Traveling via train in India is such an experience - I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to visit.
No thanks!! I'll stick to my rickshaws and cabs Never stepped foot on the train when I lived in Mumbai; I dont do well in hot crowded spaces and getting to the Bandra station involved either a cab or rickshaw ride so it was kinda pointless to pay for 2 types of transportation to get somewhere.
That may change if I end up in Bangalore later this year.
The commuter train vs. the cross-country trains are two different experiences. If you travel during off-times, the commuter trains are bearable and definitely interesting. The trains for longer journeys are still hot (unless you go for the A/C car) and crowded, but you have your own berth with helps immensely
If you loved Mumbai, you will definitely love Bangalore!
Post by mainelyfoolish on Jun 6, 2014 6:51:18 GMT -5
Fun fact: my FIL is one of the volunteer hosts that rides on the Downeaster. We can also hear the Downeaster's whistle at our house (we live in Wells). One of my friends in town has train tracks across part of her property so her kids get to see all the trains go by.
We love trains but DH inherited a Huge model train and assescory collection from his late father and I wish we could just get rid of it as it takes up our entire basement. We are trying to figure out the best way to sell most of it.
Post by mainelyfoolish on Jun 6, 2014 7:00:10 GMT -5
The Downeaster also hit and killed a 39 year old woman a few days ago, so we once again had a talk about train safety with our kids. (The woman killed was walking on the tracks and apparently didn't hear the train coming.) It boggles my mind how people who wouldn't walk down the middle of a highway think nothing of walking on a train track.
I have taken quite a few overnight trains in Europe and I love them. I always sleep great.
We took an overnight train in Thailand that was interesting. The train we wanted only had single berth cars. So we each had one and they connected in between with a door. The trains were really old Japanese sleeper cars. You might like reading about them here: www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm#1st_class_sleepers.
On my last work trip to Germany, I learned that Deutsche Bahn has lounges at some of the larger train stations for long layovers. *blink*
I was travelling with a colleague that happens to have the appropriate membership to get access. I learned a few tricks to train travel on that trip...
On my last work trip to Germany, I learned that Deutsche Bahn has lounges at some of the larger train stations for long layovers. *blink*
I was travelling with a colleague that happens to have the appropriate membership to get access. I learned a few tricks to train travel on that trip...
Can you please share with the class? What a vague post.
Amtrak also has lounges across the country, there are either "Club Acela" or "Metropolitan Lounges" depending on where you are. My H is amtrak elite so he has access to them - as well as reciprocity with United Club which is actually pretty baller.
But the amtrak lounges are not that great. They have clean bathrooms, free coffee & soda and snacks but its not nice like an airport lounge.
In some ways it is kind of messed up because the federal government gave a ton of free land to the rail road companies.....who then sabotaged passenger service on purpose in the 1960s so they could ditch it because it was no longer profitable.
But yeah, there is no political will to build the new infrastructure at this point. Not to mention that when I have gone cross country, while it's very scenic, true high speed rail would require a whole new ROW (right of way) because we were crawling at like 25 mph through sections because of the curves, grade (climbing into the mountains) and the poor condition of the tracks. I mean it is kind of ridiculous that it takes 48 hours to get from San Francisco to Chicago via rail, which is why most trips on the long distance trains are not end point to end point but rather mid point type travel (ie, Denver to Reno, Omaha to Denver, etc on the San Fran to CHI train)
All of this, plus passenger train regs have been safety first rather than speed first for a while. Also, construction costs in the US are crazy for no good reason, AFAICT. For the price of one station on an existing line in VA, Berlin is building like 1.5km of new track plus three stations. (commuter rail/subway, but the same problems affect medium-haul rail).
The whole "Midwestern Governors turn down free stimulus money for better intercity passenger rail because OBAMA" made me so sad. Even though I don't live in the midwest. I just love trains too.
Public construction in the us is more than even private development because of prevailing wage and other administrative burdens in public contracting. I imagine it's even more when compared to other countries.
On my last work trip to Germany, I learned that Deutsche Bahn has lounges at some of the larger train stations for long layovers. *blink*
I was travelling with a colleague that happens to have the appropriate membership to get access. I learned a few tricks to train travel on that trip...
Can you please share with the class? What a vague post.
Amtrak also has lounges across the country, there are either "Club Acela" or "Metropolitan Lounges" depending on where you are. My H is amtrak elite so he has access to them - as well as reciprocity with United Club which is actually pretty baller.
But the amtrak lounges are not that great. They have clean bathrooms, free coffee & soda and snacks but its not nice like an airport lounge.
Attempt to respond #2. Computer crashed just before I hit send. blargh.
Anyways, the DB lounge was about on par with a small airport lounge. It was not big, but had soda, a fancy coffee machine, a selection of papers and magazines (with a few in English), some german news station playing quietly on a few TVs placed around the space. I'm not sure what made this colleague eligible for the lounge, but I would guess it was either from frequent travel, or from having a DB pass. He mentioned that DB offers some annual pass type thing where you pay a flat fee to get it, and then every trip you purchase on DB after that is discounted, and discounted enough he suggested it might be worth considering if I were to have a longer trip to Germany, or one that involved more rail travel.
Now, I'm fairly inexperienced in rail travel, so I'm sure some of what he did was obvious to those that know their way around (or can speak/read german fluently) - there are signs on the platforms saying what order the train cars will arrive in, so you know about where to stand to get onto the train at the right place. Also, he usually buys second class tickets, and plans to get a meal on the train, so he can sit in the dining car, which, frankly, is more comfortable than even the first class seats. He also was able to navigate the delayed trains a whole lot better than me, but I'm putting that down to understanding the announcements made only in German (they announce the stations in English, along with German, but these were longer announcements that I couldn't understand).
Post by wildfloweragain on Jun 7, 2014 7:51:44 GMT -5
I took trains everywhere in Europe.
DS loves trains and we will be taking his first train trip to NYC in July (from Rochester.) He is so excited! Before this, we just took a little fun train from one town over to our town because he wanted to ride a train so badly.
I'm excited about: not having to drive, my cousin works across the street from Penn station, the cost was so much better than I had anticipated, reading some books.
I'm not excited about: 7.5 hours to get there. I can barely sit in a movie theater the length of a movie.
I have very little train experience, but my youngest son is currently obsessed with trains. We're taking an Alaskan cruise this summer, and I booked us tickets on the White Pass Summit railway. I'm really excited about it. It's supposed to be a beautiful ride. www.wpyr.com/history/
If you have Netflix, there's an awesome show called Mighty Machines, it's a "real-life" (as opposed to cartoons) show about different mighty machines like construction equipment, boats, planes, trains, etc. There's a whole episode about the White Pass rail line. It could get him (and the rest of you) pumped about your excursion!