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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

#41

Post by thinkingemote »

jotm wrote: post #7
michaelt wrote: post #4

> British people love to complain about the state of their railways I find people have a very different experience with UK rail on whether they're travelling for business or pleasure. People who commute have to take trains at peak time, at the absolute highest ticket prices, take hundreds of trains a year giving lots of opportunities to get delayed, might get yelled at for being late, and at the end of their journey…

When I lived in the UK, I thought 30 minute delays two days per week were the worst thing ever. After living in Germany... British railways seem like an enterprise level SLA. Tickets with a short expiration time (2 hours... why?), hour(s) long delays, sudden last minute platform changes (you need to use the underground passage full of people), trains just disappearing off the screen with no notice after being delayed…

I loved the Pacers there was something so democratic and comfy about the version with the rows of seats on them with no headrests. Lovely train.

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

#42

Post by dustedcodes »

dagw wrote: post #37
imnotlost wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Tokyo subway during rush hour is anything but heaven.

No public transport system is great at rush hour. Still having used the 'subway' in both London and Tokyo at rush hour, I much prefer Tokyo.

You must be trolling.

In London even during the rush hour you get a seat when you are disabled or pregnant.

In Tokyo you end up pregnant when you enter the train:

https://noisebreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/oshiya.jpg

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

#43

Post by lol768 »

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 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 price).

Mostly true, but not universally so - try Denton -> Manchester Piccadilly ;)

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

#44

Post by SilverBirch »

>1. Train stations across the UK are gorgeous

Yes, strategically we basically stopped investing Rail Infrastructure in the late Victorian era. So yes, everythin is very picturesque.

>In my experience, looking up schedules, booking tickets, reserving seats and travelling by train was all as straightforward as can be.

You clearly haven't ever bought a ticket. £30 please, unless you want to travel after 10am, then it'll be 25, oh wait you want to go via Reading that'll be 40. Haha, you got through the barrier tapping your oyster card? That doesn't work out here!

>Avanti West Coast and LNER are the pick of the bunch in this regard as both offer quality hot meals and free-flowing drinks in first class, including beer, wine and strong alcohol.

Yes, when you buy a train ticket the cost of a 3 bed semi, they've got some margin. The idea of traveling first class is unheard off for brits.

>4. The UK has two great sleeper trains

The UK, a country where you could name about 30 destinations that would deserve decent sleeper routes, has two. This sums up the Caledonian sleeper:https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/22/passenger-sp...

>5. Train travel in the UK can be expensive, but..

I live in a commuter town to London, I spend more on a single ticket to work than a months unlimited travel on German railways.

>7. Platforms are announced late

Specifically, they're announced far later than they need to be. If you see the 9:15 train to Maidenhead hasn't announced the platform yet, go have a look at the arrivals. Becuase there's almost certianly an arrival at 9:03 from Maidenhead on platform 4. Guess what.

>9. Railway employees are amazing

Yeah, brits actually know this. It's only politicians and millionaire corporate execs that don't.

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

#45

Post by pgorczak »

jotm wrote: post #7
michaelt wrote: post #4

> British people love to complain about the state of their railways I find people have a very different experience with UK rail on whether they're travelling for business or pleasure. People who commute have to take trains at peak time, at the absolute highest ticket prices, take hundreds of trains a year giving lots of opportunities to get delayed, might get yelled at for being late, and at the end of their journey…

When I lived in the UK, I thought 30 minute delays two days per week were the worst thing ever. After living in Germany... British railways seem like an enterprise level SLA. Tickets with a short expiration time (2 hours... why?), hour(s) long delays, sudden last minute platform changes (you need to use the underground passage full of people), trains just disappearing off the screen with no notice after being delayed…

It’s bad right now. In August only 57% of German long distance trains arrived less than 6 minutes behind schedule. 23% had more than 16 minutes delay. IIRC that’s not even counting canceled stops.

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

#46

Post by dagw »

dustedcodes wrote: post #42
dagw wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No public transport system is great at rush hour. Still having used the 'subway' in both London and Tokyo at rush hour, I much prefer Tokyo.

You must be trolling. In London even during the rush hour you get a seat when you are disabled or pregnant. In Tokyo you end up pregnant when you enter the train: https://noisebreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/oshiya.jpg

Is that still a thing? I never saw any oshiya when I was there 5 years ago.

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

#47

Post by gambiting »

SilverBirch wrote: post #44

>1. Train stations across the UK are gorgeous Yes, strategically we basically stopped investing Rail Infrastructure in the late Victorian era. So yes, everythin is very picturesque. >In my experience, looking up schedules, booking tickets, reserving seats and travelling by train was all as straightforward as can be. You clearly haven't ever bought a ticket . £30 please, unless you want to travel after 10am, then it'l…

>>The idea of traveling first class is unheard off for brits.

I mean, that's a weird statement to make. Every time I travel the 1st class is packed, and it's not packed with blog-writing foreign visitors. Also the 1st class upgrade can be very cheap - I've been down to London several times where the upgrade was £40 on the day of the departure. Also Newcastle-Edinburgh on the Azuma LNER train in 1st class can be had for as little as £40-50 total, did this several times too. Hardly an extravagant expense.

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

#48

Post by justincormack »

notahacker wrote: post #40
ghaff wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that's not necessarily out of line. Where I live outside Boston which is within a (long--about 90 minute) commute into the city, commuter rail passes (including subway/bus) + parking at commuter rail station would run you about $6,000 per year.

But the point of comparison most people are making isn't with the infamously public-transport-averse USA, it's with countries in Europe where rail travel is state run and heavily subsidised (and the house price savings from living further up the line are smaller)

The UK has an explicit policy of not subsidizing commuter trips, only longer trips.

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

#49

Post by blibble »

edent wrote: post #24
blibble wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt many people are paying 20%+ of net income to commute in you'd have to be on minimum wage and a reasonable distance out (in which case you might as well just work locally) 10% however I can believe

Have a play with https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/Season-Calculator... My old commute into London was £3,660 per year - standard class. Pretty close to 20% of my net at the time. Plenty of people do it because big cities are where the opportunities are.

I have been a London commuter for 15 years, with a £5k season ticket

quite why you'd subject yourself to that pain if you're on barely more than minimum wage I really don't know

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

#50

Post by blibble »

justincormack wrote: post #48
notahacker wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the point of comparison most people are making isn't with the infamously public-transport-averse USA, it's with countries in Europe where rail travel is state run and heavily subsidised (and the house price savings from living further up the line are smaller)

The UK has an explicit policy of not subsidizing commuter trips, only longer trips.

it's actually the exact opposite

the commuter fares are regulated, none of the others are

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