9-Euro-Ticket • Hacker News Board

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#511

Post by Xylakant » Sat, May 21, 2022, 6:01 AM UTC

anonyfox wrote: post #459

IMTDb wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is assuming that your trip starts and stops exactly next to the train station and that there is a non-delayed train available precisely at the right time. In practice that's not the case and those time add up quickly . Car trip will look like: 1. Travel from start to location (3:20) 2. Find parking (0:5) 3. Walk from parking to location (0:10) Total time of 3:35 Your train trip will look like: 1. Go from start t…

Also remember we’re talking Autobahn here! Gmaps assumes upto 130kp/h… depending on your car and driving style you could drive 200kp/h++ (at least partially when there’s no speed limit) -> I’d challenge the 3:20h driving time, would probably more like 2:30h in ideal conditions

Having travelled Hamburg-Berlin for more than two years: A 130 km/h average is very optimistic on that route unless you travel in the middle of the night. Large distances are speed limited to less and large chunks are 2 lanes with lots of traffic. Not to speak of construction sites and traffic jams.

I usually took the train and would constantly beat my colleagues taking the car significantly (1-2 hours)

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#512

Post by newaccount74 » Sat, May 21, 2022, 6:05 AM UTC

ivan_gammel wrote: post #457

newaccount74 wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't really talk about DB, I rarely take the ICE. But I also want to point out that I didn't say that public transit is 99% on time, I said I get to my destination on time 99% of the time. Often when a train/tram/subway is late I can just take a different one and still get to my destination on time. If there is a delay on a long journey, I usually know hours in advance, and I can let people know I'm going to be la…

This week I had two business trips on ICE trains. It was exactly like in statistics (only 75% trains come on time), one of them delayed by 20 minutes just before departure due to "unauthorized people on the tracks". This was the 3rd incident with DB during my travels this year (before that I had my connection train from Frankfurt cancelled while I was on the 2 hour long flight there). One of the delays that I experie…

As I said, as an Austrian my experience with DB is limited. All I can say is that public transport here in Austria in my experience is more reliable than taking the car.

It feels like every direction I want to go with my car, there's always construction, with detours, closed exits, or just a section of highway with a 60km/h limit and traffic jams, because they are adding another lane, or building a new bridge, or resurfacing the road, or adding noise protection, or something.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#513

Post by withinboredom » Sat, May 21, 2022, 6:09 AM UTC

6510 wrote: post #506

withinboredom wrote: post #491

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. If you have an hour to kill, there’s always good street food, or just exploring a bit. It’s not a waste.

And if you have an every minute counts life style or career you can get work done while traveling.

This is the biggest thing to me. When I’m on a train, I can text, call, and even get some work done. When I’m driving, it’s actually quite dangerous to attempt those things; and not only for me, but the other people driving around me.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#514

Post by ant6n » Sat, May 21, 2022, 6:13 AM UTC

IMTDb wrote: post #316

jstummbillig wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the train number begins with RE or RB, you’re good, but of course, those are the slow ones that stop in every village along the way. Well, that is not exactly true now, is it. REs do actually skip the vast majority of "villages" and are far from being the slow ones, comparatively. Anyway, for comparisons sake here is some Hamburg -> Berlin options: - By car (with low traffic, according to GMaps): 3h20 - Regional…

This is assuming that your trip starts and stops exactly next to the train station and that there is a non-delayed train available precisely at the right time. In practice that's not the case and those time add up quickly . Car trip will look like: 1. Travel from start to location (3:20) 2. Find parking (0:5) 3. Walk from parking to location (0:10) Total time of 3:35 Your train trip will look like: 1. Go from start t…

> 5. Wait at location because there was no better train (1:00)

Berlin-Hamburg has intercity trains approx every half hour, so on average this wait will be approx 15 minutes. Which could be filled with some useful activity, like some shopping… equivalent to going to the gas station for drivers.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#515

Post by ant6n » Sat, May 21, 2022, 6:18 AM UTC

tasuki wrote: post #339

pheelicks wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take the night train via Regensburg (book via cd.cz) and arrive rested. Goes every Thursday

Night trains are great! Do you have to transfer in Regensburg? There used to be a direct Prague-Amsterdam night train going through Berlin. I met some weird people on it, great times :)

There’s a startup (European sleeper) that wants to revive that route. Perhaps this fall.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#516

Post by locallost » Sat, May 21, 2022, 6:18 AM UTC

rad_gruchalski wrote: post #476

locallost wrote: post #469

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Germany and I also have to pay for the construction of toll free highways and other very expensive car infrastructure. The tax on gas was reduced for the same months in the sommer which is on its own totally ridiculous, but it will also cost over a billion a month. I don't drive so I have nothing to gain from any of that -- but you don't get help from others if you don't help others, so you don't pick and c…

But you do consume stuff transported to your neighborhood by trucks and cars. Maybe you use public transport? That consumes gasoline/diesel and requires infrastructure. Or do you live on home grown food? How's the post at your door every morning? Ambulances? Police? Fire service? Electricians? Packets from Amazon or other MediaMarkt? I don't believe you do not benefit. Ask the people of Ahrweiler what is it like livi…

That's exactly the point, I don't mind that the people have access to that infrastructure if that's all they have, even if I don't personally need it. My inlaws would be dead without their car. You don't get to pay taxes for things you personally need and complain that other people got theirs, which is what you are doing.

