just one fucking time i want to use an english train and not regret it

[steve@discuss.systems]

@whitequark (Now that I think about it, I took one English train in 2005 that was right on schedule, quiet, had plentiful available seating, and took me exactly where I needed to go faster than any other option.)

[slaeshjag@bitbang.social]

@whitequark I'm currently on a second interrail trip (10 travel days) around europe, after getting deutche bahn'd more than once, I'm getting curious about how bad the english trains could be.

[whitequark@social.treehouse.systems]

@slaeshjag i think DB is actually worse

[elly@donotsta.re]

@whitequark @slaeshjag As someone who lived in Sheffield for a few years:
- First (buses in Yorkshire) is worse than buses in Germany
- Deutsche Bahn (trains in Germany) is worse than Northern (UK)

[truh@shark.community]

@whitequark @slaeshjag it's late often enough that you can plan with the 50% refund as part of your travel expenses.

[whitequark@social.treehouse.systems]

me planning: yay trains
me going: ah fuck i forgot these motherfuckers are manifestly unable to get the trains to run on time or even at all

[whitequark@social.treehouse.systems]

i should get a driving license for real

[krans@mastodon.me.uk]

@whitequark I'm blessed, because the only bad experience I've had of English trains over the last few years was that I left an expensive jacket in the First Class lounge at Kings Cross

[whitequark@social.treehouse.systems]

british trains require hypervigilance--on a constant, exhausting basis, mere "sometimes" is not enough as you get late or stranded--just to get from A to B. at this point driving would actually save me the stress

[miodvallat@hostux.social]

@whitequark You don't need a license to drive people crazy!

[pndc@social.treehouse.systems]

@whitequark I was going to suggest the Caledonian Sleeper, but of course that's famously a Scottish service (even though most of the route is through England).

[mandelhorn@mastodon.social]

@whitequark Every fucking time.
"You hate traffic right?"
"Oh god yes!"
"The train would save you 30 minutes!"
"Oh hell yeah!"
"Gotta add 30 minutes to account for delays tho"
"Okay?"
"Or better an hour in case it's cancelled completely"
"Why..."
"We cost more than fuel."

[khleedril@cyberplace.social]

@whitequark That's British Rail for you (whatever the current guise is): short journeys are not worth it because the stations are too far apart and the infrastructure is not connected enough, and long journeys are not worth it because they are so unreliable. If you need to travel ~120 miles, it's probably a lot more expensive than a car unless you book six months in advance and limit your tickets to off-peak.

[tonyg@pubsub.leastfixedpoint.com]

@mandelhorn @whitequark Fucking Thatcher!

[david_chisnall@infosec.exchange]

@whitequark

I've been saying that for the last ten years. I'll probably get around to it just in time for my eyesight to become so bad I'm barred from driving.