Author | Lightnews

Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jul 11

SNCF and it's daughter Eurostar being the ones that come to mind first. They are also known for high prices, though, mostly because they have a minopoly on most routes. Their trains are very often fully booked, so they can do it.

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jul 11

European here. I love trains, work in the industry but to be fair, the infrastructure is actually being subsidized here. Which is fine, because so are highways and airports/airlines. They are also subsidized in some way or another. It is true that many railway companies do make profits however.

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · May 14

Nice to read! Yeah, the biking infrastructure is good here. That is without doubt. But that is also the main reason why people bike. Due to the safe and extensive infrastructure. Not so much due to the country size as a whole.

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · May 14

Our country may be small, but no one travels half the country by bike as a daily commute here either. What makes the difference is how the places where people do live are setup. It helps that Dutch cities are denser than Australian ones. But safe and useful infrastructure is just as important.

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Apr 19

I mean, it's already possible. But with 9/10 hours of travel time, I doubt any operator dares offering this route right now

Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Apr 19

The gain is much bigger than 20 minutes, more like 1 hour and 20 minutes. That said, I agree that regional connections are very important as well. So an overhaul of the old line next to the new line I fully support.

Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Apr 19

Likely when the high speed line between Lyon and Turin is finished. Travel times of 7 hours will be feasible, almost an hour less when Montpellier - Perpignan opens in parts (2034 and 2042)

Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Apr 1

A child could have drawn this better. Assuming they ignore current lines: Who builds Bordeaux - Lyon but not Bordeaux - Paris? And, if they do take into account current lines: Why build a second Euro Tunnel if the current one has loads of capacity left still? Just some examples.

Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 25

Iryo is set to accept Interrail passes from 1 April this year. That is great news! Hopefully their friends/owners at Trenitalia decide to do the same for their Paris-Lyon-Milan/Marseile trains..

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 25

Yes, SNCF Réseau confirmed the reopening, so both Trenitalia and SNCF started sales.

Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 25

I get what you mean. I think it's interesting to check for youself why use a car in these trips? Is public transport just not efficient on that route? Does it not run at the times you need to travel? Is there maybe a fast route by car? And could public transport be improved to become competitive?

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 25

That potential is partly used already (car ownership and usage rates are already lower in cities) but there is still a lot to win.

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 25

Cars are a huge burden for people without them realizing and bring several other problems with them. Many people would gladly take a train, tram or bus if it was realtively fast and frequent. Of course, you cannot have that everywhere, but in cities there is potential.

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 25

The post doesn't neccessarily criticize people buying or owning a car. It criticizes the system that makes a car needed in the first place. You say that public transport and car share aren't useful enough. That is indeed true for many people. But in places where they are, car ownership decreases.

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 18

Haha, dat is inderdaad een dingetje 😂

Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 18

Er is iedere dag wel een optie per trein. Maar de rit is ook erg lang. Zelf zou ik wel altijd de trein pakken, maar ik snap wel dat je op dit traject vliegt. Of je maakt er een iets langer reisje van en pakt heen Salzburg en terug Neurenberg mee, nog leuker natuurlijk :p

Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 18

Er is inderdaad beperkte catering, wat snacks en wat dranken. Er komen nieuwe treinen, mét restauratie, maar de toelating op het Nederlandse spor is vertraagd, dus tot die tijd inderdaad geen echte BordBistro. :(

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 18

Naar Berlijn is de trein vaak helemaal niet duurder, zeker niet als je meer dan een kleine tas aan bagage meeneemt, niet om de hoek van een luchthaven woont of met kinderen reist.

De voorbeelden zijn er zeker, maar juist het herhalen ervan zorgt ervoor dat mensen de trein minder snel overwegen

Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 14

I completely agree, don't get me wrong. But realistically, I do not expect people to start behaving different, or if they do it likely gets worse. Call me negative on this, haha. I just do not see big legislation changing this soon. It will go step by step I think

Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 14

So while quick change is possible in theory, I do not see how this would happen. Long term, sure, I believe flying will become much greener. But I think it will easily take 20/30 years before we start to see some serious effects that are more than 8% fuel savings with a new model.

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 14

And a mean a lot more expensive. Whily I do see that happening at some point. I believe it will take years and years before it is the case. And if you want to go all in on SAF, you need to be able to produce it first. Which will take years as well.

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 14

Think about it. Even if you start producing electric planes for more than a few people right now (which we don't yet), it would likely take 10/15 years before mass production can start. And that is assuming that airliners would want to make the switch. That only happens when kerosine becomes 💰💰💰

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 14

That's something I actually support, but the few % emission wins by adding some SAF will not make the difference. The only way to make flying truly green is by switching to electric planes or hydrogen. Both have potential, but also major challenges. It will take decades before we see that happening.

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 14

I'm not saying it cannot be achieved. But I do not see big changes coming anytime soon. The EU is working on their ETS trade system, reducing ETS rights every year. It also sets some rules about SAF. But the reality is that these measures mostly make flying less attractive compared to other modes

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Marc van der Lee @marcvanderlee.bsky.social · Jan 14

If you want to travel a longer distance by train and/or ferry but aren't sure how to book or plan it? Let me know! And also let me know if you have any thoughts on my trip! 😁