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A bit of researching has dug this up, which seems extremely odd. Apparently it depends which IC2 you end up on https://www.europebyrail.eu/a-double-dose-of-german-ic2-trains/

This is very disappointing to hear as I very much enjoyed the food on the DB IC train from Salzburg to Frankfurt pre-Covid. I can personally confirm that several orders of sausages were made to my seat. Update: This was a single decker IC train rather than an IC2 so that explains the catering

I did not know! It would go against every instinct

One striking thing I've seen on Amtrak in the US is passengers having to cross tracks in front of a train to board it. Just not done in the UK! I believe the reason for the fencing stipulation on early British railways was at the request of aristocratic landowners who were dubious of railways...

I've heard this claimed, but can anyone explain why passengers have spontaneously started queueing too early for their trains around the same time there's been a surge in demand and new border procedures? Because it used to be a very rare event to see long queues, only in the event of disruption.

Not sure why the forum's quote software seem to think it was me who said this by the way (it was another poster)

There is this aspect to it, but it's as much about shaping the incentive structure for travel as anything else, and encouraging rail use. It encourages locals to invest in a fixed cost (the card) to reduce their variable costs per journey. People feel they have already paid or invested in rail...

There are probably a dozen fully-fledged commuter rail systems in the US with less than 5,000 daily riders, if you can believe it. For example, in Portland Oregon, a city considered to have quite good public transport by US standards, the WES Commuter Rail service...

I agree about Belgium being the leader in low-fares, it's extremely good value. There's also the senior ticket, a flat €7,20 fare for people over 65 to go anywhere in the country. From my travels I would say the UK's main strong point is the frequency of services. Even quite rural stations can...

This is all very interesting information, thanks for sharing

Interesting, I just had a look at the route - I seem to remember the highway median was specifically built with a possible rail line down the middle in mind wasn't it?

I'm guessing the lower speed / lack of an express IC with limited stops is because of how congested the line is? Even at peak time there seems to be basically no expresses. In some ways it makes sense as this is most densely populated part of Europe.

Interesting, thank you - I hadn't come across this aspect

Interesting - I wonder if there are more changes to come to the timings? I went past the new lines at Mechelen when they were under construction on an IC train a few times back 2018-19 sort of time. The 160km/h speed limit seems curious for a new line planned to take high speed trains but I...

The Mechelen rail bypass is a Belgian line meant to relieve line 25 between Brussels and Antwerp. It was intended for high-speed (and other) trains like the Eurostar and Thalys to be able to travel 160km/h (still not that fast, but an improvement on 100km/h) past Mechelen and bypass a...

As somebody with no inside information, who has read most of the thread and all trade press reports I can find, this is the clearest short summary I can make about what seems to be wrong with the Class 701s: - There are a number of physical and software defects with the trains. As a result SWR...

This thread is quite sprawling now, so could I ask – has anyone written a single comprehensive post summarising all the problems with the 701s and what is causing the delay in their introduction?

Very interesting, thank you - this was going to be my follow-up question. That's an interesting dynamic with the new fare becoming the new regulated base fare

Does anybody know exactly how much freedom TOCs have to set non-regulated fares? If they chose to do so, would it be possible to price an anytime return lower than the regulated off-peak return? You might ask why they would want to do this... and the examples are of course limited. But with a...

Yes this is particularly galling because countries that are bad at card acceptance tend to love cash... but NL is very into cards, but only their cards