5 ms·

Really? > When travelling from Copenhagen to Warsaw or Lisbon to Marseille People pick the train because those trips are far enough to make the train a hassle

Really? > When travelling from Copenhagen to Warsaw or Lisbon to Marseille People pick the train because those trips are far enough to make the train a hassle But I can enter the origin train company sites (or the operator) and buy a ticket to another country "pretty easily" (for the last couple of times I did this). In fact buying online was easy enough.

yoz-y 5y ago
They even mention Trainline in the article, which spits me a next-day ticket from for both those trips in seconds. They hand wave it away by saying the are "unknown to consumers".
- JohnWhigham 5y ago
  Those services are great. I used Eurail (a similar one). Bought X train trips for a flat rate, all I had to do was write in my To and From cities on the travel log. Reading this article, I took that for granted with how simple it was.
  - iggldiggl 5y ago
    Eurail is only for non-European residents, tough. Europeans have to use Interrail, which in turn doesn't cover journeys in your home country (except two single trips if you buy the more expensive all-of-Europe Global pass). If you want to do a holiday-by-train (and especially if you also plan on doing a few additional journeys while abroad, like a few day trips or staying a few days in one place, then moving on to somewhere different etc.) it can still be worth it, but for a simple back-and-forth journey this means that Interrail passes still aren't necessarily a suitable replacement for true through-ticketing. (Also some countries require mandatory reservations for long-distance trains which in turn aren't necessarily included in the price of an Eurail/Interrail pass)
- iggldiggl 5y ago
  > They hand wave it away by saying the are "unknown to consumers". There's also the fact (also mentioned in the article) that buying split tickets (which is what those kind of agencies will sell you if the respective operators don't offer through-tickets) won't give you the full protection of the passengers rights in case of delays, missed connections, etc.
DocTomoe 5y ago
This depends on your train operator. Deutsche Bahn won't even tell you prices to most international destinations (especially those DB doesn't itself service) and asks you to come in in person to one of the few remaining ticket sales booths OR call a hotline. They happily let you select a train ride from Madrid to Wladivostok, including all intermediary stations ... but you can't buy the ticket. Same for Berlin to Rome.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- raverbashing 5y ago
  Yes that's why I say, buy it on the operator of where you're leaving from. Doesn't make much sense trying to buy at a 3rd party. (for DB specifically it seems that international-bahn.de can determine the price for some trips)
  - iggldiggl 5y ago
    The problem with international-bahn.de is that it might sell you what is technically several independent tickets instead of a single through-ticket, which can subsequently be problematic in case of a missed connection.
doom2 5y ago
Portugal in particular seems difficult to travel out of by rail. Lisbon to Madrid should be straightforward, but you have to get to Porto first, then to Vigo on the Spanish side, and THEN you can get to the rest of Spain. This also takes 24+ hours of travel. Meanwhile, the bus is only 10.5 hours and direct.
- iostream23 5y ago
  There’s the Alfa Pendular that goes Lisbon Madrid direct but there’s only one per day. It’s relatively rapid and comfortable, about 50 euro last time I rode. It’s a night train. Most of the interior lines got shut down when they privatized CP and handed the state railway to one company and not more. The first thing they did was close many train lines. The lamentable decline of the Portuguese railway systems has happened on many levels, including local trains and trams like Coimbra shut down all east side lines and that entire mountain gateway area sits in decline with rotting properties and population flight and business closures etc…
bewo001 5y ago
If it is just to a neighboring country, it usually works well. Or if it is a direct connection through several countries. But if you have to change in a country you are just passing through, it all breaks down. Best to install the apps of all train operators you are going to use. Trainline et al would be great if they didn't mark connections as sold out so often that are perfectly available through the train operator's app.

yoz-y 5y ago

They even mention Trainline in the article, which spits me a next-day ticket from for both those trips in seconds. They hand wave it away by saying the are "unknown to consumers".

JohnWhigham 5y ago
Those services are great. I used Eurail (a similar one). Bought X train trips for a flat rate, all I had to do was write in my To and From cities on the travel log. Reading this article, I took that for granted with how simple it was.
- iggldiggl 5y ago
  Eurail is only for non-European residents, tough. Europeans have to use Interrail, which in turn doesn't cover journeys in your home country (except two single trips if you buy the more expensive all-of-Europe Global pass). If you want to do a holiday-by-train (and especially if you also plan on doing a few additional journeys while abroad, like a few day trips or staying a few days in one place, then moving on to somewhere different etc.) it can still be worth it, but for a simple back-and-forth journey this means that Interrail passes still aren't necessarily a suitable replacement for true through-ticketing. (Also some countries require mandatory reservations for long-distance trains which in turn aren't necessarily included in the price of an Eurail/Interrail pass)
iggldiggl 5y ago
> They hand wave it away by saying the are "unknown to consumers". There's also the fact (also mentioned in the article) that buying split tickets (which is what those kind of agencies will sell you if the respective operators don't offer through-tickets) won't give you the full protection of the passengers rights in case of delays, missed connections, etc.

DocTomoe 5y ago

This depends on your train operator. Deutsche Bahn won't even tell you prices to most international destinations (especially those DB doesn't itself service) and asks you to come in in person to one of the few remaining ticket sales booths OR call a hotline. They happily let you select a train ride from Madrid to Wladivostok, including all intermediary stations ... but you can't buy the ticket. Same for Berlin to Rome.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
raverbashing 5y ago
Yes that's why I say, buy it on the operator of where you're leaving from. Doesn't make much sense trying to buy at a 3rd party. (for DB specifically it seems that international-bahn.de can determine the price for some trips)
- iggldiggl 5y ago
  The problem with international-bahn.de is that it might sell you what is technically several independent tickets instead of a single through-ticket, which can subsequently be problematic in case of a missed connection.

doom2 5y ago

Portugal in particular seems difficult to travel out of by rail. Lisbon to Madrid should be straightforward, but you have to get to Porto first, then to Vigo on the Spanish side, and THEN you can get to the rest of Spain. This also takes 24+ hours of travel. Meanwhile, the bus is only 10.5 hours and direct.

iostream23 5y ago
There’s the Alfa Pendular that goes Lisbon Madrid direct but there’s only one per day. It’s relatively rapid and comfortable, about 50 euro last time I rode. It’s a night train. Most of the interior lines got shut down when they privatized CP and handed the state railway to one company and not more. The first thing they did was close many train lines. The lamentable decline of the Portuguese railway systems has happened on many levels, including local trains and trams like Coimbra shut down all east side lines and that entire mountain gateway area sits in decline with rotting properties and population flight and business closures etc…

bewo001 5y ago

If it is just to a neighboring country, it usually works well. Or if it is a direct connection through several countries. But if you have to change in a country you are just passing through, it all breaks down. Best to install the apps of all train operators you are going to use. Trainline et al would be great if they didn't mark connections as sold out so often that are perfectly available through the train operator's app.