[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by SR-71

It's not just IR, any railway system that has high footfall can suffer from travesties due to unforeseen circumstances, especially during the holiday season.

So yes, it's easy to say our system is screwed up, but I believe, baring rare exceptions like Japan most public transportation system have challenges that they find impossible to control at times :-)
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So true!

I remember one torrid foreign assignment where I was based in Berlin but would travel to Groß-Gerau (near Darmstadt/Frankfurt) for the working week. Used to detest the Friday evening ICE back as it would be chock-full like a General coach in IR.

Unless you booked the expensive tickets (kiss bye bye to the cheap ones anyway) from long before, there was no way you could get a reserved seat. That meant an exhausting 4-5 hours slumped somewhere in that otherwise magnificent ICE 2 or ICE 3 train.

[SR-71]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Unless you booked the expensive tickets (kiss bye bye to the cheap ones anyway) from long before, there was no way you could get a reserved seat. That meant an exhausting 4-5 hours slumped somewhere in that otherwise magnificent ICE 2 or ICE 3 train.

+1 to that. At least in IR, confirmed seats mean exactly that. Even if they put you in another train, you will still get a seat, at least that's my experience in Shatabdi class trains. Plus, the price you pay for those wide executive class seats in the Shatabdi class trains is peanuts compared to what one pay in the UK/Europe for similar service. I paid about 140 pounds per ticket in 1st class from Kings Cross to Edinburgh. I just looked up a similar train, distance and class in our train system - Vande Bharat executive class from Delhi to Bhopal - it costs Rs. 3120. That's 20% of what one pays for similar service in UK, not to mention their dynamic pricing that makes tickets more expensive as the train fills up and closer to travel dates. Considering all of this, I think IR is doing a fantastic job. Room for improvement, yes... but are they as bad as people think they are, I guess not.

[Stribog]

Originally Posted by SR-71

It's not just IR, any railway system that has high footfall can suffer from travesties due to unforeseen circumstances, especially during the holiday season. I had booked a first-class ticket with confirmed seats on an LNER service for me and my family from London to Edinburgh this Christmas weekend. My train got cancelled in the last minute and I was nonchalantly told to get a refund or just board the next LNER service which was supposed to leave in 15 minutes. What I did not know at the time was 3 previous services to Edinburgh were also cancelled. By the time I walked up to the train with my aged parents and loads of luggage, it was full to the brim. I was left with no option but to travel the entire trip standing. People literally had nowhere to move, it was chore for people to even get in and out of the train or go to the toilet.

To make matters worse the storm had knocked down the power lines and the train just stopped in the middle of nowhere with heavy winds threatening to topple it. What was supposed to be a 4-hours 15-minute ride on a modern Azuma class high speed train, turned into a nightmarish 9-hour 30-minute trip that I had do standing all along. No exaggeration, the attached picture will speak for itself. So yes, it's easy to say our system is screwed up, but I believe, baring rare exceptions like Japan most public transportation system have challenges that they find impossible to control at times :-)
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This is very true, while we deride IR because...reasons I guess, carrying 3.2 billion passengers is a humongous task and with so many moving parts things are bound to break.

I have had nightmare rides across the world which made me yearn for our brilliant IR. For instance the longest delay I have faced was in Romania. The ride from Transylvania to Bucharest is supposed to be 8.5 hrs. My onward went without a hitch but my return, R some point when I was sleeping the train simply stopped in the middle of nowhere. As it was winter and ultra cozy I slept a good 6 odd hours, woke up thinking I should be nearing my destination.... nope. Same place. It took me close to 19 hrs to cover the total distance. No reasons offered just delay! And Romanian Rail carries a fraction of a fraction of what the IR throughput is.

One thing though, the Japanese Network is out worldly in its perfection and cleanliness but the Chinese system (the hsr system at least) is also robotic in its precision. The Brit rail network is ATROCIOUS though, took it half a dozen times and hated it every time.