• ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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    15 hours ago

    Yes, most of it works fine but when it doesn’t:

    • the AC stops working, the windows don’t open and it gets real hot real fast
    • unless it’s some extreme situation they will not let you leave the train
    • you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no infrastructure in sight
    • it’s really hard to get you to alternative transport
    • fixing the issue can take hours

    With a car:

    • you can get outside
    • you will have to wait 30-60 minutes to get towed

    You see multiple news every day about trains in Spain,Poland or Germany with broken AC or just completely failing between stations.

    • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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      8 hours ago

      They usually advise you not to get out of your car for the exact reason they advise you not to get off the train.

      I’m not sure what’s exclusive to trains about breaking down in the middle of nowhere. It’s not exactly trivial to get a replacement car either, nor is repair somehow instant.

      I get what you’re saying, but it’s way less one sided than you’re trying to convey. My car once broke down on the freeway in a city. I had to wait more than an hour for a tow and then walk home, which took two hours. Had to get random coworkers or friends to take me to work while my car was repaired over the next two weeks.

      Oh, and traffic jams are routine for cars.

      Nothing is gained by pretending there’s no downsides to any mode of transportation. They all have them. In aggregate though, most people would be better off if we had more available than just “car”.

    • huey_m@reddthat.com
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      11 hours ago

      the AC stops working, the windows don’t open and it gets real hot real fast unless it’s some extreme situation they will not let you leave the train

      That sounds to me like an extreme situation.

      All trains have emergency releases on the door to allow manual opening. Practically, if it is actually getting hot to the point of danger, no conductor is going to physically stop you from leaving the train. More likely they’d be the ones to let people off.

      I’d need to see a news story of this happening where they were trying to force people to stay on a dangerously hot train. This sounds like a made up scenario.

      • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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        10 hours ago

        I never said they will physically stop you from leaving the train so I’m not going to prove it happened.

          • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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            10 hours ago

            They will not open the door you dufus. They will not say “everyone can just jump out on the tracks and walk around”. There may be trains riding on other tracks and there’s no sidewalk next to the tracks. You can get a fine for using emergency exit. That’s why people stay inside, not because someone is holding them down.

            • huey_m@reddthat.com
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              10 hours ago

              They will not open the door you dufus.

              No need to be prickly :).

              They will indeed do exactly this in my experience. We even had a sort of viral video of this happening here in Hungary… train broke down, they opened the doors and walked people through the nearby woods to the nearest village.

              If Hungary is managing a better train experience than Spain… I would understand your frustration, the situation must be pretty damn dire there.

              But again, I doubt this has happened at all… even aside from physical, can you cite a situation where conductors would not “let people off the train” when it was getting dangerously hot during a breakdown? It’s hard to believe that Hungary would handle this better…

              You can get a fine for using emergency exit.

              In a non emergency, of course.

              • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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                9 hours ago

                Walking through the woods is not what I would call “a better [train] experience”. High speed railways has fences, you can’t just walk out. Your experience in Hungary will be different than in other countries, yes. In Poland you can jump out of a moving trains, go for a walk in a forest, pick some mushroom sand catch it again. It doesn’t mean you can do it everywhere.

                • huey_m@reddthat.com
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                  9 hours ago

                  Walking through the woods is not what I would call “a better [train] experience”.

                  What are you actually wanting here? “They won’t let us off the train, we’re cooking in here” and then “Oh they let you off the train, what an awful experience”? Pick a lane here, guy. Being let off the train sounds a lot better to me than heat stroke… I’m still not sure what you really want in this scenario.

                  I’d still like to know when this actually happened? A breakdown, sure. But trying to keep people to stay on a clearly dangerous train? Hard to believe.

                  Do you not have mandatory gates every x km in Spain? We have plenty of sound barrier fencing, and all of them have gates a short distance apart exactly for safety reasons.

                  • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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                    3 hours ago

                    Do you not have mandatory gates every x km in Spain? We have plenty of sound barrier fencing, and all of them have gates a short distance apart exactly for safety reasons.

                    WTF are you talking about? This is what high speed railway looks like:

                    Do you see any sidewalks? Why de fuck would they put gates there? People are not supposed to walk there. Ever. There are trains there going over 300 km/h. You don’t let hundreds of people leave a walk around. You clearly have no idea what are we talking about here. You only know soviet union era trains and service. What you suggest is like letting people leave a plane and walk along the tarmac.

                    What are you actually wanting here? “They won’t let us off the train, we’re cooking in here” and then “Oh they let you off the train, what an awful experience”?

                    What I want is to get from point A to point B safely. Sitting in a hot train is not safe. Walking through a forest will be impossible for the elderly, disabled, people with babies or lots of luggage. Do you just leave those people behind? Trains in Spain don’t carry crew that’s supposed to take care of hundredths of people and lead them to safety on foot. I know that in a 3rd world countries people are used to fighting for survival and won’t mind hiking through a forest with their suitcases. We don’t do that in civilized countries. When trains break down here you have to make difficult choices while trying to keep everyone safe and the situation will suck for a lot of people.

