|
Post by 3piggles on Oct 16, 2019 16:34:24 GMT
A 20+ hour train trip is one really long train trip! I'd have trouble being cooped up and stuck in a seat all that time. I know there are sleeper cars on our cross country trains, but they cost more. I think there are dining cars, too, that are visited regularly. Gives people a chance to move around, but not to actually sleep in a good bed, or get a decent meal. I've heard the dining cars have mostly vending machines, no kitchen.
Yes, taking a plane used to be a quicker alternative, and probably still is, but if we remember before all the security checks, it's maddening to have to go through all of that. That's why I don't fly anymore. I can't sit in the hard chairs all that time, or stand in lines, and there are no other decent options.
I would still like to take a train trip somewhere, cross country. I've taken plenty of subways and commuter trains, but not a sight seeing train, or something like that.
|
|
|
Post by amber89 on Oct 16, 2019 18:29:42 GMT
Well, I have read about this guy that climbed on top of a plane in order to stop it depart or about the planned protest with drones in order to ground planes (i know, the guys were arrested over the plan, but still it's scary). I also like much more trains or buses, i get to see the landscape. On top of that i really hate flying. A train trip of around 5h is really doable and enjoyable, and in 5h one reaches from Vienna a lot of other European cities. Even to Krakow we went with the train ( an 8h night ride) and it was ok. We also did a 20h bus ride to Dubrovnik (not so comfy and we will never repeat the experience). But now we don't have the time anymore to spend a day on a train or bus.
|
|
|
Post by Bean on Oct 17, 2019 7:03:02 GMT
There was another chap who got on a plane but refused to take his seat, so the plane was delayed while they got security to come and haul him off. It's all Extinction Rebellion, and they've been disrupting all sorts of transport over the last few months, not just planes. Even much public transport, which is what they want people to be using. They say they know annoying people going about their everyday business isn't ideal, but it's the only way they can get attention to their cause, the only way they can get the people who actually have the power to sit up and pay attention.
As far as I know the group have never behaved in a way to actually threaten people's safety or cause harm, just to bring thing to a halt. It's brought a variety of responses. (Every time I hear about someone gluing themselves to something, a little involuntary shudder travels down my body!)
|
|
|
Post by 3piggles on Oct 17, 2019 22:18:27 GMT
Time is a the basic problem. If you have a weekend to visit someone or some place, you can't spend 40+ hours of it traveling. Even 5 or 8 hours is a lot, especially if you can fly there in 3.
As Bean said, though, flying takes less time once in the air, but getting in the air can take hours. So if you have to be at the airport 3 hours early to go through all the security checks, that 3 hour flight becomes a 6 hour flight.
I don't like to fly, either. I won't take a bus for any distance, because the people are crammed in too closely. With my perfume allergy, it's likely to become an endlessly long trip. I would take a train, though.
|
|
|
Post by Bean on Oct 18, 2019 6:48:24 GMT
I also like the idea of one of those scenic cross country train trips - the Orient Express maybe?!
|
|
|
Post by 3piggles on Oct 18, 2019 13:23:22 GMT
If I were a whole lot younger, I'd love to fly over and take the Orient Express! While we don't have any trains like that, we have a lot of site seating trains. They're trains with extra windows, that go through the most scenic areas of the country and Canada. They have dining and sleeping cars, though I've read that the regular seats are comfortable enough for sleeping.
|
|
|
Post by amber89 on Oct 18, 2019 15:35:11 GMT
I had no idea that US and Canada also have something similar! Good to keep in mind for when we will visit.
Hubby also wants to do the trans-Siberian trip once. I have told him i am in for a part of it, not the whole Moscow - Vladivostok.
|
|
|
Post by Bean on Oct 19, 2019 8:02:43 GMT
How long would that take? Russia is immense! I like the idea of hopping on and off, so see some of the places you're travelling through. But I imagine you'd have to be very organised to make sure you had a seat/ bed every night!
|
|
|
Post by 3piggles on Oct 19, 2019 16:32:14 GMT
The easternmost point in the continental US is Lubec, Maine. The westernmost point is Cape Alava, Washington. That's 5739K or 3565.4 miles, compared to the total Trans Siberian trip of 9289K or 5772 miles. Russia is huge! Even if I did the farthest points in Canada, which is bigger than the US from East to West, it wouldn't be anywhere nearly as big as Russia. I've heard the whole trip is fabulous, and can be done in 7 days(probably with stops to do site seeing and buy things), which would be a great vacation for us older folks, but for families with children, I would think it was way too much sitting and riding. It has a great history, and is probably one of the few things the Russians have done right, so it really helps the people It won't be energy efficient, though. I read about the flight shaming, and the push to use other modes of transportation. Those other modes aren't more efficient, they just use different types of fuel. Even once all train travel is electric, globally, something has to be used to produce the electricity, and that won't be as ecologically kind as it could be. There are only so many methods of generating enough electricity to fuel the needs, and so far, renewable sources don't make enough. There's still a lot of work to be done, but rather than flight shaming, law makers should be working toward making air flight, and all other modes of transportation, ecologically friendly. That's still a long way off. The Washington Post newspaper did some articles on Flight Shaming, and why it won't work in the US. They basically said what I said. We don't have the public transport systems in place to replace cars, or to get us where we want to go almost as quickly as planes can. We used to have a great train system, before the car was invented and became THE mode of travel. Then the trains went out of business for lack of use. Stations were turned into houses, historical societies, stores, etc., and the rails, after lying unused for decades, are being turned into trails for cycling and walking. There were a lot of issues, when we had a lot of train travel. Not all systems used the same gauge of rail, or size of train, so they couldn't extend their trips onto other company's tracks, and provide better service for riders. We would need a completely new, extremely complex and extensive system of tracks and trains, and until vehicles are banned from city centers, there won't be enough riders to warrant doing it. The other problem is where and when trains arrive. I can take a flight to L.A., land at LAX, and have a rental car waiting for me, with my paperwork at a kiosk in the terminal where I arrived. If I take a train to L.A., I arrive around 2:30 a.m., at a train station in the city, but not near a car rental agency, or even within safe walking distance of a decent hotel. So if I can get a taxi, I can at least get a very expensive ride to a motel that takes people at all hours of the day or night, which isn't one I'd want to use. So why take the train and be forced to go to all that trouble, when that's all included in the terminal, at the airport? Most hotels even have shuttles from the airport to the hotel, so if I don't want to rent a car at the terminal, I can rent it at the hotel, instead. None of that is available with train travel. Buses just take way too long.
|
|