Trains around the world

I’ve probably ridden trains more this year than I have the whole rest of my life put together. I thought it might be fun to review some of my train rides.

In January, Edi came to Shanghai and we had the chance to ride the worlds fastest train currently in regular passenger service. The Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) train goes from the Pudong airport to near the end of one of the subway lines in Shanghai. As I recall, it just over 30 Kilometers (~19 miles) and takes about 6 minutes. The train reaches a maximum of 431 Kph which is just under 270 Mph. There are two ‘rails’ (they’re not actually rails), each of which has one train which goes back and forth between the two stations. When the two trains pass each other, they are not going at full speed (I think maybe 360 Kph). If you’re not already looking out the window, you’ll miss the other train. By the time you hear the thud, you can’t turn your head fast enough to see it. It costs about $10 for a round trip.

In April, I went to the Great Wall in China. That train wasn’t so much known for its speed, but rather its comfort. It’s an all night journey (7pm to 7am) and they have several classes of service. I bought a round trip ticket for about $120 US in the best class – soft sleeper. The soft sleeper cars had little rooms with 4 bunks each in them, one upper and one lower, across from each other. I was able to get some sleep on the ride which was much needed. The rooms have doors that close so they’re somewhat private.

In November, I took a trip from Shanghai to Hangzhou. The ride there was quite different from the ride back. Going there, I was on the old, slow, ‘local’ train. It was cheap (~$3 US) but took two hours with several stops. It was slow and uncomfortable. The ride back was on a new high speed non-stop train which cost twice as much but only took an hour and 20 minutes and was very comfortable. The high speed train got up to 170 Kph (a little over 100 Mph).

Now, I’m on the ICE (Inter City Express) train from Frankfurt to Brussels. We’re in the first class cabin which has nicer seats. Unfortunately, it doesn’t display the speed all the time but I’ve seen the intermittent display as high as about 265 Kph or 165 Mph. It stops a few times along the way. We’re about to pull in to Koln (Cologne) right now.

I’ve also ridden metros, subways, and trams in lots of different places around the world this year. It’s interesting to observe the differences between the various mass transit systems.

I rode the metro in Shanghai quite a bit during many layovers there. It’s clean and new. In fact, there was no subway system in Shanghai at all until the mid 90’s. Some lines are underground and some are elevated. A typical ride costs $.50 (fares vary by distance) and the trains come often. The fare cards are magnetic, but not ‘swipe’ type. To get into the station, you lay it on the green arrow. To get out, you insert the card into the machine. If you didn’t pay enough (and it does check), then you have to pay the remaining fare to get out. This is, of all the systems in the world, the most ‘secure’ in terms of ensuring passengers paid correctly. Announcements are made in Chinese (presumably Mandarin) and English. The signage also has English on it, making it easy to get around, even for someone who doesn’t understand any Chinese at all.

There are a couple of unique downsides to the Shanghai metro that aren’t really present in other places. First, it is fairly common to encounter people begging for money on the trains. They usually smell bad, bow down, rattle their cup a time or three and take their time moving on. I’m confident they’re poor (especially by U.S. standards), but I read an article somewhere indicating they actually make more doing that than some ‘working class’ people make. Also, there are often people both on the trains and elsewhere around the city (notably sidewalks and subway entrances) who like to hand you things, particularly these little business card sized advertisements for travel companies. On the subways, they don’t care if you’re interested or not, they just basically ‘throw’ them at you. If you don’t want it, it winds up on the floor. The cars are often littered with those little ads.

The metro in Taipei is nice like the Shanghai one, but it generally lacks the downsides (the littering advertisers and the beggars). Rides start around $.65 and go up from there. Like Shanghai, there are parts underground and parts elevated, and signage and announcements are also made in English. Unlike Shanghai, it sounds as though the station announcements are made in multiple dialects of Chinese (I think three different ones). They just switched to using electronic ‘tokens’ that look like plastic coins. They work similarly to Shanghai’s, though I’m not 100% sure they actually check that you paid the correct fare when you exit.

