Who Has the Worst Rail Network?

Prester John

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I mean its got to be the British. Its fragmented, run by tin pot companies who don't invest. At rush hour its like a cattle market. Otherwise its untimely, uncomfortable and slow. You try going anywhere in a decent amount of time, even assuming the unlikely event that the trains run on time,unless you're travelling just one line, it is pathetic. Prices are high. Did i mention that apparently some lines (London ? leeds?) are slower now than they were in Victorian times.

So any countries out there got it worse? Anyone want to vent about the British rail system (or public transport in general)?

Come on make us Jealous France whats yours like ;) ?
Germany, The Low countries ? What about The US/ Canada how are your public transport systems?
 
Canada's passenger rail system (Via Rail is our national line) is pretty bad...

Cut backs back in the late 80s/early 90s mean that the trains don't visit all cities, no high speed rail, and they don't even have their own rail system (I believe they use the rail beds of freight companies, so if a passanger train meets a freight train, the passanger train has to wait on a side track until the freight train has passed.)

On the other hand, the logo for Via Rail (shown below) is useful; if the train ever flips upside down, it still says 'via'.
 
Prester John said:
I mean its got to be the British. Its fragmented, run by tin pot companies who don't invest. At rush hour its like a cattle market. Otherwise its untimely, uncomfortable and slow. You try going anywhere in a decent amount of time, even assuming the unlikely event that the trains run on time,unless you're travelling just one line, it is pathetic. Prices are high. Did i mention that apparently some lines (London ? leeds?) are slower now than they were in Victorian times.

So any countries out there got it worse? Anyone want to vent about the British rail system (or public transport in general)?

Come on make us Jealous France whats yours like ;) ?
Germany, The Low countries ? What about The US/ Canada how are your public transport systems?
Click to expand...

I would guess US has the worst one compared to other first world countries since it's so affordable to take a car or airplane.
 
AMTRAK is a joke - at least when it comes to timetables. I don't know why they even bother with them. I was four hours late pulling into Chicago from Massachusetts once and more recently two hours late from Reno into Oakland.
 
So any countries out there got it worse?
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You're not from around here are you? While a handful of U.S. cities provide cheap, reliable public transportation, any intercity rail service fails in comparison to any European country.
 
Found a few numbers for British rail transport on this page:

Trains on time March 2002 - March 2003

Train company Per cent

Long distance
Anglia 77.3
Midland Mainline 73.6
Virgin West Coast 73.5
First Great Western 71.9
Great North Eastern Railway 70.8
Virgin CrossCountry 61.7

Sector average 70.6

London and South East
Chiltern Railways 88.4
First Great Eastern 88.4
c2c 86.3
Silverlink 83.9
Connex South Eastern 80.1
Thames Trains 79.2
West Anglia Great Northern 78.7
South Central 77.2
Thameslink 73.1
South West Trains 72.0

Sector average 79.0

Regional operators
Island Line 96.8
Arriva Trains Merseyside 91.5
Anglia Locals 84.0
Gatwick Express 82.1
ScotRail 82.1
Wessex Trains 81.1
First North Western 80.6
Arriva Trains Northern 80.4
Wales & Border Trains 79.9
Central Trains 70.6

Sector average 80.5

National Level 79.2

Trains are considered late if they arrive at their destination five or more minutes after the advertised time.

So, in the UK about 80% of trains arrive on time.

In Denmark there is effectively still only one carrier, namely DSB. Some numbers from DSB can be found here (in Danish I'm afraid). A (translated) excerpt:

Percentage of trains on time:

Year....................... 98 99 00 01 02
Intercity trains...... 92 95 92 92 92
Suburban trains.. 92 92 94 93 93

Intercity trains are considered late if they arrive at their destination five or more minutes after the advertised time. Suburban trains are considered late if they arrive at their destination two or more minutes after the advertised time.

Seems our services are doing fairly well.

