Travelling by train

drofluf

fields5069 said:

I quite like trains. The company pays, I'm on a nice new GWR train, er... that's it.

Obviously not the same nice new GWR that I’m currently crammed into the luggage rack of 

Rocker

I like travelling by train.  Costs are zero as I have the necessary free bus/train pass.  Pity this pass does not cover the UK rail system.  Being disabled and unable to stand for a long time, people are generous in giving up their seat when my situation is explained to them.  Car parking in Dublin is expensive and spaces hard to find so the bus or train is the way to go.

Lestratcaster

I took 3 trains to get to music institute back in 2009 for 2 years, 1.5 hours each up to 5 days a week. Looking back I don't know how I did it, since getting a car a good journey takes 45 minutes each way.

What used to annoy me was connecting trains, and too tight timings between them, one was an 11 or 41 minute past the hour one with mine getting in (if on time) at 07 or 37 mins past. Often it would be late causing me to either miss it or have to peg it up 3 flights of stairs to cross a long bridge to get to the other side.

Another one would always leave late as the college kids would get on at the last minute (something about trains departing 30 seconds before the time that didn't make sense to them) so an 1837 wouldn't leave on time as they'd all get on just as the doors would be shutting to leave. It was an ending terminal train so the last one on the line.

Stuckfast

I've spent six hours on trains so far today. Mostly OK but why Cross Country don't put longer trains on the Stansted-Birmingham route baffles me. They are ALWAYS packed.

AlexC

Some threads on this forum shock me. I cannot understand how they are allowed. Trains were invented by the British. Robert Louis Stevenson and his Rocket, or something. Trains conquered America and India and meant that people from Birmingham could get to London to see culture and cleanliness in less than a week.
And some lefty comes on here knocking trains. 

It makes my blood boil!
What next? Morris Dancing is a bit silly? Yorkshire Puddings are a bit bland? Fender make better guitars than Burns?
This kind of communist, seditious, non-patriotic, treason talk has no place on this forum!

Rocker

Robert Louis Stevenson did not invent trains, he invented a steam powered engine.  Trains existed for centuries before the Rocket was built.  Wagons running on rails [wooden or metal or often grooves in the ground] were used in mines to transport the coals to the surface.

Just clearing up a fairly usual misconception.

Philly_Q

Robert Louis Stevenson did not invent trains, he wrote Treasure Island, Kidnapped and the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde...

thecolourbox

Rocker said:

Robert Louis Stevenson did not invent trains, he invented a steam powered engine.  Trains existed for centuries before the Rocket was built.  Wagons running on rails [wooden or metal or often grooves in the ground] were used in mines to transport the coals to the surface.

Just clearing up a fairly usual misconception.

I'm fairly sure it was Newcomen that did that wasn't it?

RandallFlagg

Update. I dozed off on the train, with the winter sun shining through the window across the fair and pleasant lands of the midlands. I dreamt of Brexit.

I woke uo when we arrived at Birmingham, went to boring meetings but felt soiled and dirty all day from mixing with the greasy public so showered immediately I got to my room. Meetings again today then back to the concrete monolith of New Street station and home tomorrow. Will look to get an early train to get home as early as I can to start the weekend by “working” from home tomorrow.

British Rail “we're getting there” remember those TV adverts?

ThePrettyDamned

octatonic said:

BeardyAndy said:

Had to get a train from from Southampton to Brighton, cost £35 quid return, took 3 hours, 2 trains and 2 busses! I'd use them more if they were affordable and practical but compared to the rest of the planet our transport system is a joke.

I can fly to Geneva for about £35-40, albeit using a mixture of cash plus points.
Door to door is 4 hours if I don't have luggage to check in, which I mostly don't.

So is public transport too expensive, or are flights too cheap? 

The footprint from the flight is huge. Obviously sometimes we need to fly, but we need governments to address transport problems fast solely to ensure people can get around in a wya that might actually be offset, rather than flying out of choice because its cheaper. 

prowla

South West Failway is rubbish.

Dominic

i quite like a train journey even the underground.
I took the Piccadily Line from Cockfosters to Heathrow ......1 hour 40 minutes .A huge Fat woman sat opposite me .
She got on with a monstrous Kebab which stank out the carriage .It was gone by the time we got to Arnos grove.( 3 stops )
She then ate a pre-packed Marks and Spencer Sandwich ,Pork Pie and a Banana.
She then became aware that people were watching her because by now the carriage was full and people were sat hard up either side of her.She became more conscious of her gluttony and hid her food in a handbag into which she continually dipped her hand .
By the time she got off in Hillingdon she had opened and eaten from her handbag 4 packets of Crisps and 2 packs of Maryland Cookies .
The gutfest simultaneously revolted and morbidly fascinated me.
Some teenager sat next to her said something like " Your gross innit " to which she replied in 3 sentences of Russian so I have no idea if she understood or not.
  LESSON  ;The only trouble with trains is some of the people on them

BigLicks67

Last year I flew from Verona, Italy to Gatwick in less time than it took me to get to London Euston from Gatwick via train/tube. I then spent a further 3 hours on a virgin train back to the motherland of Lancashire. All of which cost more than the flights home. Public Transport in this country is expensive dog shit.

