I love traveling by train

[watermelony2k]

Hopefully the lacklustre government investment in trains and public transportation will improve greatly in the near future. We're gonna need it as cars slowly and steadily become economically unfeasible at the huge scale they are used in the United States today.

People will have to adapt to mass transit in time.

 

[Roger Wilco]

The biggest problem with trains is getting to the train station, and then getting to your final destination when you get off. Those inconveniences add enough to the cost and journey time, to make trains annoying unless you're going to be travelling for hours and hours, and yet not far enough for a plane. Since I rarely travel that sort of middling distance, I don't find trains particularly useful.

Actually that's a rather significant advantage of trains compared to airplanes, since airport frequently are far outside the city and train stations usually are right smack in the city centre. And that can be a difference of literally hours. And with a car you always have to look for a parking space which is easier said than done often as well especially when you're in a city you don't know well.

 

[Holdfast]

The biggest problem with trains is getting to the train station, and then getting to your final destination when you get off. Those inconveniences add enough to the cost and journey time, to make trains annoying unless you're going to be travelling for hours and hours, and yet not far enough for a plane. Since I rarely travel that sort of middling distance, I don't find trains particularly useful.

Actually that's a rather significant advantage of trains compared to airplanes, since airport frequently are far outside the city and train stations usually are right smack in the city centre. And that can be a difference of literally hours. And with a car you always have to look for a parking space which is easier said than done often as well especially when you're in a city you don't know well.

I don't buy this at all.

If I'm flying, it means I'm going to a different country. So a train journey there from where I live would be insanely time-consuming, more than compensating for airport transit times. And it's far simpler to drive to an airport and park there, and then on arrival to take a taxi straight to the hotel than fuck around with train journeys ("metro-heavy" cities are possible exceptions, as I already mentioned, but they are few and far between. From where I live, I think the only foreign city I'd opt to take the train rather than fly would be Paris, assuming I wasn't travelling anywhere else after).

If I'm driving somewhere, parking is almost never a problem. Either I'm staying the night, in which case there's a hotel car park, or I'm visiting the place, in which case there's sat-nav points of interest to find you a car park.

As I said, it's the middling distances that trains have some potential utility. Journeys that take longer than 4-5 hours by car, so you don't want to drive, but are still too short for a plane journey. These are vanishingly rare journeys in my life, so I don't find much use for trains.

 

[FPAlpha]

I don't know about the rest but there are tons of cheap flights in-country in Germany.. many low cost airlines are connecting major cities in Germany and if you book well ahead you end up paying less than going by train.

Even if you factor in the time and money it takes for you to get to the actual destination (most airports frequented by the low cost airlines are not the major airports of the city) by train, subway or bus it is still cheaper and faster than trains. Even more so if a friend/family picks you up at the airport.

Trains to me are at best suited for short and medium distances.. travelling to/from work and doing rides in the 2-3 hours range but anything further i'd look for a plane route i can take (or take the car).

 

[Kestra]

I love taking longer train journeys. It's not for occasions where getting to the destination is the most important thing. Train travel is something to be savoured on its own.

 

[Ro_Laren]

I've been on a couple of overnight trips in China and Russia. They were enjoyable and have many benefits over planes. However, you have to be careful too especially if you have lots of luggage and you are alone (meaning your stuff can get stolen when you are asleep or going to the restroom).

I especially love metros/subways... though I have spent a lot more time on metros in Russia then in China or the States. The Russian metro stations in Moscow and St. Petersburg are absolutely beautiful.

 

[Roger Wilco]

If I'm flying, it means I'm going to a different country.

Ok, but that's not necessarily what it means for other people. And when you travel a distance that's something like 2 hours by flight or 3 hours by train it's getting a lot closer. Or take Paris-London; whether you're going from Heathrow to De Gaulle or from King's Cross to Gare du Nord is a bit of a difference, wouldn't you say?

 

[{ Emilia }]

^ Loud, you think? Maybe it's different in Germany, but I find trains here (especially long distance ones) are very quiet,

It's not different, no. Germany has one of the most modern railway systems in the world and the trains are high quality and silent.

But: Germans just love to whine and complain about everything.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I have traveled almost exclusively by trains for years, with the occasional bus (which is yucky and makes me car sick). We have an extensive train network here. I have friends I have made on trains, there is a kind of train socializing where you know the other train people, the ones that don't use cars so you see them all the time.

One of my favorite things to do is eat on a train. If I'm coming home from the city at non-rush hour (ie, will get a seat right away) I make sure I buy some good train food, a huge hamburger or some char kway teow, a diet coke.. I wait until the train takes off and then sit back, read the free newspapers littering the carriage and eat my meal. I don't know why I like this so much. I do know it's kind of odd to LOVE the trains when I use them all the time, most people only love trains if it's special treat.

I think I have a little bit of gunzel in me.

 

[Thena]

I've always wanted to take a long train journey across Europe. So far, I've only taken the train from Copenhagen to Malmö and back.

