I want to make a video series about trains. The idea is we take the directors from national railways, and set them each a challenge.
- SNCF, they have to get to a board meeting in a very small town at 10am, and another in a different town at 1400. They have to use trains, they can't use hotels.
- Renfe, they need to get a box of tools from Vigo to Valencia to help with a DIY project.
Cont...
1/n
@quixoticgeek I've always thought once you join the board of any company you should be legally required to only use your employers services where ever possible.
Any exceptions have to be agreed with the campaign group that most often complains about your company
@quixoticgeek @feorag Amtrak - go from NYC to anywhere else that’s not Northeast Corridor and not Chicago.
This, but for any form of public transit in the US. I would say make it a live reality TV show, but it would be the most boring show ever, mostly everyone waiting around or sitting on uncomfortable, loud buses or trains. Or just walking because there aren't any buses or trains.
Oh, and make it an elimination type round so that the people in charge of these things are systematically fired.
@Mikal @quixoticgeek I want the people who design US bike infra to ride bikes on them at rush hour
- NS/ProRail, they have to travel from Sloterdijk to Utrecht, wearing their most expensive suit, and holding a very hot, very full mug of coffee
- DB, they have to take trains across the country, for every minute of delay for a train they are on, they have to pay €1000.
- UK, they have £20, from London Euston then and there, they have to travel as far as possible. Fo each km under 100km they travel, they have to pay £1000.
- Eurostar, they need to travel Paris to Amsterdam, right now.
2/n
@quixoticgeek hahaha - also, in the UK they have to take a bike and work out what they're allowed on...
Solving this in the UK means ££££££ though. Demand massively outstrips supply and new track has been underbuilt for so long that there's really no way to keep trains within safe occupancy levels other than outpricing people. Especially as we have quite narrow gauge rails and low Victorian bridges, so the trains have to stay small. But hey, let's spend billions on motorway "upgrades" I suppose?
@Flisty that gauge of the rails isn't the problem. It's the loading gauge of the track as a hole that's the issue. DE,NL,BE,CH,FR,LU, etc... all manage double decker trains on the same 1435mm track gauge as the UK. It's just the loading gauge is much smaller. Tho Railtrack, or whatever it's called this week, is trying to increase the gauge to at least W10 across the whole network.
@quixoticgeek yeah I don't really know what I'm talking about 😅 I have just read way too many "woe is us" excuses from various parties over the years
@quixoticgeek NS/ProRail: From Koog aan de Zaan to Amsterdam Centraal.
Weekday morning rush hour.
In winter, when they're only running half the trains because of a bit of snow or whatever.
No coffee no fancy suit no nothing.
€1000 for every train that stops at the station that they physically can't get on without dragging somebody else off it first.
@quixoticgeek Your DB challenge would bankrupt Elon Musk.
@quixoticgeek did the #Thalys brand get canceled?
- Belgium, have to travel across the country immediately, while in a wheelchair. (This would actually be a challenge in most nations too)
All of these highlight the short comings of the various national rail systems. SNCF don't understand timetables, Renfe don't understand you might want to travel with more than clothes, NS seem to have speed bumps, DB are well; DB, and UK you need a mortgage to take a train without booking in advance, likewise Thalys/Eurostar.
3/n
Maybe if the C suite and transport ministers from the various countries understood what it's actually like on the ground, with the accountability of a filming it, then just maybe, maybe, things might improve. If not we've tortured some rail C suite people for entertainment. Oh well.
4/4
@quixoticgeek if an exec doesn't buy/use their own company's products/services, they should not be allowed to work for said company to begin with or be forved to work at the lowest company paygrade with no bonuses until the unfucked this mess!
Post script:
- European transport minister person has to travel from Stockholm to Lisbon by train. Without using interrail. For every euro over 200 it costs, they have to pay €1000...
@quixoticgeek
Let's make it tougher. Helsinki to Lisbon.
@quixoticgeek Can I just add: SNCF must book the ticket using their own site, and they must have a partially-sighted person who can't see the captcha do it.
@Uilebheist @quixoticgeek and they must have luggage. And have a connection in Paris between two different stations.
@quixoticgeek Sweden: have to travel from Stockholm to Umeå for a meeting the next day but there’s a snow storm closing the line. Every euro spent out-of-pocket to actually make it in time costs 1000€, alternatively every hour you miss the meeting by is 1000€
(They just cancel trains and offer a refund - or have you wait until the line is open again)
@stefanlindbohm eek. This is worrying me. I want to head to northern Sweden in a couple of weeks.
@quixoticgeek Reminds me of a former transport minister of France being interviewed by a railway-oriented podcast, who admitted he regretted not having tried Interrail when he graduated back in the days, but that he'd do it once he retires.
And I was like 🤦 this guy is doing it in the wrong order... Aside the fact that Interrail wasn't for working-age people in his view, the world would be so much better if guys like this had tried it (even just for vacation) *before* having such positions.
@cycling_on_rails @quixoticgeek This is a bit of a tangent: but I very regularly meet folks who believe interrail is only for young people and are genuinely surprised adults are allowed to use it. So many folks don't know it's even an option. (of course, using it leave Barcelona means TGV so…)
@cycling_on_rails @quixoticgeek should be a requirement for the job to have done multiple interrails. and long journeys without.
@quixoticgeek …For every euro above the airplane cost booked two weeks in advance