ICBM

ThePrettyDamned said:

So is public transport too expensive, or are flights too cheap? 

The footprint from the flight is huge. Obviously sometimes we need to fly, but we need governments to address transport problems fast solely to ensure people can get around in a wya that might actually be offset, rather than flying out of choice because its cheaper. 

Flights are too cheap, partly because airlines don't pay tax on fuel. Ridiculous when we're trying to cut carbon emissions.

AlexC

Just to point out - my post was in jest. I am well of who Robert Louis Stevenson was, etc, etc. But thanks for the clarity.

thecolourbox

AlexC said:

Just to point out - my post was in jest. I am well of who Robert Louis Stevenson was, etc, etc. But thanks for the clarity.

I think the main glaring inaccuracy in your post was this bit:

AlexC said:

 meant that people from Birmingham could get to London to see culture and cleanliness in less than a week.

As in actual fact, trains allowed people from Birmingham to travel to London, realise it was awful, turn around and come back again, in less than a week

crunchman

octatonic said:

I caught the tube about two weeks ago- first time in 18 months as I was abroad.
Frankly public transport sucks in the UK- it was expensive, smelly and crowded.
Singapore and Geneva have much better public transport systems, much cheaper, on time and clean.

Expensive is partly down to the history.  London was the first underground railway in the world.  The older lines were built with very tight curves that are a maintenance nightmare.  The rails and train wheels wear a lot more quickly.  To give an example, I know of one location on the CIrcle Line where rails were having to be replaced every 18 months - they can easily last 30 years or more on straight track.  Improved track lubrication has meant that they now last around 5 years.  While it's cheaper than replacing rails every 18 months, that lubrication regime costs money as well and the rails are still having to be replaced 6 times as often as on straight track.  Train wheels will also have to be replaced a lot more often.

There are also restrictions on welding track on the very tight curves, so there are a lot of rail joints that don't exist on other railtways. The extra joints are an extra maintenance burden on the track side, and the uneven track causes problems for the trains as well.

Other metros around the world learnt from our mistakes.  We had proved the concept works, so there was money and investment to to build them properly with nice straight track - which makes them cheaper to maintain.

The other problem with the oldest lines is that they follow the lines of the roads.  They were built by digging up the roads, putting the railway in, and putting the road back on top.  The North side of the Circle line follows the Marylebone Road.  The reason this is a problem is that water mains also follow the lines of the same roads.  Given the state of Thames Water's pipes (while they cream off nice big profits) this causes all kinds of problems for the Underground on the Circle line.  The issues caused by water ingress probably cost millions per year to fix.

There are other reasons why public transport in London Tube is expensive.  We have idiotic mayors who give free bus travel to  people who are 6 years short of retirement age (funded by people who actually pay for their tickets).  Staff costs are high as well, but it's always going to cost more to run the Tube than the newer systems around the world.

I'd also be interested to see how much public subsidy the metros in Geneva and Singapore get - because London currently gets none.

Crowded is partly down to the the size of London.  It has around 10 times the population of Geneva, and more than double the population of Singapore City.

I can't really defend it much on smelly though.

Despite my defence of the Tube, I must say I do cycle most places.  It's quicker, and a lot more pleasant.

ThePrettyDamned

ICBM said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

So is public transport too expensive, or are flights too cheap? 

The footprint from the flight is huge. Obviously sometimes we need to fly, but we need governments to address transport problems fast solely to ensure people can get around in a wya that might actually be offset, rather than flying out of choice because its cheaper. 

Flights are too cheap, partly because airlines don't pay tax on fuel. Ridiculous when we're trying to cut carbon emissions.

That's my thought also. Flights should be incredibly expensive. 

RobDavies

Plus point - You can drink beer on a train.  

Minus point - SWR.

stickyfiddle

We missed a flight from Tokyo to Osaka a month ago. We got the train instead, which was actually the same price and only took as long as the check-in & flight & waiting for bags would have been. It was awesome. 

Based on spending most of my twenties using trains in the UK it's a very different experience.