    • mabeledo@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      None of these issues is exclusive to trains. I would argue that they are more common in cars, and even more, cars take, on average, longer to repair.

      You see multiple news every day about trains in Spain,Poland or Germany with broken AC or just completely failing between stations.

      I’m not sure what you’re trying to say here. Cars break down all the time, and there’s the entire car repair industry to prove that, but obviously they don’t make the news.

      • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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        11 hours ago

        None of these issues is exclusive to trains. I would argue that they are more common in cars, and even more, cars take, on average, longer to repair.

        You would be wrong. People absolutely can open windows in broken cars or get out of them. I had to call a tow track couple of times and it doesn’t take more than an hour. If it happens in a city you can wait in a bar or wherever. If a train breaks 10 meters from the station you will not be allowed to exit. And I don’t care about repair time, I care about the time I’m sitting in a metal box without AC.

        • mabeledo@lemmy.world
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          11 hours ago

          Where do you live, that trains don’t have windows or doors that can be opened, and these incidents happen so frequently? Because this is not at all my experience in Western Europe.

          Regardless, it is a fact that cars break down more frequently and remediations take longer.

            • mabeledo@lemmy.world
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              11 hours ago

              Then that’s impossible because I know for a fact that long distance trains have windows. But also, RENFE incident dataset is publicly available and updated in real time, and there is no way in hell the number of reported incidents is higher than the overall number of broken cars, not even if we were to average by number of passengers, and especially given the fact that the average car fleet age in Spain is 14 years.

              • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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                10 hours ago

                Then that’s impossible because I know for a fact that long distance trains have windows.

                You’re right. You can totally open windows in long distance trains:

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XewmQjcY3Rc

                But I never said trains break more often than cars, no idea where you took that from. I was saying that if your car breaks down on a highway you will be able to open a window, get out and you will wait for less time to be picked up. I really don’t think it’s difficult to understand.

                • mabeledo@lemmy.world
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                  10 hours ago

                  Never took an Avlo before. But to be fair, they still have doors.

                  Also, this is not standard procedure, not in my experience. It’s the crew’s responsibility to keep passengers safe. If the controllers or the drivers refused to manually override door locks, which is a thing, then they should be admonished or charged accordingly.

                  • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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                    9 hours ago

                    It’s not just avlo. It’s all high speed trains. People can’t just open windows in trains going 350 km/h. Those are the long distance trains I’m talking about. No idea what trains you’re talking about.

        • 0x0@lemmy.zip
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          10 hours ago

          If a train breaks 10 meters from the station you will not be allowed to exit.

          Stop FUDing, trains have had emergency release systems for decades.

          • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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            10 hours ago

            Using emergency release without justification will get you a fine. It sounds like you’ve never been on a train.

            • 0x0@lemmy.zip
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              9 hours ago

              Of course it will. I doubt anyone would fine you if you were to use it in an overheated stopped train - although you would probably applaud the fine.

              • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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                3 hours ago

                I know that in your fantasy scenario people open the door when it gets worm and everyone is fine and happy but in reality being stuck in a hot train is not a nice experience. Looks like it never happened to you and you don’t know anyone who was in a situation like that (I know) so it’s like trying to explain a rainbow to a dog.

                • 0x0@lemmy.zip
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                  59 minutes ago

                  No sweetie, those emergency brakes are reality, not fantasy.
                  I’d waste more time trying to figure out your trauma with trains (maybe involves a bathroom experience?) but quite frankly i don’t give a shit.

                  Adios

    • Jiral@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      Btw news bias. There are so many people dying in car accidents, that the news would be full of them, every single day, if they got the coverege that even non lethal technical issues with trains get.

      • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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        13 hours ago

        It’s all a matter of control, same as with planes. People prefer to drive because they want to be in control. They imagine they will be able to handle difficult situations and will not die. Being stuck in a hot train, not being able to even open a window and not knowing how long you will have to stay there is a nightmare scenario for many people. Of course dying in a crash is worse but it’s the lack of control that freaks people out.

        • Jiral@lemmy.world
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          11 hours ago

          That is a completely irrational argument. Car drivers are not really more in control. They are stuck in traffic jams, beyond their control. I enjoy actually more flexibilty during commute than car drivers. They have to avoid rush hour or be stuck, while rush hour in my train is perfectly fine. Also in an urban environment car drivers are much less in control as you have to search ages for on street parking close to any poplar destination or pay up for a garage that may be also full during high demand. No such worries with transit. People are much more frequently stuck on clogged roads than on a train.

          Driving is also much more likely to kill you.

            • Jiral@lemmy.world
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              10 hours ago

              That we can agree on. However urban planning and transport planning should not be based on irrational arguments. You get what you build. Weirdly enough, people in transit oriented cities are using transit as their main means of transportation, people in car oriented cities don’t.

    • 0x0@lemmy.zip
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      10 hours ago

      You see multiple news every day about trains in Spain,Poland or Germany with broken AC or just completely failing between stations.

      Really? FoxNews?

