I tried to write this post yesterday.
But got sidetracked.
From Wired’s article, Inside the messy mission to make train travel as easy as flying :
“Planning air travel is easy. Type a starting point and destination into your preferred flight aggregator and you’ll see a list of options reflecting a full range of tickets available to buy. Your ticket will look similar regardless of which airline you travel with or where you are in the world.
“Do the same for trains, and you may not have quite the same experience. Each country and train operator has its own system, language and quirks. In some places, a ticket covers a whole journey, inclusive of interchanges; in others, you need a separate ticket for each leg. Some operators require you to reserve a seat on a specific service; others don’t. A child can variably be classed as under 12, under 14, under 16. Classes of travel can vary, as can seats; without prior experience, you may not know the difference between a ‘couchette’ and a ‘sleeper’ compartment on an overnight train (a couchette is usually more basic and less expensive, with more berths in one compartment).”
It’s a mess. Or as the man in seat 61, Mark Smith, would say:
“Basically, it's the opposite way around from flying,” Smith says. “When you fly, it’s easy to book—they’ve solved that. [It’s] a nightmare to do, queuing up at the airports—not fun at all. Trains, it's the other way around. Booking can be a nightmare; doing it is great.”
Exactly. did I tell you he’s one of my personal heroes?
…focus Kevin, focus!
Another titbit from some dude called Mark:
“He has noticed a 16 percent increase in visitors from 2018 to 2019, which he puts down to concerns over the environmental impact of flying, highlighted particularly by climate activist Greta Thunberg, and general dissatisfaction with the airport and airline experience. Personally, he simply prefers train travel. “It’s civilised,” he says. “My message has always been not that you need to suffer to save the planet; you're actually doing yourself a favour because it's a nicer way to go.”
The full Wired article is worth a read. Lots of stuff about how Mark runs his epic website, and plenty more on the battle to make cross-border train travel in Europe less mindbendingly difficult to organise.
I’ll have you all turned in to trainspotters in no time methinks.
Toot toot!