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Comment by catalogia | Hacker News Reader

I suppose it would be too much to hope for more trains.

Would you get on a train right now, during a pandemic?

I wouldn't, and I like trains more than most people do. I'n sticking with my own car for transportation for the foreseeable future, and everyone else who owns a car is doing the same. I'm not going to put myself in a large metal box full of other people who might be sick.

Yes, and regularly, and so do millions of other Tokyo residents. Cases here are up to ~200 daily new cases with (AFAIK) zero linked to public transit (and this is weeks after our quasi-lockdown ended). If public transit/trains were by definition a significant risk factor Tokyo's situation would look a _lot_ different.

Now maybe a train stuffed with non-mask wearing people talking constantly would be a different issue.

In some podcast someone mentioned that in (some) asian countries it feels like air conditioning in public transport is build to ensure quick and regular air exchange. And it would absolutely make sense, as they are way more used to these sort of problems than "the west". And also have generally higher population density. Might this also be true for Tokyo?

Do you have any insight as to how that's possible? Not disputing the fact, but those trains are packed super tight. It seems like ideal situation for spreading. Are the only safeguards mask usage?

The biggest safeguard in Japan is civic compliance. Pretty much 100% of people with symptoms or who suspect they had contact, self-isolate. At low daily case rates, that's enough. If the rates spike, then they'll have to set restrictions again.

> Would you get on a train right now, during a pandemic?

Why, yes. I remember taking the high-speed train from Madrid to Barcelona some years ago in the preferente+ class, which cost me about 90€, and there was so much room that, with the exception of my side chair, I couldn't touch anyone else if I reached out in any direction.

And IIRC each carriage had about a 50-seat capacity.

That's a far cry from your typical sardine can experience in any airline, including in high-end seats.

€90 is about what i spend on groceries in two weeks. But sure, keep making assumptions about people's lives outside a Silicon Valley/tech salary.

Tell me if I read it wrong, but you meant to say that €90 is a small amount right?

Perhaps the OP included the cost to indicate it compared favourably with the cost of air travel and private car travel over the same route? I understand this wouldn't have been true for similarly distanced cites in USA, and I know from experience it wasn't true for London - HSR to Paris or Amsterdam was always several times more expensive than flying, and even domestic intercity rail was notoriously more expensive than flying internationally.

Trains can feasibly put in ventilation systems that shoves inside air out, and pulls in fresh air. Recirculating air systems are the nasty part with covid. Trains aren't (much) concerned with weight, so can easily pack on the ventilation. I travel periodically for my remote job, and getting on a train on a Monday, working all day, then being at my HQ for several days before working all the way on a Friday sounds much better to me at this point.

Building more rail lines ... well that's another matter.

FYI airplanes do pull in fresh air too, they're not a completely sealed tube like people seem to think. The air itself in a plane isn't what concerns me, it's being so close to so many people and all the high contact surfaces that are rarely cleaned).