[Edited to try and fix the last table]
 
Detroit easily has the best light rail in the world. The people mover has never been off schedule that I'm aware of. Of course, there is no schedule and it runs on a 2.5 mile loop so even if you miss your train it'll be back in about 10 minutes. That is unless they implode another building in the downtown area and the rubble lands on it.
 
Among developed nations, US rail is likely to be the worst, I suspect.

We're simply too spread out for rail to make sense yet.

I believe some of our cities have very nice rail & bus systems, however.
 
aerocontrols:
Among developed nations, US rail is likely to be the worst, I suspect.

We're simply too spread out for rail to make sense yet.
Click to expand...
How about high-speed trains? Wouldn't 350 km per hour trains be viable alternatives to flying in some areas?
 
The German rail system is still pretty good. I can go from e.g. nuremberg to hamburg (abot 320 miles) in about 4 to 4.5 hours on an hourly schedule.
Sadly, it's being ruined by an incompetent management.

Zee
 
DaChew said:
Detroit easily has the best light rail in the world. The people mover has never been off schedule that I'm aware of. Of course, there is no schedule and it runs on a 2.5 mile loop so even if you miss your train it'll be back in about 10 minutes. That is unless they implode another building in the downtown area and the rubble lands on it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for making me clean my monitor.

Yes, the multi million dollar people mover is great. Just so long as you don't want to travel anyplace outside of down town Detroit.

The only other passenger rail traffic around here is the train to Chicago. This train is best used if you are not in a hurry and want to drink and travel without driving.

Not sure it there is still a train from Windsor to Toronto anymore. You had to cross the border first.

Canadians? Is that train still around?
 
SFB said:
AMTRAK is a joke - at least when it comes to timetables. I don't know why they even bother with them. I was four hours late pulling into Chicago from Massachusetts once and more recently two hours late from Reno into Oakland.
Click to expand...

And, it takes 26 hours to get from Seattle to LA?

IN A SEAT?

Oh, I wonder why nobody takes the train?
 
DaChew said:
Detroit easily has the best light rail in the world. The people mover has never been off schedule that I'm aware of. Of course, there is no schedule and it runs on a 2.5 mile loop so even if you miss your train it'll be back in about 10 minutes. That is unless they implode another building in the downtown area and the rubble lands on it.
Click to expand...

Whoa, there, you have to include the 2 hours in the ER and the half-hour to file the police report on the mugging you underwent at the station.

When you consider all the time costs, it's not very fast, and you can still see the Fischer Body building collapsing, too.
 
Re: Re: Who Has the Worst Rail Network?

Grammatron said:


I would guess US has the worst one compared to other first world countries since it's so affordable to take a car or airplane.
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I assume you mean passenger rail, which is pretty awful, particularly compared to the heyday when it was one of the best. But in those days business travelers took the train.

The notable exception to this is in the "Northeast Corridor" which is comparable in size to a large chuck of western Europe.

That is Boston to Washington DC and points in between with branches. It's almost solid city the whole way.

Commuter rail and mass transit is acceptable in Chicago and a few other places.

The freight railroad network is still excellent.
 
DanishDynamite said:
aerocontrols: How about high-speed trains? Wouldn't 350 km per hour trains be viable alternatives to flying in some areas?
Click to expand...

Yes in the "corrider."

That is the area from Boston to Washington DC on the east coast.
Rail is competitive there.
 
Michael Redman said:
Actually, we have a pretty good rail system. We just use it for freight.
Click to expand...

Right, and that slows AMTRAK way down, because it doesn't have its own rails. Freight takes precedence over passengers, and you sit it one place for twenty to thirty minutes while freight moves its cars around.
 
jj said:
Oh, I wonder why nobody takes the train?
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Well I took AMTRAK from Mass. to IL for the rail experience, and the trip through the Sierras to Nevada for the scenery (which is stunning). I moaned about the trip into Chicago because I didn't realize how bad it would be. For the Nevada trip I was well-prepared!

It really is kind of a joke. They actually post to-the-minute timetables!
 
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