Last summer, while researching ways to travel without taking flights, I found a Paris to Berlin sleeper train that fit my itinerary. Add a connection with the Eurostar, and I only have to fly as far as London. Sadly, I wasn't able to take my trip, but a sleeper train journey is definitely on my bucket list.

Seat 61 is where I found a lot of really good information about traveling by train. There's even extensive photo collections of the train interiors and maps of the seating plan so you can pick out exactly which seat to book.

 

[Holdfast]

I've always wanted to take a long train journey across Europe.

Ah, now you've hit on the one train journey I do want to make at some point: the Orient Express. Problem is, I don't really feel I can justify the cost at the moment. It's insanely expensive to do the traditional London-Istanbul route (something around £5k I think, last time I checked). But damn, that would be very cool. Even the London-Venice journey is about £2k...

 

[Canadave]

^ In a similar vein, I want to ride "The Canadian" someday, which is the train from Toronto to Vancouver. It's actually reasonably affordable if you go economy (~$500 one way) but I can't imagine that it would be terribly enjoyable. Sleeper class, on the other hand, is more like $2 K, one way, which is just a bit much...

 

[Ro_Laren]

I've always wanted to take a long train journey across Europe.

Ah, now you've hit on the one train journey I do want to make at some point: the Orient Express. Problem is, I don't really feel I can justify the cost at the moment. It's insanely expensive to do the traditional London-Istanbul route (something around £5k I think, last time I checked). But damn, that would be very cool. Even the London-Venice journey is about £2k...

£5k? Wow that is crazy!

 

[Thena]

I've always wanted to take a long train journey across Europe.

Ah, now you've hit on the one train journey I do want to make at some point: the Orient Express. Problem is, I don't really feel I can justify the cost at the moment. It's insanely expensive to do the traditional London-Istanbul route (something around £5k I think, last time I checked). But damn, that would be very cool. Even the London-Venice journey is about £2k...

I was poking around and looking at conventional routes (not the famous Venice Simplon Orient Express) and Seat61 notes that the cost of a train journey from London to Istanbul would actually rival the cost of airfare.

If I did take that train journey, I'd probably break it up into sections and use sleeper trains instead of staying in a hotel overnight. Spend a few days in London, take the train to Paris for dinner, take a sleeper train and wake up in Munich the next morning. Then after a few days in Germany, I'd take the train to my next destination, and so on.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Wouldn't mind taking The Ghan, Adelaide to Darwin. Straight through the red center. It's the blue line on the map.

I have heard you just about die from boredom for most of it but still..

One thing that puzzles me though, most country trains here are far more cramped and hemmed in then the regular suburban ones. Some of that is because a lot of them are ancient but even the new ones have no room to wander about in the carriage.

 

[Marc]

Wouldn't mind taking The Ghan, Adelaide to Darwin. Straight through the red center. It's the blue line on the map.

I have heard you just about die from boredom for most of it but still..

One thing that puzzles me though, most country trains here are far more cramped and hemmed in then the regular suburban ones. Some of that is because a lot of them are ancient but even the new ones have no room to wander about in the carriage.

ever thought of the doing the Indian Pacific?

There's also one one other that runs on the eastern seaboard, very luxurious and very expensive though I can't remember what it's called (Southern Somehing).

In Canada there's also the Rocky Mountaineer which my mum did a few years back which is really good (mum got to do side trips including going up a glacier and helicopter flight).

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I once took a greyhound bus from Dallas to NYC.

I swore to myself I would never ever ever forget how horrible that was. I'm suspecting the Ghan is the same, unless maybe you are paying for the ultimate super dooper platinum class, but even then better bring a lot of books.

This country is massive and capable of looking exactly the same for a very very very long time.

 

[WillsBabe]

I like train travel. I like the enforced relaxation (always assuming that the pre-booked seat has been booked and there isn't someone next to me shouting down a mobile phone). I used to travel quite regularly from Exeter to Durham. That was a long journey. My favourite journey recently is from Exeter to Truro. Did it one summer's morning, early on. The day was crystal clear and the views spectacular.

 

[Marten]

Train is the only form of transportation i enjoy in itself. Planes frighten me, and cars and buses always makes me feel a little bit to mortal.

 

[Holdfast]

I was poking around and looking at conventional routes (not the famous Venice Simplon Orient Express) and Seat61 notes that the cost of a train journey from London to Istanbul would actually rival the cost of airfare.

Yeah, but it's not all that surprisingly really, when you consider a no-frills (or even serviced) direct air flight is a much more efficient proposition to manage than a multi-stage train journey. The inefficiency of having many stages over a long distance probably causes the price to rise.

£5k? Wow that is crazy!

It's very expensive, isn't it. Even more so, when you realise that's actually a per person rate based on two people sharing a cabin (so £10k for the pair). However, I think it would be worth it at some point, just for the sheer fun of doing such an exquisitely old-fashioned journey in such grand style. And it does include a short stay in nice hotels at the end of the journey too I think, so not quite as insane as it appears at first glance. Still a bit too pricey for me to want to spend cash on it right now, but at some point...