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There are may articles summarized historical reasons, however I haven't seen reason why in France cars drive on right, while trains on left. Another question wh

by betaby 11y ago

There are may articles summarized historical reasons, however I haven't seen reason why in France cars drive on right, while trains on left. Another question which still puzzles me after all my trips to UK, London in particular, should pedestrians on pavement walk on left or right? My eyes tells me the most travel on right, but not always. Some underground station signs say keep left.

mandor 11y ago
It is usually said that the English built the first railways in France and that they built them so that trains drive left, out of habit.
- betaby 11y ago
  At the time of construction it was one track and stayed like that for a long time. Same true for other East European countries I lived in - English tech one track. Upgrade to two tracks happens much-much latter. Even France, Alsace trains travel on right side!
paublyrne 11y ago
Be careful on the escalators in the Tube. You are instructed to keep right if you wish to stand, so that the left side is clear for people to walk if they are in a hurry. In general I have never noticed a preference for which side to walk on on a pathway, in the UK or anywhere else. People tend to stick with the peleton.
- betaby 11y ago
  Stay on right, pass on left is true in many locations in the world for escalators. In some countries there is even automated voice reminder for that. However my personal anecdotal evidence shows that in Germany/Poland/US people are bound to walk on the right side mostly, while in London it's more chaotic, but still more on right.
  - soldergenie 11y ago
    You stand on the left in escalators in Australia, which was confusing at first, as you stand on the right in escalators in the UK, even though both countries are left-hand-drive.
- ExpiredLink 11y ago
  In continental Europe people prefer to walk on the right side. Only tourists from Japan insist on the left side.
psykovsky 11y ago
Portuguese trains also ride on the left hand side.
mattnewport 11y ago
The British Highway Code states for pedestrians: 2 If there is no pavement, keep to the right-hand side of the road so that you can see oncoming traffic. (http://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/rules-for-pedestrians---general-guidance-1-to-6.html http://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/rules-for-pedestrians---gener...) For the Americans, pavement in British English means sidewalk :) After learning this (in school road safety lessons I think?) in general I always assumed you should walk on the right as a pedestrian for consistency (even though the highway code doesn't contain any rules for sidewalks) but it's not universally observed, particularly in London where there are so many foreign tourists.
- TorKlingberg 11y ago
  In Sweden, where people drive on the right, I have have heard that you should walk on the left side of the road if there is no sidewalk. But, when on a sidewalk or footpath people will keep to the right.
  - shiggerino 11y ago
    Another curiosity with Sweden is that priority to the right has been codified in law since the switch to right-hand traffic, but has never actually been practised by motorists. Instead they have a bunch of unwieldy and dangerous ad hoc rules, such as priority-to-the-crossbar-in-T-intersections and priority-to-the-slightly-larger-road-in-4-way-intersections. Also confusingly, when Swedes are about to make a left turn they keep to the far right instead of the more logical left, and vice versa.
    - douche 11y ago
      Obviously, if the road you are coming on is perpendicular to another and dead-ends (what I assume you mean by a T-intersection), then you should have a stop sign, and the road that isn't dead-ending shouldn't have any stop-signs. With the four-way you describe, I would usually expect to see a single light, with it blinking yellow on the primary route, and blinky red on the secondary road.
jarek 11y ago
This article from BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28352045 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28352045 says "Telling people how to walk is simply not British" and I can anecdotally confirm there is no observed rule in London. A bloke once told me somewhat angrily "on the left in England mate", but he must be telling that to hundreds of English people daily. Signs in corridors in stations can say either "keep left" or "keep right" depending on what's more convenient for corridor layout. Escalators are always stand right, walk left. (Out of interest and because the article also mentions it, there is no concept of jaywalking in England and I've read that it is not in any way illegal for pedestrians to cross against a red light. However drivers rarely defer to pedestrians even at marked crossings.) (Out of further interest, in Paris the suburban trains use left-hand running like the national network, but the metro runs on the right.)
dorfsmay 11y ago
What I have been told years ago, no source though, is that trains were invented and first implemented in the UK while metro was first implemented by French people.
- jarek 11y ago
  > is that trains were invented and first implemented in the UK while metro was first implemented by French people. As with any invention, attribution to any one person or even nation is difficult; the UK did have the first machine-powered rail trains and the first intercity machine-powered passenger rail service (Liverpool and Manchester Railway). The metro looks to be British as well, though: the Metropolitan Railway, now part of London Underground, opened in 1863, and John Fowler was its chief engineer. The first electric-powered underground railway was the City and South London Railway, opened in 1890, James Henry Greathead as its chief engineer. (Budapest metro opening in 1896, Paris metro opening in 1900.)

