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As a Belgian I am very envious of Japanese rail. While it does have its own problems (overcrowding during rush hour in the major metropolises), I really miss va

by tmtvl 3y ago

As a Belgian I am very envious of Japanese rail. While it does have its own problems (overcrowding during rush hour in the major metropolises), I really miss various Quality of Life conveniences like being able to pay the difference if you need to go to a further station than you originally planned.

thriftwy 3y ago
When in France, I could reschedule my rail ticket to a different time by using ticket machine and paying some extra cash. You don't have to be in Japan for QoL.
- sgu999 3y ago
  > You don't have to be in Japan for QoL. SNCF is the absolute worst in term of customer service. They even consider that a train is on time if it's less than 15mn late on almost all TGV lines [1]. And if they provide a bus as an alternative to your cancelled TER (local train), they won't refund you at all whatever the time – that's from personal experience. A Shinkansen is late from the first second behind schedule, and Japan Rail will apologise if a train leaves a couple seconds too early. PS: A bit bitter I'll admit, reading any kind of praise for SNCF always triggers me. [1] https://ressources.data.sncf.com/explore/dataset/regularite-mensuelle-tgv-aqst/information/ https://ressources.data.sncf.com/explore/dataset/regularite-...
landgenoot 3y ago
In the Netherlands, you can tap your credit card when entering the railway station, and tap again when you exit the destination station. The exact amount for the trip will be deducted. Works with all types of public transport and in the entire country. https://ovpay.nl/en/ https://ovpay.nl/en/
- hwbehrens 3y ago
  This sounds incredible! Is this a private company, or a government program, or an open standard? I couldn't tell from the 'about' page on the linked site. I'd be interested in seeing how this could be adopted in other areas or modalities.
  - hadrien01 3y ago
    Five public transport government agencies, starting from 2005: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OV-chipkaart https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OV-chipkaart

by tmtvl 3y ago

thriftwy 3y ago

When in France, I could reschedule my rail ticket to a different time by using ticket machine and paying some extra cash. You don't have to be in Japan for QoL.

sgu999 3y ago
> You don't have to be in Japan for QoL. SNCF is the absolute worst in term of customer service. They even consider that a train is on time if it's less than 15mn late on almost all TGV lines [1]. And if they provide a bus as an alternative to your cancelled TER (local train), they won't refund you at all whatever the time – that's from personal experience. A Shinkansen is late from the first second behind schedule, and Japan Rail will apologise if a train leaves a couple seconds too early. PS: A bit bitter I'll admit, reading any kind of praise for SNCF always triggers me. [1] https://ressources.data.sncf.com/explore/dataset/regularite-mensuelle-tgv-aqst/information/ https://ressources.data.sncf.com/explore/dataset/regularite-...

landgenoot 3y ago

In the Netherlands, you can tap your credit card when entering the railway station, and tap again when you exit the destination station. The exact amount for the trip will be deducted. Works with all types of public transport and in the entire country. https://ovpay.nl/en/ https://ovpay.nl/en/

hwbehrens 3y ago
This sounds incredible! Is this a private company, or a government program, or an open standard? I couldn't tell from the 'about' page on the linked site. I'd be interested in seeing how this could be adopted in other areas or modalities.
- hadrien01 3y ago
  Five public transport government agencies, starting from 2005: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OV-chipkaart https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OV-chipkaart