In both Chicago and New York, the metros are old. The trains are noisy and not particularly comfortable. Most of New York’s system is underground (all of it in Manhattan). By contrast, most of Chicago’s system is above ground (the blue and red lines go underground downtown and are elevated otherwise). In both places, there is only one fare to ride the entire system. They’re each about $2 for a ride and both places require a fare card to get on but not to get off. New York seems to have more frequent service on average than Chicago. Also, Chicago’s CTA is struggling with both funding issues and numerous track repairs throughout the system. In Chicago, there are ‘slow zones’ all over the city which cause rides that should be quick to be painfully slow. From a standpoint of value, the Asian systems are infinitely better, though of U.S. systems, New York gets the nod over Chicago.

I also rode the Metra train once in Chicago. It’s not directly connected to the CTA system and is more of a ‘commuter’ train. The fares are based on the distance travelled and some lines go quite a ways out. Those trains are more like ‘traditional’ long distance trains where the tickets are checked onboard (i.e. it’s possible to get on without a ticket). They do have a trainman (who wears the appropriate old-style uniform, complete with trainman hat) who checks the tickets on each journey, so I suspect they do a reasonably good job of collecting their fares. Nevertheless, you could ride from stop to stop away from the main stations without a ticket if you felt like taking the risk. I suspect, though, that the cost of ‘securing’ every station to check at entry and exit for proper fares might cost more than the slippage it saves.

Moving on to Europe, I’ve ridden the subways in Frankfurt, Cologne, and Brussels this year. They all cost around $2 (maybe a little more) for rides in the city. They connect to their main train stations which have outstanding train service throughout all of Europe. That is a significant difference from the U.S. While there are commuter and long distance trains but service is relatively limited. Culturally, trains are a way of life in Europe (and Asia, for that matter), whereas they’re not in the U.S. The European subways themselves are not access controlled at all. You can walk right onto the subway without a fare card. Of course, if you get caught, then you pay a fine. The trains aren’t quite as ‘shiny new’ as the ones in Shanghai and Taipei, but they’re still nicer than New York or Chicago by quite a bit.

Then there’s the tram in Zurich. There’s no subway / metro system, only street cars. They’re fairly expensive considering what you get (they’re not terribly fast, as you can imagine). I don’t recall the single journey price but a day pass was something like $5 and was ever so slightly more than two single journeys. It is also not access controlled, like the subways elsewhere around Europe.

Who knew there would be so much to write about trains? Of course, this entry wouldn’t be complete without some insight. Facts are nice, I suppose, but what did I think about all that? There are several thoughts that come to mind (of course).

First, the ideal situation for train travel is within a system (and culture) geared around traveling on trains. Ridership is the key to economic viability (if there even is such a thing) and frequency and level of service is essential for getting riders. Europe probably takes the cake for overall train system service. The train stations are focal points of European cities and the service is good and a good value. The U.S. is obviously the laggard in that regard.

Second, for both local and long distance travel, I continually find myself questioning the economics of train travel. I’d like to think I know, but I really don’t. I’m just guessing when I think that most rail systems (local or long distance) are subsidized taxpayer burdens which can’t compete in the free market of travel. For a traveler to a foreign place, that’s great (steal from the locals, right?). As a local, I’d rather not be taxed for rail service (this recently came up in New Hampshire).

Third, for local travel, subways are excellent (even the old ones in the U.S.) if they’re convenient (frequent service with lots of stations), fast (unlike Chicago), clean, and nice. I think the U.S. systems would benefit from adding access control at both ends and raising fares for longer journeys. $2 to ride around the loop is a ripoff (walking is competitive). $5 to ride from Ohare to downtown (once they get the slow zones fixed), or from the end of the Purple line to downtown is a great deal. It’s faster and cheaper than driving. A higher fare would easily be supported on runs like that.

Fourth, for intercity travel up to a few hours in length, high speed trains could be an excellent competitor to air travel. If the level of service were suitable, I suspect travelers would choose the train over airplane, especially now with the advent of TSA. Airports are a huge hassle. The big ones are usually out of town and getting on an airplane has become a big production. With a train, you can walk right on with all you can drag, keep your stuff with you, have lots more room, and enjoy the scenery more. Time wise, point to point travel for 500 mile or less journeys are probably shorter on trains. For longer distances, the key to making trains appealing would be a combination of comfort on overnight trips (ala the Shanghai-Beijing trip) and price. Air travel is just difficult to beat for a long trip and it’s gotten really cheap.

So there’s my $.02 (plus tax) on trains. I have way too much time on my hands, no?

V-