13 replies to this topic

[XgreatArtist]

Just a curious thought. Here in sydney we have the cityrail a.k.a. Shittyrail where delays happen most of the time. Not to mention the trackworks, horrible environment on some trains and no aircon on majority of them. Plus we have really 'nice' train fare increase!

For a major city i find it hard to compare with other countries e.g. Germany
What about your area? Do you like the service?

[Al Shamari]

Just be lucky you don't live in 80% of the United States, that's all I will say.

[Havenless]

Al Shamari, on 01 December 2012 - 12:52 AM, said:

Just be lucky you don't live in 80% of the United States, that's all I will say.

This. I live in nyc, our subways are filthy, though some stations are way better than others.

[Al Shamari]

Havenless, on 01 December 2012 - 01:31 AM, said:

This. I live in nyc, our subways are filthy, though some stations are way better than others.

And New York City has one of the better public transportation systems in the United States.

Most American cities were highly developed after the age of the automobile, and thus have absolutely horrible public transportation. We have long, vast and complicated highway systems that lead to terrible sprawl.

[Lethys]

Here in the south Limburg, Netherlands, trains are pretty nice. VERY clean, pretty reliable with little delays, good heating in the winter and the air conditioning is decent. I rarely get late to uni. (Not even once the past 3 months)
Though if something is wrong, it's usually messed up for a long time. I had to travel by bus for 2 weeks a year ago. Their buses were organized very well, but it still took 30 min longer to get my university.

[Rhododendron]

WTF is  a "delay" and "aircon"

[deitiesforce]

I used to live in Hong Kong, the subways are super clean and nice.

Edited by deitiesforce, 01 December 2012 - 11:33 PM.

[Eon Lilu]

deitiesforce, on 01 December 2012 - 11:28 PM, said:

I used to live in Hong Kong, the subways are super clean and nice.

Iv been to hong kong and it's awesome. Everyone is super friendly and helpfull, there is a cleaner on every street 24/7, a policeman with a gun almost everywhere, state of the art outside basketball courts next to streets with people playing at 3am coz its safe. Food is nothing like what we have in the UK and far better quality, its fairly cheap for transport and very good services, there are shops on every street open 24/7. You have loads of different cultures in one place, european and western cultures included since we used to run hong kong until a few decades ago. Really high on family values, public safety, cleaning and education. You don't want to get caught spitting or littering in hong kong. I may go back there one day lol.



Here in the UK we get ripped off for crappy service for public transportation, prices just go up and up and the service just gets worse. We also have stupidly high taxes, its actually cheaper for me to fly most of the time instead of using the trains. Our streets and public transport are disgusting and be prepared to have alot of stinky people on the bus and drunks. Forget any time tables, there useless as nothing is ever on time.

What does our government do? They make more cuts to public spending but do nothing to stop banks and company's illegally dodging tax, giving massive bonuses even when they fail at there jobs, tax evasion scandals of politicians, and most high tier incomes only paying a few % tax compared to poor and middle class paying 20% on what they earn, 20% on anything they buy after that ( VAT value added tax ), then fuel duty tax, council tax and a load more.....so transportation costs have sky rocketed past few years and government spending cuts means poorer service for higher cost.

Uni fee's have trippled so less people taking on higher education. All this caused alot of protests in 2011. almost 2 years later....nothing changed...still the same if not worse.

Edited by Eon Lilu, 02 December 2012 - 02:09 AM.

[MrForz]

I'm in France. The leading company is the S N C F, and they respect the country's traditions: On strike, whenever they can and for any reason.

Edited by MrForz, 02 December 2012 - 02:08 AM.

[Naoroji]

Lethys, on 01 December 2012 - 01:54 AM, said:

Here in the south Limburg, Netherlands, trains are pretty nice. VERY clean, pretty reliable with little delays, good heating in the winter and the air conditioning is decent. I rarely get late to uni. (Not even once the past 3 months)
Though if something is wrong, it's usually messed up for a long time. I had to travel by bus for 2 weeks a year ago. Their buses were organized very well, but it still took 30 min longer to get my university.

? Maastricht / Heerlen?

But yeah, what Lethys said. Then again, public transportation is pretty well organized in the Netherlands as a whole compared to some other countries.

[Heart Collector]

The Metro (subway) here in Athens is a godsend, and actually surprisingly good, clean and efficient despite all the financial crap that's happening. Its absence when on strike is seriously felt in terms of traffic. The only problem is that its coverage is still a bit small - but new routes are being planned I believe. Also you can use it to go to the airport but it's expensive.

The "surface subway" ΗΣAΠ trains are not as good but most stations have been renovated and it's much better, quicker and more frequent than it used to be. And it's a decent way to get from northern to southern Athens as it connects Kifisia (wealthy northern suburb) to Piraeus port - going through the center at that..

As for the Tram... Well one of the lines is nice as its always by the sea but all of the lines are kinda slow, the vehicles are kinda smelly and they always seem to be filled with annoying screeching teenagers, as well as far too many sweaty, smelly people in summer when everyone decides to go to the beach. Still, it's quite useful as its an extra means to access the south of Athens where there are very few train stops and no Metro service.

We also have a "suburban" train system ("Proastiakos") which extends further than Athens itself, which is a rather good service - but it's a bit "niche" as it does not really go past the center and the trains do take their own sweet time.

[xarallei]

Havenless, on 01 December 2012 - 01:31 AM, said:

This. I live in nyc, our subways are filthy, though some stations are way better than others.

Hey, it may be filthy but it works. I'm very spoiled and refuse to live in a city that doesn't have a proper transportation system like NYC does.

[Havenless]

xarallei, on 04 December 2012 - 01:35 AM, said:

Hey, it may be filthy but it works. I'm very spoiled and refuse to live in a city that doesn't have a proper transportation system like NYC does.

I know, I know

[pumpkin pie]

don't get me started about how my stupid government manage MY country .... for a tiny country we need lots of public transports operated by ABLE PEOPLE not cronies! , and comes the long story which i'll not get into since we aren't suppose to discuss such topics here ... not that we don't have it, but because of political and personal gain, the services are way beyond par and bla bla bla bla