4 ms·

London is pretty amazing for public transport as well by British standards. I took up cycling when the office moved because my new bus route was just under £6 t

London is pretty amazing for public transport as well by British standards. I took up cycling when the office moved because my new bus route was just under £6 to go about six miles, which took an hour each way according to the timetable but in reality the first bus would be 30-40 minutes late in the morning if it bothered to turn up at all, and it only came every hour and a half.

the_mitsuhiko 5y ago
It's still crazy expensive. An annual ticket for zone 1-5 costs 2500 pounds. For that price you get two annual adult tickets for all of public transport in Austria or 80% of a ticket for all of Switzerland.
- vinay427 5y ago
  I agree; that's insanely expensive especially given the cost of living in other aspects compared to Switzerland. To add, this GA/AG pass in Switzerland includes essentially all travel except for a few funiculars, gondolas, and other specialized modes for leisure purposes. That means virtually every train in the country with the densest railway network outside of city-states as well as local transit (buses, local trains, ferries, etc.) is included. Granted, Switzerland isn't a large country, but its public transit coverage is overrepresented, making it seem like a far better deal than this annual London zone pass.
- zahllos 5y ago
  I agree, having lived in both the UK and Switzerland. If you can justify the cost, the GA in Switzerland is incredible and works for most trains, buses and boats in the country (the exceptions are usually private touristy rail routes that go up mountains). People can and do commute from Geneva to Zurich in a day and have mobile data the whole way. Outside of London, UK public transport varies greatly in quality and all of it is very expensive and overpriced. UK season tickets for lines outside of London typically involve a fixed route on one operator and usually only support commuting: one there and back journey 5 days per week max. By contrast, the GA in Switzerland really is unlimited. It will work equally well for boats crossing the lake in Geneva as it will for the local trams in Zürich and the train to get you between them, even if you travel on a Sunday. It doesn't matter if you present it to cantonal transport people, or private train operators, it will work, no arguments. Pretty much the only people not part of the GA scheme are tourist train routes up mountains, and to be honest, that's fair enough - staff to the facilities on the top likely get a free ride up anyway and nobody else needs to commute to the top of the Jungfrau.

the_mitsuhiko 5y ago

It's still crazy expensive. An annual ticket for zone 1-5 costs 2500 pounds. For that price you get two annual adult tickets for all of public transport in Austria or 80% of a ticket for all of Switzerland.

vinay427 5y ago
I agree; that's insanely expensive especially given the cost of living in other aspects compared to Switzerland. To add, this GA/AG pass in Switzerland includes essentially all travel except for a few funiculars, gondolas, and other specialized modes for leisure purposes. That means virtually every train in the country with the densest railway network outside of city-states as well as local transit (buses, local trains, ferries, etc.) is included. Granted, Switzerland isn't a large country, but its public transit coverage is overrepresented, making it seem like a far better deal than this annual London zone pass.
zahllos 5y ago
I agree, having lived in both the UK and Switzerland. If you can justify the cost, the GA in Switzerland is incredible and works for most trains, buses and boats in the country (the exceptions are usually private touristy rail routes that go up mountains). People can and do commute from Geneva to Zurich in a day and have mobile data the whole way. Outside of London, UK public transport varies greatly in quality and all of it is very expensive and overpriced. UK season tickets for lines outside of London typically involve a fixed route on one operator and usually only support commuting: one there and back journey 5 days per week max. By contrast, the GA in Switzerland really is unlimited. It will work equally well for boats crossing the lake in Geneva as it will for the local trams in Zürich and the train to get you between them, even if you travel on a Sunday. It doesn't matter if you present it to cantonal transport people, or private train operators, it will work, no arguments. Pretty much the only people not part of the GA scheme are tourist train routes up mountains, and to be honest, that's fair enough - staff to the facilities on the top likely get a free ride up anyway and nobody else needs to commute to the top of the Jungfrau.