map: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Russia edit: traveled with the transiberian as a tourist, it was full of workers, business man, students, whatever, hopping on and of in different places for connections or destinations. Best human experience ever in all three classes. E…
Moreover, I've never heard of a long-distance passenger train being delayed or cancelled in Russia. Granted, I mostly knew about major trains to major destinations from Moscow/Saint Petersburg. Not a single person I knew had a plan for "the train is cancelled/delayed". Like, forgetting ID is more likely. I've heard it's a USSR legacy where passenger trains had much higher priority than even freight trains. Flight cancellations or delays - sure, they do happen.
Local trains even in these major cities do get delayed (around 2-5 minutes is typical, very rarely up to 30 minutes) or cancelled. Delays are in the moment, cancellations are typically announced a day or two in advance, as I was told.
"11 trains are late for at least two hours" makes regional news.
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#337Earlier quoted context omitted.
These are trains with sleeping cabins and actual beds you sleep in. It's better than many hostels.
I rode in a sleeper car in December 1999 in Australia, between Melbourne and Sydney, and it was an unpleasant experience. It was a jerky, bumpy, noisy ride, somebody kept going between the cars for smoke breaks and the smell wafted into our cabin, and there was a baby crying in the cabin next door.
I think this is a personal thing. Even at home we are not equal. I can sleep almost anywhere, and usually fall asleep in a very short time after lying down and closing my eyes. Some people can even fall asleep on a chair in a wedding party with loud mudic and bright lights without even being wasted. Some people can't. Some will always complain about the bed, even in the most luxury/premium hotel. My partner can't stand the slightest light going through blinds, a neighbor making noise or the drunktards making noise in the street at night. Yet she will fall asleep in a matter of minutes in a car.
So as an individual traveling alone, you know your limits and can pretty much figure out if that way of travelling works for you. For a family, you are pretty sure at least one member of the family will have a rough night and complain in the morning.
A sure way to spend good night while travelling is to be very active during the day. You sleep much better if you have walked for 15 to 20km around a city to visit it than if you have been idle most of the time and taken taxis and buses whenever you could. Most lazy people don't understand that rest has to be earned.
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#338Meanwhile in Canada https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/via-rain-passengers-...
I think in our defense there is simply not enough people and towns to support a rail network like this. A shame, really, 'cause a WestJet flight from Victoria to Calgary is way more expensive than it needs to be and don't even get me started about cross-country flights. I would accept if Via rail was cheaper. I have been looking at those cross-country trips and it's literally $4k CAD per person. I get that it's accom…
Via rail is commonly excoriated by not just bikes. The baggage policy seems especially pointless.
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#339Earlier quoted context omitted.
High-speed rail isn't meant for DFW to NYC distances. It's best for journeys of around 200-500 miles. So Boston-NYC-DC, or SF-LA. Or Houston-Dallas.
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/dfw-airport-destinat... So the top destinations out of Dallas are Atlanta, Denver, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Austin, Phoenix, Houston, Orlando, Chicago, and New York. So HSR would potentially be competitive with maybe two of the top 10 destinations when comparing to air travel for DFW. I'm a proponent for the Texas HSR projects, but I don't think it's going to really radically ch…
The traffic from Love Field would be a better target/comparison, as it's a regional airport. European style HSR doesn't replace international hub airports in europe, either.
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#340Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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. That trip is 1h 15m by air with 30 flights a day each way. That train doesn't exist anymore because it's impractical and people's time is valuable. We stopped taking Conestoga wagons from New York to California for the sam…
There is also flights in Europe that are faster. I recently traveled from Stuttgart to Vienna via night train. It was even more expensive. But this is not the point. Time sleeping in a night train is not lost. Also typically getting to the airport and from the airport into the city takes time. Same for airport security. And if there is enough wind that night one might even travel CO2 emission free.
Why should the individual end user be concerned about CO2 emissions? Or are we letting corporations in China outsource that guilt back to us?