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London could be cleaner but it's in no way wholly "absolutely disgusting" and "the most revolting environments, stations, trains and rolling stock"
What is your frame of reference?
London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
51–60 of 80 posts
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#52What commute? I seriously hope you guys didn't return to the office...
Some people enjoy working in an office, and (so long as you aren't imposing your desires on anyone else) that's just fine.
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#53[dead]
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#54It feels odd to talk about the US without bringing up BART, which has comparable characteristics to the Elizabeth Line (the yellow line is over 60 miles long, for instance, and headway through the core area is under 5 minutes at peak).
Where is this "Under 5 minutes at peak" ? I see about 6tph scheduled on BART's busiest line at rush hour. The Elizabeth Line's core runs 24tph which is what I'd consider an actual metro service - No reason to schedule my arrival, normal operating fluctuations dominate attempts to get there in a timely fashion so just rock up and board the next train.
I don't use BART a lot--mostly from SFO into the city--but I don't schedule my arrival. Pretty much walk up. Contrast that with actual commuter rail in my city which is pretty much useless for an evening event as I think there are two trains scheduled after around 8pm.
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#55This article really needs to mention Japan, who pioneered and perfected the idea and its smooth integration into the subway network. It's common in Tokyo for a train to start as a limited express that travels long distances at speed, then transition into an all-stops subway, tunnel through Tokyo, and then morph back into an express for the long haul out. Some trains on the Toyoko Line do this twice: express, subway i…
Doesn't this describe the Metropolitan line in London, which is the first one? And that's not how the Parisian RER works - they have very few stops in the city of Paris itself, to prioritise long distance travel and make it faster (somewhat as a reaction to how unsuited the Paris metro, which has a ridiculously dense stop network, is for long distances).
London also created Thameslink in the 1980s by linking existing suburban rail north and south of the city. It's not as fancy as the new Elizabeth line, but it did make a big difference to a lot of people commuting to the City of London, saving them the extra time of changing from rail to tube.
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#56Odd to see the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) presented in such a positive light. As an engineering project Crossrail became famous for being repeatedly delayed (eventually opening four years late) and many billions over budget. Since opening the Elizabeth Line has been beset by high numbers of service cancellations and poor punctuality (usually blamed on having to share track outside the central tunnel section with othe…
Only complaint I have is that it's already so popular that trains are absolutely packed!
Nobody uses it anymore because the trains are so full.
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
Took it for a few years too, I think the frequency can be as much as every 90 seconds.
Yep, I live on it and 2 minutes is underselling it. On the central trunk frequency in rush hour is a departure every 90s, which means there's almost constantly a train at the station.
This reminds of the way the S-Bahn system works through central Berlin. Several different lines all converge on the same route through the heart of the city, providing "adequate" service intervals to their actual endpoints, but as a side effect, 90 sec departures in the city itself.
It's like a magic trick!
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#58This article really needs to mention Japan, who pioneered and perfected the idea and its smooth integration into the subway network. It's common in Tokyo for a train to start as a limited express that travels long distances at speed, then transition into an all-stops subway, tunnel through Tokyo, and then morph back into an express for the long haul out. Some trains on the Toyoko Line do this twice: express, subway i…
If only they'd give them sensible names so I could remember whether a Commuter Rapid is faster than a Special Rapid or a Limited Express. (Maybe it makes more sense in Japanese)
Tangentially related, in the Netherlands there's 2 types of train, Sprinter and InterCity.
The Sprinter is the one that stops at every small station along the way, whereas the InterCity is the one that speedily goes only to the major stations.
This has always annoyed me to an unreasonable degree
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#59This was a great read. As an American who is currently living in France, I'm always blown away by how easy it is for me to get just about anywhere via train.
America is way less dense than France and Europe at large. Only in BoWash such an high density network would make sense
As @jltsiren noted, this is a false equivalence. You need to compare the population densities where most people actually live, not overall density. When you do that, a very different picture emerges.
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
If only they'd give them sensible names so I could remember whether a Commuter Rapid is faster than a Special Rapid or a Limited Express. (Maybe it makes more sense in Japanese)
Tangentially related, in the Netherlands there's 2 types of train, Sprinter and InterCity. The Sprinter is the one that stops at every small station along the way, whereas the InterCity is the one that speedily goes only to the major stations. This has always annoyed me to an unreasonable degree
InterCity makes sense to me (inner vs inter). I’m guessing “sprinter” has more to do with being advertised for shot trips. Still silly though.