Post B4xRz4Bo9tZNLpQL6u by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
 (DIR) More posts by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
 (DIR) Post #B4wmEfUnXal3K73yrY by elduvelle@neuromatch.social
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       "Why are flights in the UK so often cheaper than taking the train?"Some of the reasons are nonsensical:for trains: "The fuel is subject to VAT at 5% on diesel and 20% on electricity.". this should be the reverse?!?for planes:"Fuel accounts for a much bigger part of airlines’ costs, but they do not have to pay VAT or duty on it.". whyyyy?? https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/nov/19/why-are-flights-in-the-uk-so-often-cheaper-than-taking-the-train#SaveThePlanet and tax planes in proportion of the damage they do to their environment!
       
 (DIR) Post #B4wmEfty20tIaAq55s by jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
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       @elduvelle @albertcardona Moreoever, why is it that there are direct flights between cities in the UK that I need eight changes on the train and a dozen little bus trips for?With each change likely to fail at a rate of 10% that gives me a less than 50% change of reaching my destination… Airplane it is.
       
 (DIR) Post #B4wmEgAz0kVBQwnfcG by albertcardona@mathstodon.xyz
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       @jonmsterling @elduvelle This summer I have to go from Barcelona to Berlin. The non-flight options are ... insane. I wouldn't mind a 24-hour trip by train, but it's not even that*. Many legs, no coordination between providers, subways and buses included. I am not a XIX century naturalist crossing uncharted territory, I am crossing the European Union from South to somewhat North. It's embarrassing.* I was hoping for a 2-leg train, i.e., Barcelona-Paris and Paris-Berlin in the same day, but no, that would require me sleeping in Paris! The lack of coordination is as astonishing as it is appalling.
       
 (DIR) Post #B4wmQv5vN2RLB3Gqbg by jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
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       @albertcardona @elduvelle Yeah, it is so crazy. To even contemplate it for a second is hellish and laughable.
       
 (DIR) Post #B4wmQvJkXdUzrvjt9k by olynch@mathstodon.xyz
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       @jonmsterling @albertcardona @elduvelle I kind of enjoy the vibe of public transit where it's like these are migrating beasts and by careful divination and ritual offering you can harness their primal energy to speed you in a particular direction, like a raptor riding thermals. Of course there isn't going to be a migration going precisely from A to B, but with a bit of cleverness you can stitch together something.It's pretty magical and unprecedented in human history that I can cross so many different countries by land safely and relatively quickly. Sure, OK, it could be faster. But like, thank you migrating beasts you are wonderful creatures.
       
 (DIR) Post #B4xRz3xd0cE8dqn10a by moof@cupoftea.social
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       @quixoticgeek @albertcardona @jonmsterling @elduvelle Barcelona-Berlin is not one I’ve done. But the canonical way is to do Barcelona-Paris and the take the European Sleeper to Berlin. That being said, it only runs three times a week.There is a theoretical route that is Barcelona-Lyon-Genève-Zürich and then a sleeper to Berlin, but it’s a little on the tight side, and definitely not one change.
       
 (DIR) Post #B4xRz4Bo9tZNLpQL6u by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
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       @moof @quixoticgeek @albertcardona @jonmsterling @elduvelle There is also a very convenient direct train Frankfurt-Marseille via Lyon. And in theory there is a connection from it to Lyon-Barcelona, but it's IIRC ~10 minutes interchange, with Barcelona-bound train on some days departing a few minutes before the train from Frankfurt arrives.Were they coordinated, that could be a relatively easy ~13-hour daytime journey with only two changes (and not having to pass through Paris).There are other theoretical daytime routes via Mulhouse though...
       
 (DIR) Post #B4xUzUyKsfwsHL1IP2 by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
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       @moof @quixoticgeek @albertcardona @jonmsterling @elduvelle ah no, either I'm mistaken or this was a whole ago. Now, AVE departs Lyon at 14:31, while TGV from Frankfurt arrives at 19:58. And in the opposite direction, AVE arrives at 13:21, while TGV to Frankfurt leaves at 10:01. And of course TGVs between Barcelona and Paris pass Lyon without stopping. There is still 20-hour route bypassing Paris (and avoiding real night trains) available, but that one is with three changes: https://int.bahn.de/en/buchung/start?vbid=3a68b351-3ca6-4a41-ba7b-40b526aad207And only southbound, northbound one would have to do a change in Paris in order to avoid real night trains (but then it's only 16.5 hours if all goes well): https://int.bahn.de/en/buchung/start?vbid=373210ab-d83a-4a38-9a95-d0b1d7ae806c
       
 (DIR) Post #B4xdNKYW3lnUYWolns by albertcardona@mathstodon.xyz
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       @IngaLovinde @moof @quixoticgeek @jonmsterling @elduvelle Coordination is key indeed, and missing. It would take so little – we aren't asking for more trains, or newer or bigger trains, but for coordination and the associated cross-company responsibility to look after passengers when one leg is delayed. It's the European *Union* after all.