When it comes to Europe a distinction has to be made in how one views transit options compared to other countries.
Here for example it is about as much efficient to travel on trains (long distance) as it is to fly. The distance between 2 points in Europe is not significant compared to what travel would be in the USA or India or Australia.
We will ignore Africa and South America for now since for one I have yet to lay foot on those continents. That said Europe is easy to do on train. Most countries connect each other through a standardized high speed network that costs more or less like a plane ticket would.
The crowds that travel are from all walks of society including backpackers and business men. There are of course no undocumented and unticketed passengers here. Language can be an issue in non English speaking countries as well as form of tender used to purchase tickets. US credit is not good at machines in Europe since they use CHIP based plastic to do their transactions.
You need a human interface to transact using American cards. The folks at the rail desk are very helpful and patient since there are literally hundreds of ways to move around. They also recognize that a tourist is their meal ticket - not too many Europeans that I saw buying long distance travel on fast trains. I think they tend to drive around.
UK has a very evolved local train called the TUBE. As in most of it runs underground in tubes. It connects larger metro London destinations to each other and is reliable but not exactly cheap. Nothing sold in pounds usually is. Here you see local office goers and students and tourists alike including the medley of language and culture moving in hypnotic trance between 2 locations. Gujrathi and Swahili compete for stiff upper lip exchanges between 2 government workers with clothing that is marginal but effective for train travel. Not too many have cologne on nor are they wearing too many designer duds. Compare that to a US metro transit system where most female occupants are busy grooming themselves as if to appear on the next Million Dollar Bride telecast. Why they cannot separate their vanity from public exhibition is another subject worth exploring.
Another characteristic of London metro was how bored out the crowd seemed as compared to say NY or SF where many are multi tasking or appear occupied on their electronic communication devices. Not to mention that even the most clerical types or secretaries are dressed in the latest fashions causing brand envy to the marketing exec sitting next to them.
Traveling on high speed trains also does not encounter unexpected stoppage or delays and one can usually plan their trip with accuracy. Compare to travel on any speed train in India and again you may be victim of unexpected FOG or anti establishment junta that appears to express their dissatisfaction of the status quo by delaying the express.
Here for example it is about as much efficient to travel on trains (long distance) as it is to fly. The distance between 2 points in Europe is not significant compared to what travel would be in the USA or India or Australia.
We will ignore Africa and South America for now since for one I have yet to lay foot on those continents. That said Europe is easy to do on train. Most countries connect each other through a standardized high speed network that costs more or less like a plane ticket would.
The crowds that travel are from all walks of society including backpackers and business men. There are of course no undocumented and unticketed passengers here. Language can be an issue in non English speaking countries as well as form of tender used to purchase tickets. US credit is not good at machines in Europe since they use CHIP based plastic to do their transactions.
You need a human interface to transact using American cards. The folks at the rail desk are very helpful and patient since there are literally hundreds of ways to move around. They also recognize that a tourist is their meal ticket - not too many Europeans that I saw buying long distance travel on fast trains. I think they tend to drive around.
UK has a very evolved local train called the TUBE. As in most of it runs underground in tubes. It connects larger metro London destinations to each other and is reliable but not exactly cheap. Nothing sold in pounds usually is. Here you see local office goers and students and tourists alike including the medley of language and culture moving in hypnotic trance between 2 locations. Gujrathi and Swahili compete for stiff upper lip exchanges between 2 government workers with clothing that is marginal but effective for train travel. Not too many have cologne on nor are they wearing too many designer duds. Compare that to a US metro transit system where most female occupants are busy grooming themselves as if to appear on the next Million Dollar Bride telecast. Why they cannot separate their vanity from public exhibition is another subject worth exploring.
Another characteristic of London metro was how bored out the crowd seemed as compared to say NY or SF where many are multi tasking or appear occupied on their electronic communication devices. Not to mention that even the most clerical types or secretaries are dressed in the latest fashions causing brand envy to the marketing exec sitting next to them.
Traveling on high speed trains also does not encounter unexpected stoppage or delays and one can usually plan their trip with accuracy. Compare to travel on any speed train in India and again you may be victim of unexpected FOG or anti establishment junta that appears to express their dissatisfaction of the status quo by delaying the express.
I travelled across Western Europe by train twice with a Eurail pass and found it an exhilarating way (and cheap) to explore many cities in a short trip. Greece is also a part of it, including the deck ticket on the ferry from Brindisi (Italy).
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the experience might be in the former Eastern block - perhaps their rail gage has not been standardized like the EU and so crossing over may be bothersome - although Jason Bourne was able to get around from Russia to western Europe with ease on trains.
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