• zout@fedia.io
    216·
    9 days ago

    As a European I have to say, you are very optimistic about our train schedules.

    • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      982·
      9 days ago

      The blind hope that somewhere in this world there is a functioning public transit system is all that keep me going some days. Let me have this

      • rafagnious@lemmy.world
        3·
        7 days ago

        Honestly, the perspective of what constitutes a functioning public transit system depends a lot on what you have as a point of reference.

        I’m portuguese but I lived in Germany for 5 months during which I used exclusively public transports and bikes. Central Europeans complain a lot about Deutsche Bahn and indeed during this time I saw a few strikes, delays and suppressions. However, transports were still much more reliable and much more frequent than I’m used too so I could never really consider it problematic, although my Central European friends complained a lot.

      • iii@mander.xyzEnglish
        641·
        9 days ago

        Tokyo I’ve heard. For sure not Europe. Halve of the scheduled trains didn’t run today in Belgium.

      • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
        9·
        9 days ago

        Japan is the MVP here. I live there and I literally have never seen a train not arrive exactly at the scheduled time. However “public” transport is privately owned so… Uh… Yeah, tradeoffs.

          • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
            9·
            9 days ago

            Is it expensive to ride?

            Yeah. It also stops running at around 11 or 12 so if you stay out late you just might find you can’t get back home.

            • AA5B@lemmy.world
              1·
              8 days ago

              Must pe nice. Here I was about to add that you can’t take a train to work if you might have to stay a bit late, but trains outside rush hour are one hour, then two hours apart, and stop way too early

      • isolatedscotch@discuss.tchncs.de
        6·
        9 days ago

        I’ve been in Vienna from time to time, and it’s pretty good, 365€/year for the pass that gets you buses, trams and subways with unlimited access and no turnstiles anywhere, you just go and enter

        Schedules follow work hours and go from a subway every 2 minutes during peak hours to one every 15mins late at night

        You have night line buses for weekdays and on Saturday night public transport doesn’t shut down

        Coverage is good, you almost always have a bus or tram line less then 5 minutes of walking

        There are bike sharing places with 20 bikes each ~1km apart and they cost 60 cents for half an hour, or e-scooters in the designed locations which are basically everywhere (but being owned by companies they cost so much more then everything else)

      • fishy@lemmy.todayEnglish
        2·
        8 days ago

        I take the light rail into work from the suburbs of Seattle into downtown. Trains run every 7-8 minutes. They’re expanding it in all directions now. Only downside is that a lot of homeless ride the train because it’s cold as heck on the streets. That’s a societal problem though, not an issue with the train.

      • criss_cross@lemmy.world
        11·
        9 days ago

        A German intern came to our american city and was flabbergasted that the trains here ran consistently.

        I had a laugh since I always assumed it’d be the opposite.

    • ultranaut@lemmy.world
      14·
      9 days ago

      As an American, this is exactly correct. The last time I tried to take Amtrak the train literally did not show up and they told us they had no way to contact it and didn’t know where it was. After waiting many hours with no change in status I finally gave up. The last time I actually rode Amtrak it was multiple hours late and cost about the same as a plane ticket.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
      7·
      9 days ago

      I think watching Jet Lag let’s you see the full breadth of transit systems pretty well, because the whole game relies on it. Japan is amazing. A lot of Europe is good enough that you can get around, some great and some not so great. The US is so bad I don’t think either team bothered taking a train when they did the show there.

      • horse@feddit.org
        6·
        8 days ago

        It’s funny (and accurate) that they keep getting fucked over by Deutsche Bahn.

    • Bilb!@lem.monsterEnglish
      2·
      7 days ago

      Not to downplay any of the myriad problems here in the USA, but I think many of us are trying to believe that a better world is possible and this sometimes leads to unrealistic views of how much better things are abroad. Sometimes.

      But I am hopeful that this country is increasingly humiliated for at least a couple of decades.

    • Artyom@lemm.ee
      2·
      9 days ago

      As an American, I would say the same…except about the American train schedules.

    • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      34·
      9 days ago

      Wait, you guys have trains?

      Depending on whether the stars are right. Or whether you need to cross the tracks - there’s always one when you need to cross the tracks.

      • MrVilliam@lemm.eeEnglish
        22·
        9 days ago

        there’s always one when you need to cross the tracks.

