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> British people love to complain about the state of their railways When British people go to Switzerland or Japan its like they've died and woken up in heaven
by traceroute66 4y ago
> British people love to complain about the state of their railways
When British people go to Switzerland or Japan its like they've died and woken up in heaven.
Japanese rail in particular is pure heaven compared to the UK. Trains are always punctual. Trains are always clean. Trains are always frequent.
And that's before we start talking about the amazing food stores that are attached to main Japanese stations. In the UK you get a filthy station full of greasy horrible fast-food stores.
- imnotlost 4y agoThe Tokyo subway during rush hour is anything but heaven.
- sanitycheck 4y agoIt's like London, but the overly-compressed people are more polite and the air doesn't get quite so.. thick because the carriages are much bigger. Also, the trains are on time, so there's no waiting on an overflowing platform for 10 mins of no trains then 30 minutes of trains too full to get onto. Having experienced both, I'd take Tokyo anytime.
- traceroute66 4y ago> The Tokyo subway during rush hour is anything but heaven. I've done that. Its busy for sure. But it works. Even if crowded, its still punctual and high-frequency. Still preferable to a London rush-hour.
- dagw 4y agoNo public transport system is great at rush hour. Still having used the 'subway' in both London and Tokyo at rush hour, I much prefer Tokyo.
- dustedcodes 4y agoYou must be trolling. In London even during the rush hour you get a seat when you are disabled or pregnant. In Tokyo you end up pregnant when you enter the train: https://noisebreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/oshiya.jpg https://noisebreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/oshiya.jpg
- dagw 4y agoIs that still a thing? I never saw any oshiya when I was there 5 years ago.
- bobthepanda 4y agoTrain congestion has been falling with the decline in population. Also, the pandemic has really sped up adoption of either wfh, partial wfh, or commuting during “shoulder” hours instead of the peak of peak, from what I’ve heard.
- fomine3 4y agoPopulation is increasing in high density area, but wfh and time shifting are true
- tjpnz 4y agoIt's still very much a thing on some lines but if you time your commute right you'll never experienced it.
- dustedcodes 4y agoIt was a thing before COVID in Tokyo. Don’t know about now. The point I’m trying to make is that this thing NEVER happens in London. Train pushers don’t exist, so even if it’s not an everyday thing in Tokyo anymore I can hardly believe that anyone would say “I prefer the rush hour in Tokyo”, to which my previous post was the response to :)
- dagw 4y agoEven if the trains in Tokyo are more packed (debatable, but I'll concede it for now), there is more to commuting than that. The reliability of the service, the cleanliness or the stations and carriages, the (lack of) pushing and shoving on and on the way to the platform, the temperature and ventilation of the stations and carriages etc. Tokyo wins in all these measurement.
- alias_neo 4y agoHaving spent the past ~10 years living in London, I disagree. Rush hour Tokyo trains were a dream, people are polite and queue, but they queue so that they're not in the way, the carriages are surprisingly head-roomy for 6'4 me, unlike the shit show of the central line, they're cooled properly, like the circle/district and the stations were almost universally clean and spacious unlike our tube platforms which are often cramped with tiny exits through archways blocked by people filling the platforms. I'm not saying the London Tube is bad, but I would take Tokyo subway over it any day. It may be controversial to say but tourists (local or from afar) are generally the worst part about central London commuting, due to the ignorance of the etiquette, especially when tourist numbers can be overwhelming in some parts.
- Stevvo 4y agoThe tube is pretty bad. Many lines have grime floating in the air that deposits on skin & clothing and turns your snot black. Often a very long walk pavement to platform. Frequent delays from suicide attempts because its old so no track doors and the designs of stations are depressing. Overworked and underpaid staff.
- dkdbejwi383 4y ago> the designs of stations are depressing Surely this is subjective? The station designs by Leslie Green and Charles Holden in particular are highly regarded.
- jasondozell 4y agoGonna dispute pretty much all of that but in particular there are not frequent delays due to suicides.
- Stevvo 4y agoSo, did some research. TFL have not released hard figures in recent years, but it appears the delays due to jumpers are significantly down from their past near-daily occurance because of the installation of "suicide pits" to catch jumpers under many platforms and training staff to intervene when they spot a distressed person on the platform.
- andy_ppp 4y agoI found it amazing in Tokyo that you could look up on Google maps a really complex set of interchanges to get across town and all of the timings were just perfect. If it said 35mins to get somewhere it would take exactly 35mins and every train Google suggested you’d be on you’d make. It really did feel like magic that everything including walking distances and punctuality were so spot on. It did make it difficult to give reasons if you were ever late!
- wst_ 4y agoPlus, it shows the total price for the commute.
- kochikame 4y agoNot to mention that it is absolutely standard for full-time employees to have the full cost of their commute covered by their company