The infrastructure needed is not the same for goods, and public services compared to tens of millions of people driving, and thus doesn't cost nearly the same. So the point of my post still stands -- I pay for a lot of things I don't need as it is, including the ridiculous gas tax reduction so everybody can pretend it's business as usual that will end up being more expensive than the 9 Euro train ticket.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#517

Post by decafb » Sat, May 21, 2022, 6:35 AM UTC

withinboredom wrote: post #491

codefreeordie wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The parent's point is that if you actually wanted to get there at any time other than exactly when the 7:08a train arrives, say because you have an appointment at a set time, then you're going to end up having a wait somewhere along your journey because the train wasn't on your ideal schedule. For example, if that train arrives at 10:08a, say, and the next train is the 9:09a which arrives at 12:09a, and you had an 11…

Yep. If you have an hour to kill, there’s always good street food, or just exploring a bit. It’s not a waste.

It's fun once or twice a week. If it happens almost daily (maybe even multiple times a day) it get's much less enjoyable and way harder to meaningful fill with work.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#518

Post by inglor_cz » Sat, May 21, 2022, 6:38 AM UTC

inferiorhuman wrote: post #477

jupp0r wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are making the assumption that it's one person traveling. If I imagine me traveling with my family, then the tradeoffs would look quite different: 1. There's only one driver in the car, so all other passengers could still work/read during the drive. 2. The cost is split. With three kids and two parents, the cost would be 45 EUR vs 50 EUR traveling with a somewhat fuel efficient car with an internal combustion eng…

As someone who generally prefers public transit to driving (especially in a foreign country - a lot will depend on where you're traveling. I usually travel solo but think in general it would scale pretty well. Of course if your kids are poorly behaved then it'll be more of a challenge. I think having some familiarity with the infrastructure can go a long way into making the trip easier. Knowing where platforms are, w…

I travel by train a lot here in the Czech Republic and I have racked over 1 million kilometres by rail in my lifetime.

My most consistent pain point when changing trains is the uncertainty about the delay and whether the connecting train will be waiting or not, how far is it going to be (it may be on a very distant platform and platform use isn't consistent even on the same railway station, much less in different regions) and whether I will have to run even with a heavy baggage and/or pain in my knee (which I sometimes have).

Delayed direct train just means you'll be a bit later in your destination. Delayed train with a missed connection may mean 3 more hours in the railway station or even a necessity to stay overnight in a place you barely know.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#519

Post by usr1106 » Sat, May 21, 2022, 6:39 AM UTC

newaccount74 wrote: post #512

ivan_gammel wrote: post #457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This week I had two business trips on ICE trains. It was exactly like in statistics (only 75% trains come on time), one of them delayed by 20 minutes just before departure due to "unauthorized people on the tracks". This was the 3rd incident with DB during my travels this year (before that I had my connection train from Frankfurt cancelled while I was on the 2 hour long flight there). One of the delays that I experie…

As I said, as an Austrian my experience with DB is limited. All I can say is that public transport here in Austria in my experience is more reliable than taking the car. It feels like every direction I want to go with my car, there's always construction, with detours, closed exits, or just a section of highway with a 60km/h limit and traffic jams, because they are adding another lane, or building a new bridge, or res…

My only experience with ÖBB was a night train to Vienna. It arrived over 2 hours late. Because I continued to Czech I could not even use the refreshment voucher. To be fair the delay occured already in Germany, the train did not even leave the origin in Cologne in time. Afterwards I had to do the paper work work to get 50% or how much it was of my money back. Those who get stuck backed-up on the Autobahn don't get any money back.

Lot of the problems have been created by decades of prioritization of roads over rail. No suprise not everthing goes smoothly if you try to increase capacity on a long neglected system afterwards.

Some predict complete chaos caused by the 9 EUR ticket. Such a cheap price should result in dramatic of demand. But supply can't grow a whole lot on short notice.

Well, I am not in Germany. I'll read it from the news.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#520

Post by inglor_cz » Sat, May 21, 2022, 6:43 AM UTC

newaccount74 wrote: post #369

lucioperca wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As usual in big cities you need to add the time for walking to your car and for finding a parking space in the end.

And add 30 minutes that you are stuck in downtown traffic because your meeting starts at an inconvenient time. I can't speak for all of Europe, but here in Austria trains, trams, and subways are way more predictable than taking the car. Sure, sometimes there are delays, but 99% of the time you get to your destination on schedule. When you drive you always have the risk of random delays due to traffic.

Hello, southern neighbor. Czech railways were never great when it came to punctuality, but this year takes the cake, with several big works on the main railway arteries taking place concurrently.

A delay of an hour is pretty ordinary and, in the last timetable, they stretched the journey times almost back to the 1980s levels, in order to have at least some semblance of regularity.

We need some high speed rail like hell, there just isn't enough tracks to carry our admittedly massive rail traffic. Any irregularity will throw everything out of the loop.

Unfortunately, NIMBYs and BANANAs are doing their best to prevent any development of anything anywhere ever. This is a movement that really fulfills the "the dose makes the poison" adage. In reasonable amounts, it can prevent highways from being built brutally across residential areas like in China. In current amounts, it can prevent you from building a detached house on your own property in a normal residential area full of other houses, because f-k you that's why, your lot has always been an overgrown ex-garden and will stay so until I die.