Trains

[embi]

London's was just fine when I went there. The Underground was very efficient, it was a bit strange seeing the whole train switch off when waiting for another train to pass. But on the whole it was very efficient.

Amsterdam had a cool mini tram which did the loop around the city.

Singapore has a dam efficient train system - the MRT. It goes all over the Country (not hard ) and it runs every 5 minutes. It's the way of transport over there. The MRT are quite new and they also have a LRT system coming through.

But did you get caught in the rush hour? Its not that pleasant (but better than India I suppose)
But railways have been a key subject for English satirists for quite a bit of time because (theyre better now) they used to be late and crowded, and teh replacement bus services etc, etc.
Private Eye has a strip called the Commuters, where two commuters always have problems with trains. It is occaisonaly funny.

But the English railway system isn't really that much of a nightmare. If you pick the right date and time, they can actually be a pleasant experience.

And as for price, I've never noticed any problems (but thats usually because we travel on the classic family railcard )

 

[Ritwik]

actually, Indians know when to duck, and railways engineers always keep in mind about people sitting on roof when they engineer tunnels.

As for your story, this I also a regular happening on the indian Platforms.The train masters keep coach doors open so that people can jump into the train.

I have developed fineese in jumping onto running buses.It's a amazing experience.Running behind buses at full speed and then waiting for right time for a jump onto the platform.

I remember when I jumped onto the platform and was dangling on the edge for 2 stops.It's a thrilling experience too.
:o
Actually indian transport systems are cool substitues to rollercoaster, when used 'right'.

(U might find these facts hard to believe, but they are regular happenings in India.People dangling outsides buses, trains and many more things....)

What Blackleo says above is true, but India is a study in contradictions. We have some trains in an atrocious condition while there are other trains for the richer people (mostly the upper middle class) which are in a far better shape. So you get two sharply contrasting sets of services depending on what you can pay. I understand that this is true for everywhere mostly, but in India the gulf between the two sets of services is pretty hard to believe.

 

[Sureshot]

Yes so we should have our train tickets subsidised more like in France!

But the Trains are no longer public. They are private run companies.

 

[aussie1st]

But did you get caught in the rush hour? Its not that pleasant (but better than India I suppose)
But railways have been a key subject for English satirists for quite a bit of time because (theyre better now) they used to be late and crowded, and teh replacement bus services etc, etc.
Private Eye has a strip called the Commuters, where two commuters always have problems with trains. It is occaisonaly funny.

But the English railway system isn't really that much of a nightmare. If you pick the right date and time, they can actually be a pleasant experience.

And as for price, I've never noticed any problems (but thats usually because we travel on the classic family railcard )

Yea I caught it in rush hour. Quite crowded but not as bad as Singapore. Their rush hour is like 9pm and boy was it packed. Hard to get off the MRT.

 

[Deleted member 11215]

in singapore a train was 1 minute late recently and it made the national news in singapore and i think the driver got sacked for it :O

 

[blackleopard92]

in singapore a train was 1 minute late recently and it made the national news in singapore and i think the driver got sacked for it :O

U are jokin.

In india, it is taken for granted that a train has to come late by hr or so.

Not to mention what happens in foggy conditions.

 

[Deleted member 11215]

no it was on newsround in the uk

 

[Gilchrist]

My relatives say the Trains in England are slower than ever.

 

[aussie1st]

in singapore a train was 1 minute late recently and it made the national news in singapore and i think the driver got sacked for it :O

Wouldn't surpise me, you get fined for spitting or chewing gum. They are an efficient country not one that runs behind on schedule.

 

[James219]

So they don't sell gum over there?
Anyway, there was a fight on my train the other day- that's the downside of this particular public transport service, it's not exactly the safest way to travel, although it's generally fine during daylight hours, and although sometimes you may be uneasy around certain people, nothing usually happens....

 

[aussie1st]

Yea they don't sell gum but if you go across the border to Malaysia you can get gum
How does the train system in Aus run? Over here we have a conductor that comes around asking for tickets. I got my fair share of free rides when it was rush hour
But the best system is the one where you pay before entering the station like in England and Singapore.

 

[James219]

Um, there are electronic barriers where you insert your ticket and it allows you through....
In the more 'modern' stations it's generally all barriers like that, as I'm sure there are in every other developed nation, yet with an additional gateway, supervised by an official, which is there pretty much for disabled customers, but others use it anyway. There are those ticket booths where you press the buttons corresponding to the details of travel and your status, and also a complex where you are served by a cityrail (Sydney service) employee. These are all found on the station, so it's quite possible to get through without paying, but every now and then police ensure whether you've got your ticket. I don't really have to worry about that as I run on a school student pass, but occassionally the railway officials or police officers ask me.

 

[aussie1st]

Lol well clearly NZ aren't a developed nation We don't even have electronic barriers in our best station. It's dam flash but you can go straight down to the trains. You will be clicked most likely though as it's about 10 minutes which is enough time for the conductors to walk down.

 

[Gilchrist]

Lucky, I really really want to ride on trains like I used to.

 

[Bala]

in singapore a train was 1 minute late recently and it made the national news in singapore and i think the driver got sacked for it :O

I had to go to Delhi for the Auto Expo in January. My train was scheduled to leave at 10.00 PM. The train came into the station by 11.45 and departed by 12.30 AM. And it reached Delhi 7 hours late! Talk about being punctual. Sheesh!