        This, but you ever notice that it’s pretty much never passenger trains? This efficient mode of transportation is largely designed for and used by industry rather than for travel or commute. The exception is within big enough cities like DC and NYC to get from one side of the city to the other or anywhere between. Sure there are some trains that go between cities, but they’re largely unreliable because passenger cars yield to industrial freight, and so people are less inclined to opt for them over planes or cars, and so there are fewer trains available to go wherever you’re going in the window you’re trying to go. So you book a flight instead.

        I’d take a long train ride over a road trip any fucking day. I don’t understand anybody who would rather drive than chill and read a book or play games or watch movies or nap.

        • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
          24·
          9 days ago

          This, but you ever notice that it’s pretty much never passenger trains? This efficient mode of transportation is largely designed for and used by industry rather than for travel or commute.

          Yet massive amounts of goods are shipped long-distance via truck anyway, clogging up highways and polluting far more per-ton and per-mile moved.

          Truly the worst of both worlds! USA! USA! USA!

        • 0ops@lemm.ee
          2·
          9 days ago

          Exactly, it’s not that the US doesn’t have trains, there are plenty. Lots of relatively small towns have rails going to or through them. The problem is that only a tiny fraction of them are passenger rail.

    • theneverfox@pawb.socialEnglish
      16·
      9 days ago

      Oh yeah, we have so many trains. They go everywhere, we have a very comprehensive network of them

      Oh wait… Did you mean passenger trains?

  • doingthestuff@lemy.lolEnglish
    57·
    9 days ago

    As an American, I don’t have access to trains, buses, bike lanes, sidewalks or even a shoulder on the road. The last time I tried to walk home from the tire shop two miles away, three people stopped to offer me a ride because it is that dangerous. I live inside the 275 loop that runs around Cincinnati.

    • Mic_Check_One_Two@reddthat.com
      461·
      9 days ago

      Yeah, my “Public Transit” option on google maps is entirely greyed out. This is my daily commute to work:

      It’s always entertaining to see the Europeans go “lol just ditch your car, it has to start somewhere” like it wouldn’t require me to move my entire family across town, (and pay 3x as much rent to live in the city…) Like I don’t even have the option of taking public transit, because there are no connecting lines between my home and my job. Literally none. The nearest bus stop is almost as far away as my job, and it’s in the opposite direction.

      And to be clear, that 2+ hour walk would be on a highway with no sidewalk. I’d be dead on day 1. If I wanted to avoid the highway, the walk would be closer to 4.5 hours; The highway is the only direct path.

        • Natanox@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
          61·
          9 days ago

          To be fair, Google Maps sucks ass in this regard. If you ever visit Europe, never EVER trust it for public transit information. Always look on the native apps and websites. Google Maps regularly offers me routes that either don’t exist anymore, not at that time or day of the week, unnecessarily require a group taxi somewhere or are simply extremely inefficient. Instead of a 95min travel it wanted me to go for a route that took 145 minutes the last time (luckily I knew it was bullshit).

          Even FOSS apps that may acquire travel data through rather novel means will provide more accurate information than the billions of dollars available to Googles car heads.

          • perviouslyiner@lemmy.world
            1·
            8 days ago

            It actually found some useful routes in Scotland that the bus website couldn’t tell you about - e.g. where there’s no direct route somewhere, but you can go to a place near the junction of some routes and wait for a bus in the other direction.

      • grue@lemmy.world
        62·
        9 days ago

        require me to move my entire family across town, (and pay 3x as much rent to live in the city…)

        Do it.

        (I’m an American BTW.)

    • LordWiggle@lemm.eeEnglish
      81·
      9 days ago

      I live in Utrecht, one of The Netherlands’ larger cities. I don’t even have a car anymore. I can reach any place in the city by cycling in 15min max. Planning a trip with Google maps often shows cycling to be as fast or even faster than by car. Amsterdam by train is 30min, train leaves every 10min. I can take my bike in the train or take a public transportation bike from any train station. Cars are stupid.

      • doingthestuff@lemy.lolEnglish
        2·
        8 days ago

        I lived a year in Nijmegen when I was younger, and later another year in Duesseldorf, so what you’re describing isn’t foreign to me. But where I live now there are no options other than car. If you don’t own one you need a friend with one or an Uber.