    • Jiral@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      Traffic jam? Not sure how it is in Australia but where I live you are not allowed to leave the car and it can take hours. Traffic jams happen much more frequently than your scenario. Never had AC fail on me in the entire train and I use trains almost daily.

        • Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz
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          10 hours ago

          Opening your helmet in this kind of weather feels like someone is using a hairdryer on your face.

          Still more comfortable than than being stuck in traffic, but it’s not great.

          • innermachine@lemmy.world
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            6 hours ago

            Yea once ur above 98 F or so, going faster actually makes you hotter! Like being in an air fryer lol. The air can only cool you down if it’s below body temp! Thankfully where I live even 90f is a RARE heat 🤞 for now…

      • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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        13 hours ago

        Good for you then. Properly working trains are great. I will take nice train over driving any time. I’m just saying that often the reality is that trains are not that nice. Many countries in Europe struggle to found railway at the levels required to provide good service, especially with growing demand. I think recent events in Spain show that there are limits to how fast you can expand railway. Not everyone can just switch, it will be a long, difficult process.

        • 0x0@lemmy.zip
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          10 hours ago

          Many countries in Europe struggle to found railway at the levels required to provide good service,

          that’s not due to the technology but rather politics and privatization agendas.

        • Jiral@lemmy.world
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          11 hours ago

          All problems of priorities and political will, like I said previously. Plenty of rail systems show they can work just fine. They are a lot safer than driving too. Problems can occur with all means and you are just as trapped on a highway as in a defect train.

          • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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            11 hours ago

            All problems of priorities and political will,

            I disagree. I can see what is happening in my city right now. They want to expand the train service at one of the lines by adding a new track and you can’t do that without stopping the whole service for months. They will provide buses as a replacement which will get stuck in traffic. There’s no amount a political will that will magically expand train service without major disruption. Highway? You can make a detour or slow the traffic down. Airports? You can add entire runways without stopping the service. Trains are different. Trains are difficult.

            Problems can occur with all means and you are just as trapped on a highway as in a defect train.

            No one will prevent you from opening a window in a car or getting out to stand in some shade. You can’t do that in a train. It’s also way easier to tow a car than a train.

            • Jiral@lemmy.world
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              11 hours ago

              So your argument against trains is that expansion can’t be done without temporary closures and restrictions? Just like with any road project? The problems with cars are just as bad, detours and closures kead to traffic infarcts, and are at least as much of a hassle like transit replacement services.

              Expanding airports can be better acommodated but is in many cases close to impossible. Having aviation carry the capacity of an HSR because national infrastructure is underdeveloped is a major issue and limits development.

              If you leave your car in my country on the highway, without being involved directly in an accident or such, you have a good chance of losing your drivers license. Opening the windows in a car grilled by the sun, does no good either. Anyone can open the door in a standing train in case of emergency btw. If staff doesn’t allow passanger evacuation in case of danger to passenger health, that is an issue with badly run train services. Tunnels have to have an evacuation plan, at least in decently run systems.

              • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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                11 hours ago

                It’s not an argument against trains. Trains are great. I’m just saying trains are difficult to expand. EU is trying to promote trains recently but you simply can’t expand the infrastructure that fast. And doing it too fast is dangerous as we’ve seen recently in Spain. If you have a good service that’s great for you. For many people it’s not that simple and it’s not just about political will. It will take a lot of time to change it.

                • Jiral@lemmy.world
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                  11 hours ago

                  All major infrastructure programs take a lot of time. Rail isn’t really harder or slower to build than highways, given an equally strong political will.

      • kuerbiskernoel@feddit.org
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        14 hours ago

        We don’t have such problems in Austria. We also don’t have 40 degrees but I dare say it’s not inherent of trains.

      • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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        13 hours ago

        Many issues are inherent of trains. It’s easier to move people to another bus or tow a car. When trains failed in Spain last year on some occasions people got stack in totally inaccessible places and had to wait all night sitting next to the tracks (it was to hot to stay inside the trains without AC). You can’t pull up another train easily or walk people to a bus. Towing the trains was complicated for some reasons. And that were brand new trains failing because of some manufacturing issues.

        International trains from Poland have issues with AC because when they are in Germany, German technicians can’t/don’t want to fix them. Mixing operators like that is also an issue inherent to trains. You have different companies responsible for operating the train, the tracks and providing services inside the train. Planes are similar but international services are common and better organized.

        Many recent issues in Spain were due to people stealing electric cables. Another problem inherent of trains. You have thousands of kilometers of infrastructure that is difficult to secure but an issue in single place quickly spreads throughout the network.

        • mabeledo@lemmy.world
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          11 hours ago

          You have different companies responsible for operating the train, the tracks and providing services inside the train. Planes are similar but international services are common and better organized.

          I’m not sure what you are trying to say here, because you imply that this isn’t an issue inherent to trains since the solution in the aviation world is to contract ground crew where airlines have none of their own, which could very well be done by train operators as well.

          Also, being stuck inside an airliner while taxiing, with no A/C, just because the systems malfunction slightly and tower don’t agree on which gate they could assign to the flight since it is very early, is a thing I’ve gone through a few times. So, again, not exclusive to trains.