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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?

#401

Post by gpvos »

bpye wrote: post #217
Beijinger wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I’d arrive in a new city each morning feeling refreshed because of the train’s sleeping accommodations." Aeh, where were you travelling? Many countries did not have sleeper trains. Don't get me wrong. I did the same, travelling at night in trains, and it saved me a night in a hotel. But I did not arrive well rested, I arrived train wrecked.

I spent a couple weeks travelling by train across Europe a few years ago on an Interrail pass. I found sleeper cabins were generally pretty comfortable, though you do have to pay extra for them. If you were just sleeping in a seat then yes I can believe you felt awful the next day.

In the sleeping cabins I can sleep fine, but they're usually really expensive. In the couchettes I can sleep about 50-60% of the time. In the seats, not at all.

So I go for couchettes. One time in Sweden I found that the sleepers were only 10 euro more than the couchettes, so then I took one.

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

#402

Post by saagarjha »

monkeywork wrote: post #392
saagarjha wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Environment? Comfort?

That's worth the price tag, environmental impact, and government land repossession that will be required?

Often, yes. Have you considered how the alternatives fare on those?

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

#403

Post by rconti »

brabel wrote: post #334
Beijinger wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Eurail passes (for non-EU citizens) were cheaper than interrail passes. You needed a non-EU passport, and a non-EU address.

I ordered one to my parents' house in the US and had them FexEx it to me in Europe.

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

#404

Post by tills13 »

bpye wrote: post #227
tills13 wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Nearly two thirds of Canada's population live within the Windsor-Quebec City corridor - some 40 million people. Similarly Vancouver, BC - Portland, OR has relatively high population density. Population is not the reason for rail failing here.

Ok sure but when I say Canada I am talking about the entire country. I support a cheap, fast line connecting Toronto with its populated neighboring cities. And sure, something between Vancouver and Portland would be fine. But it is not feasible to, for example, connect Vancouver and Toronto with rail. In Europe, you can take rail from London to Athens. I want that in Canada but you have to go through vast amounts of nothingness to do so. Population IS the reason for rail failing here.

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

#405

Post by FartinMowler »

Moru wrote: post #347
dspillett wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I travel by train regularly in the UK and it isn't unusual to take up to 8 hours to get anywhere :) The closest I've been to a sleeper in recent decades has been five hours on a cold station because cancellations & delays have meant missing the last onward connection of the day so waiting for the first morning service (there are supposed to be provisions for that by way of providing accommodation or replacement taxi…

8 hours won't even get me out of Sweden from where I live.

30 hours and I still haven't left the province of Ontario (Canada).

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

#406

Post by dredmorbius »

For grins and/or cringes, I'd like to see a similar site for the US.

There are a few cities with reasonably good commuter-rail service which might compare with some of the European cities. Other than that distance/hour will be a small fraction of that in the EU.

Comparisons with China and Japan might also be illuminating.

There are historical isochrone travel maps of the US, also ironically strongly influenced by railroad development, see:

https://railroads.unl.edu/documents/view_document.php?id=rai...>

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~2...>

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

#407

Post by emchammer »

lmm wrote: post #299
voidfunc wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Street cars != Intercity Rail Also I'd argue street cars are way worse than busses which have route flexibility. The bigger problem is Americans don't like being around other Americans and really don't like public transit. It's not some giant conspiracy.

> Street cars != Intercity Rail No, but the two feed into each other. Intercity rail loses most of its advantages if you have to hire a car at the destination. > Also I'd argue street cars are way worse than busses which have route flexibility. They're better for that very reason. You can move somewhere with a decent commute and know that the streetcar isn't going to disappear at the stroke of a pen.

I know that you were talking about individual commutes here. The city of Oslo, Norway was considering having a shared trunk in one corner, where the metro, the streetcar, and the intercity rail all shared a stretch of track. I believe it was to make efficient use of existing right-of-way. I think that there were problems due to electrification (750 V vs 15 kV) and other political problems.

There is a different section in Oslo where the streetcar and metro share a stretch of track using a clever interlocking.

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

#408

Post by rhapsodic »

epolanski wrote: post #371
geraldwhen wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You haven’t lived until you’ve been assaulted by a homeless person on a bus in the US! Buses are a joke. We cannot have public transit here without security to match, like at airports.

US has a huge social problem that spills into a security one. Quite unsurprisingly Americans end up isolating from each other in suburbs, often gated neighborhoods with private schools, cars and live overall miserable and unhappy lives.

[dead]

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

#410

Post by lukan »

afiori wrote: post #397
lukan wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I would rather go with smaller, but automated trains. But in germany for example this would mean, basically changing everything installed electronically there already is.

The problem with trains in Germany is not high tech automation it is the aggressive cost-cutting that removed a lot of redundancy and stability, so now it is a worse service in quality and reliability

Well, it is one of the problem. Recently new tech was installed - but not at all with the idea of automatisation in mind. Apart from that I know, I often had the fun adventure of not knowing will I catch the last connection, or not.
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