by betaby 11y ago

mandor 11y ago

It is usually said that the English built the first railways in France and that they built them so that trains drive left, out of habit.

betaby 11y ago
At the time of construction it was one track and stayed like that for a long time. Same true for other East European countries I lived in - English tech one track. Upgrade to two tracks happens much-much latter. Even France, Alsace trains travel on right side!

paublyrne 11y ago

Be careful on the escalators in the Tube. You are instructed to keep right if you wish to stand, so that the left side is clear for people to walk if they are in a hurry. In general I have never noticed a preference for which side to walk on on a pathway, in the UK or anywhere else. People tend to stick with the peleton.

betaby 11y ago
Stay on right, pass on left is true in many locations in the world for escalators. In some countries there is even automated voice reminder for that. However my personal anecdotal evidence shows that in Germany/Poland/US people are bound to walk on the right side mostly, while in London it's more chaotic, but still more on right.
- soldergenie 11y ago
  You stand on the left in escalators in Australia, which was confusing at first, as you stand on the right in escalators in the UK, even though both countries are left-hand-drive.
ExpiredLink 11y ago
In continental Europe people prefer to walk on the right side. Only tourists from Japan insist on the left side.

psykovsky 11y ago

Portuguese trains also ride on the left hand side.

mattnewport 11y ago

The British Highway Code states for pedestrians: 2 If there is no pavement, keep to the right-hand side of the road so that you can see oncoming traffic. (http://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/rules-for-pedestrians---general-guidance-1-to-6.html http://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/rules-for-pedestrians---gener...) For the Americans, pavement in British English means sidewalk :) After learning this (in school road safety lessons I think?) in general I always assumed you should walk on the right as a pedestrian for consistency (even though the highway code doesn't contain any rules for sidewalks) but it's not universally observed, particularly in London where there are so many foreign tourists.

TorKlingberg 11y ago
In Sweden, where people drive on the right, I have have heard that you should walk on the left side of the road if there is no sidewalk. But, when on a sidewalk or footpath people will keep to the right.
- shiggerino 11y ago
  Another curiosity with Sweden is that priority to the right has been codified in law since the switch to right-hand traffic, but has never actually been practised by motorists. Instead they have a bunch of unwieldy and dangerous ad hoc rules, such as priority-to-the-crossbar-in-T-intersections and priority-to-the-slightly-larger-road-in-4-way-intersections. Also confusingly, when Swedes are about to make a left turn they keep to the far right instead of the more logical left, and vice versa.
  - douche 11y ago
    Obviously, if the road you are coming on is perpendicular to another and dead-ends (what I assume you mean by a T-intersection), then you should have a stop sign, and the road that isn't dead-ending shouldn't have any stop-signs. With the four-way you describe, I would usually expect to see a single light, with it blinking yellow on the primary route, and blinky red on the secondary road.

jarek 11y ago

This article from BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28352045 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28352045 says "Telling people how to walk is simply not British" and I can anecdotally confirm there is no observed rule in London. A bloke once told me somewhat angrily "on the left in England mate", but he must be telling that to hundreds of English people daily. Signs in corridors in stations can say either "keep left" or "keep right" depending on what's more convenient for corridor layout. Escalators are always stand right, walk left. (Out of interest and because the article also mentions it, there is no concept of jaywalking in England and I've read that it is not in any way illegal for pedestrians to cross against a red light. However drivers rarely defer to pedestrians even at marked crossings.) (Out of further interest, in Paris the suburban trains use left-hand running like the national network, but the metro runs on the right.)

dorfsmay 11y ago

What I have been told years ago, no source though, is that trains were invented and first implemented in the UK while metro was first implemented by French people.

jarek 11y ago
> is that trains were invented and first implemented in the UK while metro was first implemented by French people. As with any invention, attribution to any one person or even nation is difficult; the UK did have the first machine-powered rail trains and the first intercity machine-powered passenger rail service (Liverpool and Manchester Railway). The metro looks to be British as well, though: the Metropolitan Railway, now part of London Underground, opened in 1863, and John Fowler was its chief engineer. The first electric-powered underground railway was the City and South London Railway, opened in 1890, James Henry Greathead as its chief engineer. (Budapest metro opening in 1896, Paris metro opening in 1900.)