3 ms·
The problem European countries have with the high-speed trains is that they are not as cheap as normal (slow) trains, and by introducing the high-speed ones the
by miahi 12y ago
The problem European countries have with the high-speed trains is that they are not as cheap as normal (slow) trains, and by introducing the high-speed ones they retired many cheap ones - that were slower but still got you there. This reduced the number of travelers, forcing even higher prices to cover the expenses - so they are now not very far from plane tickets.
- ghaff 12y agoThis is somewhat true in the US as well even for not-so-high-speed trains. Acela is priced to compete with air. It's about 2x the price of the Northeast Regional Amtrak trains even though it only shaves maybe 25%-35% (1-1.5 hours for Boston to NY) off the time . And, actually, for longer routes (e.g. Boston to Chicago), even regular trains are only competitive with planes at best--and if you want a sleeper car for a 20 hour trip you can be looking at $1,000 one way.
- ojbyrne 12y agoMy (now out of date) experience is that high speed trains are significantly more expensive than direct flights in Europe. I did a quick search and it looks like FRA to AMS return is about $400 by train, $164 by plane.
- _delirium 12y agoCross-border yes. The European railway network isn't very integrated yet (though the EU has some initiatives underway), so cross-border ticketing is generally bad: inconvenient and expensive. Only Deutsche Bahn's bahn.de even has a semblance of an international online ticketing system, and it's far from complete. International tickets also have a habit of ending up charging you full fare, which (like with full-fare plane tickets) is way too high. Within individual countries is where rail has the most market-share in Europe, and advance-ticket purchases are priced like planes, with steep discounts from full-fare prices, varying with demand. People take high-speed trains on routes like Barcelona–Madrid and Lyon-Paris, and without the German ICE network. And many people do prefer the train on those routes: the Barcelona–Madrid air shuttle lost half of its passengers after the AVE line to Barcelona opened.
- skriticos2 12y agoI just checked, you can get a ticket from FRA to AMS and back for about 108 EUR (~ 150 USD) if you buy them a few days early and choose a favorable time-slot (full price, second class). I even did that trip some time in the last three years and the price is about right. Train rides in western Europe are not that expensive and certainly not worth the hassle with airplanes over such short distances. Also, you can buy 25% and 50% discount cards for all tickets for a year for only a few EUR's. (25% for a year = 62 EUR, 50% for 515 EUR for inland travel in Germany).
- smackfu 12y agoYes, the old experience of, "just show up at the train station and buy a ticket for today at the window" has just become a good way to overpay.
- fizx 12y agoIt seems like they only make sense with youth discounts. I tried to take a train from Barcelona to Paris this week, but a flight was $100 cheaper.