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I love the Japanese rail system. I am retired, now, so don't travel there, anymore, but I always used to cry, after coming back to the US, and getting on LIRR t
by ChrisMarshallNY 7mo ago
I love the Japanese rail system. I am retired, now, so don't travel there, anymore, but I always used to cry, after coming back to the US, and getting on LIRR trains.
The most amazing thing, is how on-time they are, and how precise their stops are. They have marks on the platform, showing exactly where the doors will open (Protip: Don't stand directly in front of the doors, when they open). I hear that this is the result of human drivers; not robots. Apparently, engineer training in Japan is pretty intense.
- trvz 7mo agoThe Densha de Go game series lets you experience a bit of what it’s like to drive a Japanese train. There’s also Hmmsim 2 on iOS, which may be easier to get/run.
- retired 7mo agoAs a European I can only dream of having such a rail system. When I have to buy six individual tickets for triple digit prices to get somewhere and the train ends up slower than going by car I wonder why I would even try.
- rsynnott 6mo ago> how precise their stops are I'm not sure how unique that is. Many rail systems, in most stations, have platforms only just long enough for the longest train. Most commuter stations in Ireland, say, can take the longest commuter train which calls at that station, and no more (typically because there were lengthened to that to accommodate that commuter train). It has to stop _fairly_ precisely, or some doors will be to nowhere. (I am sometimes on a train that stops short, and then has to slowly crawl forward to align fully with the platform. This, unfortunately, causes delays.)
- ChrisMarshallNY 6mo ago> I am sometimes on a train that stops short, and then has to slowly crawl forward to align fully with the platform. In Japan, that would get the engineer fired.