Distances you can travel on a European train in less than a day

Re:Distances you can travel on a European train in less than... by Coding_Cat on Saturday June 06, 2015 @08:00PM (#9672810)

> -increased reliability (there are no train-jams),

``Ding dong Due to planned maintenance/a defective signal/ a computer error/ a tree on the tracks (or a leaf, or snow)/a collision with a person no connection is possible between Utrecht Central and Amsterdam Central.''

Generally you can take a detour, or busses will be employed to ferry people (after several hours usually), but it's not a very uncommon situation, I'd say we have a really major jam about 2-4 times a year, hard to judge. Still prefer the train over the car, but when I need to go to the airport to catch a plane I won't risk it.

Also, our main rail maintainer, train provider, and the Gov't officials involved are a special kind of screw-up. So it might be a whole lot better if you can get the right people in charge.

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Re:Distances you can travel on a European train in less than... by timr on Saturday June 06, 2015 @08:29PM (#9672910)

"Due to planned maintenance/a defective signal/ a computer error/ a tree on the tracks (or a leaf, or snow)/a collision with a person no connection is possible between Utrecht Central and Amsterdam Central"

Are you joking? Utrecht to Amsterdam is a local train. That's like saying that CalTrain is frequently delayed, therefore we shouldn't build any high-speed lines. Appels en Peren.

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Re:Distances you can travel on a European train in less than... by Coding_Cat on Saturday June 06, 2015 @09:21PM (#9673032)

Oh don't get me wrong. I like rail-networks, I was just pointing out that while trains might not get jams there is still plenty of comparable ails they suffer from. I only picked Amsterdam and Utrecht because they popped into my head first.

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Re:Distances you can travel on a European train in less than... by Cthulhu_ on Saturday June 06, 2015 @08:31PM (#9672918)

Also of note is that you mention the Netherlands, which for routes like the one you mentioned still has the option for alternative routes with, in that particular case, at most a 30-60 minute delay from your original travel plan. At a larger scale / longer distances, that's no longer the case; if the track between Meppel and Zwolle has an issue, it'd be better comparable; that basically severs the north from the south. Compare NL with France, too: http://www.fairriqh.nl/stations/Spoorkaart/Spoorkaart%20Nede..., http://www.bonjourlafrance.com/france-trains/images/france-t..., NL looks more like a subway system.

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Re:Distances you can travel on a European train in less than... by bazzargh on Sunday June 07, 2015 @06:24AM (#9674068)

there are way, way more lines in france than are depicted on that rough map.

http://www.bueker.net/trainspotting/map.php?file=maps/french...

(a more detailed map can be found on the website of RFF, the agency that runs the network: http://www.rff.fr/cartes/pdf/carte-reseau-2011-medium.pdf)

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Re:Distances you can travel on a European train in less than... by ekianjo on Saturday June 06, 2015 @08:16PM (#9672870)

> -increased reliability (there are no train-jams)

Exactly, and let's not forget the ongoing strikes in France, very common among SNCF employees (who are akin to civil servants and go on strike at least a dozen times a year). If you job depends on it, you are screwed.

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Re:Distances you can travel on a European train in less than... by makeitsuckless on Sunday June 07, 2015 @05:40AM (#9673987)

That is a political problem. We had a considerably more reliable railway system before the whole faux privatisation nonsense.

We screwed it up exactly because the political obsession with creating a more Americanised version of capitalism, partially forced down our throats by the divide and conquer strategy of the EU.

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