        • LordWiggle@lemm.eeEnglish
          21·
          8 days ago

          Damn, that sucks. I never have to worry about traffic, I have no time delay when traveling during rush hour by bike. More people on bikes means less cars, less traffic jams. I don’t understand why other countries move away from cars, there are only benifits and no downsides switching to a stronger public transit and cycling infrastructure. It unclugs traffic so businesses have faster travel times, there are less accidents, the city is cleaner, there is more room to build as there is less need for parking space, road maintenance is cheaper, the cities get a better feeling for being in as people are invited to be in the streets instead of their cars. There’s more room for greenery, which has a mental benifit as well as rainwater management. Kids can play on the streets safely again instead. It’s not hard to do. Rotterdam was rebuilt after the second world war when it was wiped from the map by German bombing. They built it up like American cities, completely car focused. They completely changed it to bike friendly because of accidents and clogging, making a very shitty city a very nice one.

      • sucoiri@lemmy.world
        1·
        8 days ago

        How easy is it for you to take your bike on the train in that area? I was visiting Utrecht recently and was really surprised they only allowed 2-3 bikes on the entire train (off peak hours too).

        • LordWiggle@lemm.eeEnglish
          2·
          8 days ago

          I avoid rush hour because people are annoying. I usually have no issue with bringing my bike, most of the times there are a few bike areas on each train and when it’s 5 instead of 3 while people can still pass the hallway no one would care about it. But it’s just as easy to use a bike from NS (national railway), they are at every station and it’s cheap. A folding bike is free to take by train, I might buy an electric one in the future.

    • VitoRobles@lemmy.todayEnglish
      3·
      9 days ago

      I did this math recently. To walk to work would take me either a 2 hour walk, a 17 minute drive, or a 45 minute bus ride.

  • LordWiggle@lemm.eeEnglish
    46·
    9 days ago

    Although there are many improvements to be made, like international euro rail connecting the capitals, better prices, a reliable DB and most importantly EU standard track system, I love our euro rails.

    But I’ve gotta confess, the fact the US train is called Marc is kinda cool.

    “Hey, I wonder where Marc is. Is he coming?”

    “Nah men, Marc is completely derailed again. He burned down an entire town and he’s toxic AF.”

    • pedz@lemmy.ca
      4·
      9 days ago

      DB doesn’t hold a candle to VIA Rail. Germans and Europeans in general like to mock DB, and with reason, but as a Canadian, I’m still so very jealous of DB.

      Due to [these] restrictions, 80 per cent of trips suffered delays of more than 10 to 15 minutes in February between Quebec City and Windsor, where the majority of Via trains operate. In January, 67 per cent of trains were late on the same corridor. Delays have been even greater between Quebec City and Ottawa this year, affecting 94 per cent of trains last month and 86 per cent in January.

      • horse@feddit.org
        4·
        8 days ago

        DB uses this novel trick to avoid delays: they simply don’t count trains that don’t run at all as delayed. And then they also sometimes cancel trains for being delayed. They simply turn the train around before reaching it’s final stop so at least it’s somewhat on time running the other way.

  • quoll@lemmy.sdf.org
    41·
    9 days ago

    …that’s the shanghai maglev

    edit: it was built by siemens though, so get a few euro wank points.

  • privsecfoss@feddit.dk
    342·
    9 days ago

    The problem with trains is they are public (under)founded. The rich and powerfull with political influence don’t want working public transportation because less carsales, oil, gasoline etc.

    Which explains why Musk prevented a high speed train in the US with his hyperloop. We all need to buy EV"s which have most of the downsides of traditional cars.

    When we could have clean, fast and comfortable public transportation.

    EDIT: Spelling.

    • grue@lemmy.world
      19·
      9 days ago

      That’s not a problem with trains; that’s a problem with the rich and powerful having political influence.

      • privsecfoss@feddit.dk
        1·
        8 days ago

        Agreed. Politicians should prioritize trains and public transport more. And bicycles while we’re at it.

    • JayDee@lemmy.sdf.org
      13·
      9 days ago

      Which is why he prevented delayed a high speed train in the US. To my knowledge, they are still constructing it.

      Just checked: it’s still underway. 119 miles currently under construction. From Bakersfield to Madera, with most of the rail near Madera completed.

      • barsoap@lemm.ee
        3·
        8 days ago

        DB is still 100% owned by the federation, it’s only organised privately. Trouble is they expected it to turn a profit, to do that DB had to run its infrastructure into the ground, invest abroad, get into fucking trucking, you name it. Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing wrong with operating rail/road interface warehouses, but when a rail company is building a logistics warehouse without rail connection you know something’s deeply fishy. Meanwhile, the Autobahn network got plenty of tax money pumped into it. And those DB profits.

