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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?

#351

Post by sokoloff »

aetherson wrote: post #248
LAC-Tech wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2.5 times faster than any train in my wealthy, western country.

I don't know which wealthy, western country you live in, but to be clear in the US Acela trains get up to 150 mph (241 kmh) -- admittedly in a short section, but with other sections that have a top speed of 135 mph (217 kmh). The entire route from Washington to New York has an average speed ( including stops ) of 90mph (140 kmh). Should Acela be faster? Probably! But people should be clear-eyed about what the reality…

That might be the average scheduled speed, but it’s not my average experienced speed on Acela, with about half the trips seeing significant delays from schedule.

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

#352

Post by pjmlp »

rtpg wrote: post #319
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Today the US has 3-5X less population density than any country with high speed rail. This may be true when averaged across the entire country (or even just the lower 48). But it is absolutely not true if you consider various zones of the country as candidates for good rail service. Several such zones exist, among them: 1. the north east corridor, perhaps one of the largest and densest conurbations in the world 2. t…

I do agree with the idea of building out strong localised networks (and roll my eyes at the "US rail network" dream maps people post out). But my impression from France and Germany at least is that you have two sort of failure modes: - For France, rural areas don't really have that good of a rail network. Instead there are several trunk lines that are reliable. But it means that east-west stuff is nearly non-existent…

Also in rural Germany you will need a car anyway, even if all major cities are well connected.

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

#353

Post by kccqzy »

gcanyon wrote: post #268
kortilla wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sleeper cars in the US cost more than a hotel for a night. Saving the cost of a hotel is not really a selling point

This is the part that really frustrates me. Not that I've researched, but it seems like trains should have basically unlimited space for passengers, at very little increase in cost -- a five-mile-long train takes maybe 1-2 more people to operate than a 1-mile train? So why doesn't the U.S. lean into the sleeper concept? If we could increase speeds to 90mph and have affordable sleeper cars, trips of up to 1,000 miles…

Do you not expect attendants on these trains? And since your train only travels at 90mph you will need a larger number of dining cars and their associated cooks and waiters/waitresses.

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

#354

Post by pjmlp »

pontifk8r wrote: post #148
lotsoweiners wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

As a US person who has, You need to experience euro train travel. The whole experience, from booking using an app to waiting for a train. You’ll find the apps are good, the schedule information accurate and up to date. The apps don’t do stupid things mostly. When you arrive at the station, you’ll find it generally clean and well maintained. Signage is clear and tied into the train information system. Arrival times ac…

As someone living in Germany since 2004, that looks more like a DB ad than the trains I mostly travel on.

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

#355

Post by def_true_false »

rtpg wrote: post #319
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Today the US has 3-5X less population density than any country with high speed rail. This may be true when averaged across the entire country (or even just the lower 48). But it is absolutely not true if you consider various zones of the country as candidates for good rail service. Several such zones exist, among them: 1. the north east corridor, perhaps one of the largest and densest conurbations in the world 2. t…

I do agree with the idea of building out strong localised networks (and roll my eyes at the "US rail network" dream maps people post out). But my impression from France and Germany at least is that you have two sort of failure modes: - For France, rural areas don't really have that good of a rail network. Instead there are several trunk lines that are reliable. But it means that east-west stuff is nearly non-existent…

German trains are unrealiable because they spend like 5-10 times less per km of railway than Austria or Switzerland.

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

#356

Post by throw5959 »

thecopy wrote: post #348
throw5959 wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since we're citing European trains, let's also cite European airports - I can arrive to the airport for an EU flight 20 minutes before take off and still have plenty of time to get everything sorted out. And I'm out of the airport within 15 minutes after landing - usually stepping right into a subway or something. I don't think it's such a huge margin if you fix your airports, which is going to be many orders of magn…

While i agree that EU airports are very efficient, 20 minutes before schedule take-off must be impossible. Surely you mean 20 minutes before boarding starts?

No, I'm usually the last person to board. Departure (but not arrival) frequently gets pushed back by 10-20 minutes, though I am making it on time even if not. I have literally never waited at a security check and it takes a minute or two to get through - speaking about EU flights.

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

#357

Post by vel0city »

NikkiA wrote: post #339
vel0city wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

My source does use DAL as well

> from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (known by airport code "DFW") and Dallas Love Field Airport ("DAL")

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

#358

Post by DiogenesKynikos »

aziaziazi wrote: post #255

For 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…

East of the Mississippi, the population density of the US is not that much lower than that of the EU, anyways. Within some relatively large regions of the US, such as the Northeast Megalopolis, the population density is higher than most of Western Europe.

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

#359

Post by ricardonunez »

pjmlp wrote: post #115
ianbicking wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There are hardly any connecting trains between both countries. The connection to Vigo happens a few times a day, with regional trains, and to Madrid it is at most twice a day, if it runs. Then the regular CP strikes, delays and canceled trains. It isn't by chance that most families have cars, if we rely on trains and bus alone, better have enough time for travelling by land.

About 20 years ago I was in Portugal and remember it was a TGV project that didn't take off. It was supposed to connect to Madrid I believe. I imagine that politics and money created this issue.

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

#360

Post by helpfulContrib »

mattashii wrote: post #346
helpfulContrib wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Enschede is serviced by German rail operators though, so that might be a reason. In fact a lot of trains in this region of the world are operated by neighboring countries ..

> Enschede is serviced by German rail operators though Yes, there is a train service to Germany, but the majority of the connections from Enschede are to/from the Netherlands. > In fact a lot of trains in this region of the world are operated by neighboring countries If a service to Germany causes the whole station to be labeled as German, the website might just as well label Berlin as Czech, or Brussels as Dutch: CZ…

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