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In Britain the government solicits bids to run the trains, and what a shambles it is. For two months, the wife was commuting weekly between Cambridge and Edinbu
by HarryHirsch 5y ago
In Britain the government solicits bids to run the trains, and what a shambles it is. For two months, the wife was commuting weekly between Cambridge and Edinburgh, and the train wasn't on time even once. And then we move to Edinburgh, also by train, and everyone gets to take the bus from Berwick onwards, because the engine of the previous train had actually caught on fire, blocking the tracks.
It seems that with large, complex infrastructure even switching operators doesn't work, because with a switch you lose all the informal knowledge needed.
- inglor_cz 5y ago"and the train wasn't on time even once." Train delays are often caused by overloaded infrastructure, trains waiting on red because the line in front of them is occupied. Maybe the government didn't build enough tracks for contemporary commuter demand? Two tracks aren't enough on main commuter lines anymore. (The core of the issue is that once trains of differing speeds - e.g. regular trains that call at every station vs. expresses - share the same track, they will interfere with one another. This does not happen on subways, where every single train stops everywhere and never overtakes another train.)