• JackRider@lemmy.world
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    25 minutes ago

    It’s funny, but after traveling around Europe, I’ve learned one important lesson: avoid booking flights with short layovers! If the transfer time is less than 3-4 hours, you’re playing a risky game. Delays happen more often than you’d think, and in some cases, flights get pushed to the next day due to ‘bad weather’ (or other mysterious reasons). Better to have a buffer than to get stuck at the airport overnight!

  • randombullet@programming.dev
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    2 hours ago

    Deutsch Bahn would like a word.

    I often take my car because it’s so damn unreliable.

    Not once, not twice, but three times I’ve sat on a train for 2+ hours without moving within the past 2 years.

  • Ledericas@lemm.ee
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    4 hours ago

    no fast railways in the US at all, hyperloop delayed cali long enough til trump was able to stop it in his first term. it would solve alot of employment locaitons issues like biotech, and tech hubs. which are situated outside of major freeways and highways and major metro areas, even cars have a trouble navigating to.

  • 33550336@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    Buying BMW E46 with LPG is always a good idea. Small car (according modern standards) with great driving fun. Somehow you need to get to the train station, especially in rural areas.

    • Shou@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      I don’t get why you’re being downvoted. Rural area’s can be a pain to reach. Especially with luggage.

      • doingthestuff@lemy.lol
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        9 minutes ago

        Probably because of the reputation of BMW drivers in the US. And the reputation for cost and frequency of maintenance and repairs in the US. A lot of people have a thing against beamers.

  • LordWiggle@lemm.ee
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    11 hours 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.”

  • quoll@lemmy.sdf.org
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    12 hours ago

    …that’s the shanghai maglev

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

  • QualifiedKitten@discuss.online
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    11 hours ago

    As an American living in a region with halfway decent (by American standards) public transit, I feel like I hear more comments aligned with the European side than the American side. If public transit has literally any downsides, that’s justification enough to drive for so many people.

    • melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      8 hours ago

      if public transit isn’t very good at eating me out, I need to buy a ford T1000 P!E!D!E!S!T!R!I!A!N!M!U!T!I!L!A!T!O!R! and roll coal.

    • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Although the US and Europe are nearly identical in area, Europe’s population centers are far more uniformly distributed. Big cities in America are mostly around the edges, with a vast, sparsely populated area in the middle. Most intercity train service in America is in that fringe, where the spacing between cities is more like in Europe.

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        Sure, intercity will never work in the US. Except on both coasts. And upper Midwest. And in a couple mountain and high desert areas. Dammit, that’s like 70% of the population

        • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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          11 hours ago

          True, but the post is about trains being on schedule (or showing up at all), not about speed. I wasn’t saying US trains service is as good as European.

          • AA5B@lemmy.world
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            59 minutes ago

            Is this a “glass half full” thing? Can a non-existent train never be late or never be in time?

          • AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world
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            10 hours ago

            Yeah, I just see that said a lot and think its a bad excuse for having bad service.

            Especially when we had much better service 100 years ago, with a fraction of the modern day population.

  • privsecfoss@feddit.dk
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    14 hours 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
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      12 hours ago

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

    • JayDee@lemmy.sdf.org
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      13 hours 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.

  • zout@fedia.io
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    18 hours ago

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

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      11 hours 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
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        6 hours ago

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

    • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOP
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      18 hours 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

      • iii@mander.xyz
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        18 hours ago

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

      • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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        13 hours 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
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            11 hours 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
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              54 minutes 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
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        13 hours 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)

      • criss_cross@lemmy.world
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        14 hours 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
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      17 hours 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.

    • Artyom@lemm.ee
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      9 hours ago

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