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Comment by lotsoweiners | Hacker News Reader

I’m not sure about that. I’d imagine that trains are going to have the worst of both worlds. They will take a long time (closer to amount of time to drive to destination). They also will have costs approaching that of a flight. To me a train trip makes sense if you enjoy trains and feel that the travel itself is part of the reward.

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As a US person who has, You need to experience euro train travel. The whole experience, from booking using an app to waiting for a train. You’ll find the apps are good, the schedule information accurate and up to date. The apps don’t do stupid things mostly. When you arrive at the station, you’ll find it generally clean and well maintained. Signage is clear and tied into the train information system. Arrival times accurate. You can get a nice sandwich if the shop is open. Intercity Trains are modern and fast. Lots of power ports to plug in your phone. Nice seats. Also great electronic signage in the train. You might even have good wifi. You would not be afraid to use a bathroom in a station or on a train. Best part is that you CAN rely on the trains. Nothing like Amtrak where if it’s on time it’s remarkable.

Have you travelled in Germany in the last couple of years?

Not in the last four. Switzerland & UK, two years ago.

As someone living in Germany since 2004, that looks more like a DB ad than the trains I mostly travel on.

Have you ever taken any trains in Europe? I cannot think of any route in any country where I've lived in Europe where driving would be even remotely close to taking the train, and in some cases it's faster than flying. Newcastle to London is 2h40m by train, about 5 hours of driving. Flight is 40 minutes but you're nowhere near the city centre, so once you take into account going through security plus necessary transfer times it's much longer. Brussels to Paris is an hour and a half on the train, driving is at least double that. Krakow to Warsaw is just over 2 hours, the drive is at least 3 hours and that's to the outskirts not city centre to city centre.

Portugal, unless you happen to be a lucky one travelling on the Lisbon - Porto connection line, good luck travelling faster than taking a car, or eventually a long distance bus.

Spain, outside of the lines connecting Vigo, Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, axis.

Greece, anything outside Athens - Thessaloniki.

Geneve to Munich is probably an example I experienced several times.

Taking a fast train is significantly faster than driving. On short and medium trips they're even competitive with flying, if you factor the time it takes to get to/from the airport and associated lead time associated with airports vs showing within 5-10 minutes of departure right at the city centre.

High speed rail in Europe (mainly France) runs at an average speed of 270km/h (167mph), usually city centre to city centre. It is often more convenient than flying, given check-in times and airport distance from cities. It’s certainly quicker than driving.

Maintenance cost and fuel costs are considerably lower for trains, why would they cost the same amount?

Lower emissions as well, which, I would hope we all care about.

Why should we? The difference is a drop on the ocean for the climate. While choosing convenience/price has a immediate impact on yourself. The rational choice at the individual level is not to care for such things. Actions has to be taken at the political level.

I'm a 100% supporter of getting nice trains throughout America, but trains are relatively expensive for long distances. I don't know why, but if you compare ticket prices (globally!) its often not cheaper to take a train. In my experience, trains are a superior experience, and worth spending more on, but generally not cheaper. The ultra-low cost airlines (especially outside the US) are really hard to compete with on price.

For example, the Shinkansen in Japan (which I totally recommend!) is usually over $100 USD. Which is pretty similar to a flight price. This pattern repeats in Europe as well.

My friend just traveled London -> Edinburgh in the last few weeks, and found the train 2x the cost compared to RyanAir or EasyJet.

Even in the US, this pattern holds. Seattle -> LA costs $50-150 by plane, depending on the airline (3hrs). By train, it's 35hrs and $150. Its a lovely train ride, if you have a weekend to dedicate.

Don’t forget to factor in all the additional time getting to the airport and dealing with check in and security.

...and because they want you to be on time, you end up waiting for another half hour at the gates to sit in a cramped seat near a narrow aisle.

I went by train to Germany during the autumn of last year and oh man, what a pleasure it was. I got there about 5 minutes before the train, got in, dumped my suitcase and had room to spare.

During the trip I sauntered between carriages, bought some (mediocre) food to scoff down in the restaurant carriage, which I opted to do at my seat rather than right there because I felt like some quiet time rather than the buzz.

Later I traveled by plane to Spain in the spring and as nice as Barcelona was, I couldn't say the same about the plane trip, which was a necessity rather than a pleasure.

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