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I recently traveled from Moscow to St Petersburg. There is a high speed train that travels the distance in under 4 hours. A flight takes 1.5 hours. Both cost ab
by puranjay 7y ago
I recently traveled from Moscow to St Petersburg. There is a high speed train that travels the distance in under 4 hours. A flight takes 1.5 hours. Both cost about the same if you book the flight well in advance.
But the train is so much more comfortable. The station is in the center of the city, right next to prominent metro stations. There is just one security check for the luggage. You don't have to show up 2 hours before the flight. Nor do you have to worry about leg space and luggage.
As an added bonus, railway stations seldom charge the "wealth tax" on everything from water to food that you see at airports. A bottle of water at the station costs the same as it would out in the city, while the airport will inflate the price 2-3x.
For journeys under 1000km, high speed train makes so much more sense than flying
- leksak 7y agoMake Trains Great Again
- JorgeGT 7y agoPlus, the air inside the train is at nice ground level pressure, instead of the 1500-2000m ASL of typical cabin altitude.
- DocTomoe 7y ago> For journeys under 1000km, high speed train makes so much more sense than flying That depends on the availability of a direct high-speed connection. I'm flying STR - MAN a lot, which is about 1300 km. Flight is 3 hours with checkin. Train ride is more like 20 hours with four train changes.
- MagnumOpus 7y agoNitpick - train is about 9 to 9.5 hours; but yes, I did a similar journey once, and the train is not a viable alternative. (Though the sub-segments of it probably are - Manchester to Brussels or Paris might be a toss-up depending on where exactly you are going...)
- DocTomoe 7y agoYou are right ... I factored in getting from original origin and to the final destination in the train journey, and not in the plane ride. That makes plane 5 hours, and train 12 hours. I guess last time I checked I also choose an overnight connection. Worse yet: There is no feasible way to actually buy that itinerary without driving to the next larger train station some 40 hours away, during hours I usually work. The plane ticket I can buy on my smartphone while taking a dump.
- rad_gruchalski 7y agoThe flight is 1.5 hours but one has to be at the airport 2 hours before, do the security and all that blah, blah. Plus, as you said, getting to and from the airport.
- puranjay 7y agoGoing through security is one of my little personal hells. I'm brown so I'm as such scrutinized more. Then the inconsistent procedures across airports even in the same country. Do I remove the wallet and the phone? Do I keep them in my bag? Do I keep them in the tray? There is never any clear information and you just have to keep looking at your fellow passengers to figure things out.
- hkai 7y agoYes, and that train also causes enormous suffering to people living along the line, cause they are locked out at railway crossings for half an hour at a time sometimes, and ordinary trains had to be scrapped or slowed down. And the return ticket costs as much as one monthly salary. And if I remember correctly the train is not earning profit. Not saying trains are a bad idea per se - I prefer trains to flying too, but in the imperfect world you can't just look at how magnificent your trip is while it may be a terror for some others.