> British people love to complain about the state of their railway
Because they invented railways, and then stopped investing in them. HS2 is the first new line of rail north of London in like 150 years.
Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective
91–100 of 191 posts
Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective
#92The author of this post seemed to have struck gold with the trains he went on. This entire summer, my train trips have been troubled with constant delays and cancellations either because of heat or the constant rail strikes. Travelling to-and-fro Stansted by train was awful compared to taking the National Express up to the airport. The CrossCountry trains were small and crammed to the brim, I had even less leg space…
> One thing that always bothers me while travelling in the UK, is how there's essentially no cell service along the whole route
And because the onboard Wi-Fi is primarily 4G/5G driven, it’s equally unreliable. I recently flew from Manchester to Toronto and the in-flight Wi-Fi was rock solid almost the entire way. Meanwhile a few weeks ago I took the train from Manchester to Euston for work and the Wi-Fi wasn’t reliable enough to get anything done.
> The CrossCountry trains were small and crammed to the brim
If it was a Voyager/Super Voyager those things are my second least favourite trains on the network*. They were built with a tilting mechanism like the Pendolinos, requiring they be vertically tapered. This makes them feel oppressive and cramped, and stops you standing up without hitting your head. The worst part is, the tilt was disabled to improve reliability, so it’s all for nought.
*My first least favourite train is the Pacer. Cursed 80s bus on rails.
Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective
#93> 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…
> British people love to complain about the state of their railways When British people go to Switzerland or Japan its like they've died and woken up in heaven. Japanese rail in particular is pure heaven compared to the UK. Trains are always punctual. Trains are always clean. Trains are always frequent. And that's before we start talking about the amazing food stores that are attached to main Japanese stations. In th…
I found it amazing in Tokyo that you could look up on Google maps a really complex set of interchanges to get across town and all of the timings were just perfect. If it said 35mins to get somewhere it would take exactly 35mins and every train Google suggested you’d be on you’d make. It really did feel like magic that everything including walking distances and punctuality were so spot on. It did make it difficult to give reasons if you were ever late!
Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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 ;)
For those of us less familiar with the British rail network: why would Denton to Manchester Piccadilly be a challenge to book a ticket for?
There's no fare set for that pair of stations specifically[0], so no way of buying a ticket. You could get one to Stockport and another from Stockport to Manchester, but that's obviously not quite the 'any station to any other station' mentioned. There may also be some kind of Manchester all-area ticket that's valid, but again that adds a knowledge requirement.
(Denton is mildly famous amongst British rail enthusiasts as it has a 'parliamentary'[1] service of one train a week each way. Useless for actual travel, but (partly because of an unusually pleasant station buffet with good beer at Stalybridge) the regular site of meetups for rail geeks).
Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
It's still very much a thing on some lines but if you time your commute right you'll never experienced it.
Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective
#96> During my travels in the UK I heard lots of Brits complain about the price of train tickets.
It's that it is often cheaper and faster to drive if you are not taking a train in or out of London.
> This might surprise British readers, but I have nothing but good things to say about the reliability and punctuality of trains in the UK.
The problem is that when the train is delayed, it can end up as cancelled as they have a specific time window to fit in. Again, the comparison here would be a car. You could end up in traffic, but eventually at least you will reach your destination.
As somebody living outside of London, I have zero time for somebody complaining that the tube was 1 minute late. Try waiting several hours, just to find the train won't be coming at all.
Anyway, it is really weird to hear so much positive about the UK rail system. Any good there will likely get demolished in the coming recession and energy crisis. I have no idea how rail will still be viable during the coming rolling blackouts.
Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
I checked the German rates recently and I wish that were still true. The ticket for going between Dusseldorf and Cologne train stations with intercity or regional trains is 175 GBP (146 if you book for the whole year). The one for regional trains only but including transport within the two cities is 269 (216) GBP.
Thanks for the update. The Dusseldorf and Cologne route monthly price seems to have risen quite high. Here are the 2022 prices for the UK. The Liverpool to Manchester route price has dropped: - UK: Luton to London St. Pancras (35 miles) | Monthly ticket cost: £387 (2017) | £452.80 (2022) - UK: Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Piccadilly (32 miles) | Monthly season ticket cost: £292 (2017) | £234.70 (2022)
I can add an extra data point for a country on the continent.
Switzerland: £327 a month with an annual commitment, unlimited use of the swiss rail network, local buses/metros/trams/boats etc, with the exception of mountain tourism railways.
Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is that still a thing? I never saw any oshiya when I was there 5 years ago.
Train congestion has been falling with the decline in population. Also, the pandemic has really sped up adoption of either wfh, partial wfh, or commuting during “shoulder” hours instead of the peak of peak, from what I’ve heard.
Population is increasing in high density area, but wfh and time shifting are true
Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Tokyo subway during rush hour is anything but heaven.
Having spent the past ~10 years living in London, I disagree. Rush hour Tokyo trains were a dream, people are polite and queue, but they queue so that they're not in the way, the carriages are surprisingly head-roomy for 6'4 me, unlike the shit show of the central line, they're cooled properly, like the circle/district and the stations were almost universally clean and spacious unlike our tube platforms which are oft…
Wait, wait- Any rule you can spell in a few words or a link?
Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective
#100As 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…
Meanwhile in Japan (Tokyo at least) the red, blue, green, whatever lines aren’t even the same companies and good luck foreigner!