        The failure is 110% political, decades of car-brained infrastructure ministers, “but won’t someone think about the car producers and their workers”. Bipartisan issue. In US terms: UAW and Blackrock vs. Amtrack. Guess who’s winning the lobby battle, difference being in Germany people actually like trains.

      • privsecfoss@feddit.dk
        1·
        8 days ago

        Agree 100%. But where I live politicians always seem to focus more on giving tax cuts than maintenance and improving trains. The people should not accept it, but… Tax cuts!

      • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de
        1·
        8 days ago

        I’m considering it should be a private company where the state/city is the majority owner.

        Also i’m guessing that the public transport only makes sense in cities, and inter-city. Not so much on the countryside in small villages. There cars are more efficient.

  • JargonWagon@lemmy.world
    30·
    8 days ago

    American here - I recently started taking the train to go to work! Previously I couldn’t due to no trains scheduled for the return home trip after my shift was over, but after getting a new schedule, I got on board the train! So far in the past two months, I’ve already had a few instances of the train being delayed or missing it entirely. One day, the train was delayed by 30 minutes and stated they would be held for an unknown amount of time to put out a fire on the tracks at a station ahead - drove into work that day. Another day, the train was delayed by 5 minutes. Outside of that, I was late to the train by like 5 minutes and it left without me (still adjusting to early morning schedule).

    So far, I like taking the train much more than driving the car.

    • lud@lemm.ee
      102·
      8 days ago

      Of course the trains leave without you if you are 5 min late.

      It will leave without you if you are 30 seconds late. Hell, it will even leave if you are 5 seconds late unless they see you running and are feeling extra nice.

      • JargonWagon@lemmy.world
        5·
        8 days ago

        Never said it shouldn’t! Just means it’s running on time. Like I said, I’m still adjusting to the early schedule.

    • przemek@lemm.ee
      2·
      7 days ago

      I’m Polish but I also made the switch to use public transport instead of my car, even though it’s not the cheapest once you’re not a student anymore. I feel better though knowing how much fuel I save by not driving in traffic for 1.5h 4 days a week. The other thing is that the money goes to the city so I will likely benefit from it in some way

        • przemek@lemm.ee
          1·
          5 days ago

          True, although this aspect is actually an area where I prefer driving. I find it relaxing to zone out my thoughts and just focus on what’s ahead of me with my favorite music. Depending on time of day, trains here are a bit tough to study in due to how many people there are

  • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de
    311·
    8 days ago

    funny but inaccurate

    i live in vienna. the train comes so often, nobody bothers to check the schedule anymore. just wait 2 mins, enter, go.

  • Sakura@lemm.ee
    26·
    9 days ago

    I am here to represent the germans. The country where the only thing we agree about is, how fucking shit our trains are

    • Tja@programming.dev
      8·
      9 days ago

      I havent seen one company where “train didn’t come” isn’t a valid excuse for bring late. Like, no further questions.

      • khannie@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        9 days ago

        There’s a classic that Irish rail used to pull out of their bag of shite excuses until they got slagged to death over it:

        Leaves on the track.

        No joke. C’mon now lads. In fairness though the train service in Dublin and inter-city is pretty reliable and reasonable.

        • Natanox@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
          5·
          9 days ago

          Sounds like the Irish version of the german winter chaos. The very moment the first snowflake drops it’s total chaos, trains being terminated left and right due to an old railway switch that still saw Adolf freezing shut again.

        • kartoffelsaft@programming.dev
          5·
          9 days ago

          My understanding is that leaves contain some compound(s) that, when wet and under the extremely high pressures that train wheels provide, becomes one of the most effective lubricants we know about. In other words, the brakes literally won’t do anything because you’ll slip-n-slide your way at the same speed you were going before.

      • Two2Tango@lemmy.ca
        4·
        9 days ago

        I was late for a hair appointment because I missed the bus, and I swear they wrote it down in my file because every time I went back, for the next year they were like “So… Did you come by bus today?”

        Also yeah no problem if your train doesn’t come once - but if it happens more than once it’s going to reflect badly even though it’s out of your control. You’ll start to get the comments “You should take the earlier one!” I travelled by bus with 2 transfers to college and it was ROUGH.

        • Tja@programming.dev
          3·
          9 days ago

          I used it every time it happened, very rarely when I just slept in. My boss also came by S-Bahn so he was late from time to time as well. Of course if we had an important meeting or a customer appointment we came in a whole hour early, to compensate for 3 train failures, which never happened. But if you came 20 minutes late on a regular Tuesday nobody cared that much (boring office IT job).