Just zis Guy, you know? wrote in message <
[email protected]>...
>On Sun, 16 Feb 2003 14:31:01 -0000, "PeterE" <
[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>In my experience of train travel, significant delays have occured far more often than in my
>>experience of car travel.
>
>I think it depends on your definition of delay. It reliably takes over two hours to get to central
>London from Reading by car, and only about an hour by train and tube. Therefore I count every
>journey as significantly delayed" by car because if you drive the same journey in the middle of
>Sunday morning (as I have done) it takes no longer than the train.
It has to depend on whether the actual time exceeds the reasonably expected time. If you know the
14.22 is virtually always 10 minutes late, then you factor that into your plans.
On my drive to work, the first 4 miles take 15 minutes, when they would take 7 minutes in clear
conditions. That isn't a delay, because I know that and factor it in. If it takes 30 minutes, then
it is a delay.
In commuting 27 and then 33 miles by car over the past thirteen months, mostly on motorway, I have
been significantly delayed by traffic congestion (caused by accidents) twice, and by adverse weather
conditions once. I'd be amazed if *any* train commuter has been as lucky.
>>Perhaps I'm unlucky, and the general experience of train travellers is one of impressive
>>reliability and punctuality. But the number of horror
stories
>>related on this NG seems to suggest otherwise.
>
>I think that depends on which line you live on. But it's also important to remember that people who
>drive daily into central London have their brains working overtime to come up with a compelling
>reason why they should do that, because it is a ghastly experience and it would be all too easy to
>conclude that continuing to do it is mad.
I don't commute by train, but I do use it from time to time for leisure trips to various
destinations, mostly at weekends. From my experience the number of journeys that start and arrive
within 10 minutes of the booked time, and are not overcrowded, is under 50%.
In theory, I quite like trains. In practice, I am so often disappointed by them.
--
http://www.speedlimit.org.uk "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and
degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse."
(John Stuart Mill)