Taking a series of trains, buses and fun facts about them
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I switched to Verizon / Visible not too long ago, and cellular coverage has been.. visibly better than Google Fi / T-Mobile. I mean I think that’s true everywhere but particularly outside of cities.
If I were to do it again (a few long distance trains at a time), Visible plus AT&T will probably cover all bases. Some people have a complex setup with Glinet routers with 5G and failover but when I’m out of network I just sleep or read (or play games)
@skinnylatte yeah, IME Verizon had the most extensive coverage. T-Mobile has bought a lot of spectrum since then but I guess they're still behind.
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11. Northeast Regional train to New York City
It stops at Newark airport on the way to New York City.
If I lived here I guess I would be on this often. The Acela costs more and is a little bit faster, but I haven’t ridden it yet
@skinnylatte bet that is one of the old Penn Rail Road Lines.
Paternal Grandfather was Chief Steward for that railroad back in the day -
11. Northeast Regional train to New York City
It stops at Newark airport on the way to New York City.
If I lived here I guess I would be on this often. The Acela costs more and is a little bit faster, but I haven’t ridden it yet
@skinnylatte I agree Acela is generally not worth the extra cost, but I’ll take it if work is paying
Actually, my last Acela ride from NYC to DC this past November, I found my seat LESS comfortable than the one I had on the NE Regional in the other direction. And it was supposedly their newest / “improved” Acela train.
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11. Northeast Regional train to New York City
It stops at Newark airport on the way to New York City.
If I lived here I guess I would be on this often. The Acela costs more and is a little bit faster, but I haven’t ridden it yet
@skinnylatte one of the very few times I’ve ridden the Acela (from nyc to Boston), there was a tornado in Brooklyn as I left town.
I don’t think it was my fault.
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More New York subway.
The 7 train goes to the largest one of the biggest hubs of Chinese food outside of East Asia (Flushing, Queens). Way more regional variety than most places.
The Ultimate Flushing Food Guide: Best Restaurants, Bakeries, and Street Eats - RADII
Taste your way through Flushing Chinatown with our curated picks of the neighborhood’s must-try restaurants and snacks.
RADII - Transcend boundaries (radii.co)
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@skinnylatte Love the funky sign for the Motel Du Beau. https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/35564611976/
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More New York subway.
The 7 train goes to the largest one of the biggest hubs of Chinese food outside of East Asia (Flushing, Queens). Way more regional variety than most places.
The Ultimate Flushing Food Guide: Best Restaurants, Bakeries, and Street Eats - RADII
Taste your way through Flushing Chinatown with our curated picks of the neighborhood’s must-try restaurants and snacks.
RADII - Transcend boundaries (radii.co)
13. Inside of the Long Island Railroad (best way to get to JFK airport)
$5.25 from Atlantic Terminal to Jamaica, then $8 from Jamaica to JFK (on the AirTrain)
“With an average weekday ridership of 336,300 passengers in 2025, it is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. It is also one of the world's few commuter systems that run 24/7 year-round.”
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13. Inside of the Long Island Railroad (best way to get to JFK airport)
$5.25 from Atlantic Terminal to Jamaica, then $8 from Jamaica to JFK (on the AirTrain)
“With an average weekday ridership of 336,300 passengers in 2025, it is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. It is also one of the world's few commuter systems that run 24/7 year-round.”
@skinnylatte my dad worked for the LIRR for 25 years doing work along the tracks, installing fibreoptics underground, and other wiring infrastructure, and the occasional “snow duty” (overtime for shoveling snow off of platforms). he liked it and it gave him a good pension and benefits to retire with.
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@skinnylatte my dad worked for the LIRR for 25 years doing work along the tracks, installing fibreoptics underground, and other wiring infrastructure, and the occasional “snow duty” (overtime for shoveling snow off of platforms). he liked it and it gave him a good pension and benefits to retire with.
@wgwz great service! We need more jobs like that.
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13. Inside of the Long Island Railroad (best way to get to JFK airport)
$5.25 from Atlantic Terminal to Jamaica, then $8 from Jamaica to JFK (on the AirTrain)
“With an average weekday ridership of 336,300 passengers in 2025, it is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. It is also one of the world's few commuter systems that run 24/7 year-round.”
@skinnylatte only downside is the jacket-pocket-seeking armrests that ambush you when you go to stand up
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13. Inside of the Long Island Railroad (best way to get to JFK airport)
$5.25 from Atlantic Terminal to Jamaica, then $8 from Jamaica to JFK (on the AirTrain)
“With an average weekday ridership of 336,300 passengers in 2025, it is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. It is also one of the world's few commuter systems that run 24/7 year-round.”
@skinnylatte JFK is my favorite NYC area airport because it is so easy to get to via trains/subway
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13. Inside of the Long Island Railroad (best way to get to JFK airport)
$5.25 from Atlantic Terminal to Jamaica, then $8 from Jamaica to JFK (on the AirTrain)
“With an average weekday ridership of 336,300 passengers in 2025, it is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. It is also one of the world's few commuter systems that run 24/7 year-round.”
14. Made it to London!
Thameslink train from Gatwick
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14. Made it to London!
Thameslink train from Gatwick
15. So many different types of trains!
I don’t really understand all the many different trains and operators yet but I think these are different commuter rail systems that go to different places
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14. Made it to London!
Thameslink train from Gatwick
@skinnylatte Welcome!!
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@skinnylatte Welcome!!
@sarahijackson thank you!!
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@skinnylatte The last vestiges of a messy and failed privatisation system in which a bunch of different companies (many ultimately owned by other countries' governments) provided all the mainline trains in England and some of Wales.
By the back end of next year, everything will once again be nationalised and part of the new Great British Rail organisation.
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So you’re near the shard, (alt text says London Bridge station). You’ll have at least 2 different train operating companies, as south eastern, covering Kent and Brighton etc and others passing through. You’ll also have underground and possibly dock lands light railway (autonomous) as well as London overground. DLR, overground and underground are transport for london, the others are separate companies thanks to privatisation, as per another comment.
In essence loads of trains and lots of different companies.
A big advantage is if you pick up an Oyster card or a travel card from a station you can use any of the TFL routes on the same card. If you’re willing to use a debit card or have a mobile phone with apple pay in, you can just tap to get through the barriers. Check with the station staff.
Also. See it, say it, sorted. You’ll get fed up of that message pretty damn quickly.
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@skinnylatte yes, exactly, though a lot more frequently than US commuter rail: you typically get hourly service or better in both directions all day.
South London and southern England have a huge network of electric (third rail) trains going to towns and villages on the coast.
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@skinnylatte was fully confused for a sec bc youve been posting abt new york & i saw the trains & was like 'wait those r the trains we have here'
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14. Made it to London!
Thameslink train from Gatwick
@skinnylatte Welcome! I hope you have a wonderful time here.
