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Observations from a frequent train traveller in Germany and Japan: - Train Travel works when the frequency of trains is so high that you do not need to think a
by lobochrome 5y ago
Observations from a frequent train traveller in Germany and Japan:
- Train Travel works when the frequency of trains is so high that you do not need to think about "a" connection, but instead just choose the "next" connection.
- Any significant number of delayed trains are a problem when one has important appointments. Morning meetings require an overnight trip, even if an early morning connection would usually work.
- European Train companies produce shitty trains (compare to Japan), lead amongst them Siemens for Deutsche Bahn. Train restaurants are broken too often. A/C breaks down in summer. Alstom TGVs are an exception - if they are pre-Siemens-merger attempt period.
- Electrification of lines is just not happening anymore in Germany. It's politically more sexy to do something with Hydrogen. Very odd.
- Deutsche Bahn is the largest user of Round-Up (Glyphosat) in Germany. Still - vegetation along the tracks causes frequent delays (burning brush, fallen trees), because maintenance crews have been cut.
- By trying to remodel stations cheaply for commerce, most stations in Germany have become unpleasant to navigate. Signage is particularly bad (compared to Japan).
- The mood in the train system has become very aggressive. Drinking groups who ransack compartments, passengers who get angry because of delays and start shouting, conductors who react unprofessionally - it's all just about to blow up.
- m2fkxy 5y ago> Electrification of lines is just not happening anymore in Germany. It's politically more sexy to do something with Hydrogen. Very odd. "Odd" is a fine euphemism to describe Germany's energy strategy. > By trying to remodel stations cheaply for commerce, most stations in Germany have become unpleasant to navigate. Signage is particularly bad (compared to Japan) Yes... Parisian train stations are also becoming gigantic shopping malls that happen to have train tracks in their premises... an infuriating experience.
- xixixao 5y agoEvery train station and every airport is a geographical monopoly. There needs to be government regulation that prevents them from forcing people through a huge shopping mall maze.
- fomine3 5y agoIn Japan, make huge shopping mall near (or into) station is a big part to make train company profitable. Banning them could be bad to make public transport profitable.
- TulliusCicero 5y agoMy experience has been it's not a maze, though, they just build some commerce at ground level and a lot more on upper levels. The experience of getting to your train isn't very compromised.
- lobochrome 5y agoExactly. Not against commerce at all. Not for government regulation either. Just optimize the pedestrian traffic flow.
- afiori 5y agoI once spent more than 40 minutes in a Parisian train station trying to find a platform; had to ask for help multiple times, all the signs pointed to a general direction across a hall. A couple weeks later I was in the London underground, felt like I could not get lost there if I tried.
- malermeister 5y agoCurious what you dislike about the Siemens trains? We use them all over Austria and I quite like them.
- lobochrome 5y agoFrequent problems and breakage. Just last week one train couldn’t continue because of a stuck door. Another had no food because the water wasn’t running in the galley. Also they are not accessible. Strollers are inconvenient to bring - wheelchairs are a nightmare.
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- jeffchien 5y ago>- By trying to remodel stations cheaply for commerce, most stations in Germany have become unpleasant to navigate. Signage is particularly bad (compared to Japan). That's interesting. What are the worst examples of this? I had found some Japanese stations rather labyrinthine too, especially Tokyo ones with multiple public/private systems and above/underground malls cobbled together like Shinjuku, so I'm surprised that the European experience is worse.
- louloulou 5y agoIt's a little unfair to compare to Shinjuku, which is the busiest station in the world. Sure, some of the big Tokyo stations can be mazes, but the signage is always very clear. No German stations are really dealing with comparable density either.