RIP Sir Patrick Moore

[harry]

I've travelled on American buses (Greyhound and the like) Ranges from crap to mediocre. The best buses are in Brasil. The worst are in Bolivia.

[Tim Streater]

I would have thought that for something as mundane as that, that's exactly what it's about. And what about Detroit?

[F]

Leeds - Heathrow is cheaper by air than by rail.

[F]

The ones in Cuba aren't too good either. Try Havana - Trinidad in heavy rain: you'll need an umbrella up inside the bus! On the way back to Havana the bus got a puncture after hitting the central reservation kerb. Took two hours to change one bald tyre for another using a very heavy driver swinging on the end of scaffolding poles on the wheel nut wrench!

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Run the freight trains at night?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Weasel term? I suppose you've not noticed that airports are usually some way from the centre of a town - railways stations usually central.

Strange. Looking at national rail enquiries it's 97.40 to travel today now coming back the day after boxing day also at 11.00 departure. Cheapest air I can find is 450.00, departing 'this morning'.

Exactly the same amount from two different locations? You must have chosen the destination *very* carefully.

And you're assuming they are closer to the airport in both cases.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Airport to airport is cheaper by plane? Not surprising, really.

[John Williamson]

They already do. They have to compete for track space with the maintenance guys, who also want the track at night and weekends. I've spent many a night driving a coach pretending to be the last train while the tracks are closed. Occasionally, they get it wrong, and I also drive the first "train" of the day.

[Steve Firth]

Yes, you're doing the railista's trick of claiming that a railway journey ends at the station and that a journey by air must also end at a station. Talk about "rigged".

The bookings were for the 7th of January. It's possible to get a cheaper rail fare by splitting the journeys, the price quoted is for an economy return ticket. IMO split journeys, since the TOCs argue break the "spirit" of the booking conditions - not that they honour the "spirit", ever - should not count, nor should the last minute discounts.

Oh, one difference train to airline, you will get a seat on the aeroplane. And of course booking a flight for *today* will always be expensive.

Of course, the car hire companies charge the same daily rate for a hire car collected from M/Cr Piccadilly or from M/Cr Airport. Did you not realise that? Note the use of the term "hire car" in the sentence that you quoted.

No, that's utter biullshit. I am quoting the fares from *my* local airport, which is also where the railway station is - they are literally side by side. And I am quoting the fares to where I want to go in early January, for a route I use often. You were the one that it was "Most unusual" for a plane journey to cost less than a train journey. IME it is rare for a train journey to be cheaper and it always takes longer.

Like most people who live in a city, you tend to assume that a "door to door" journey is from London Euston to some other city centre. Other people tend to want to travel from where they live to another destination which will probably be distant from both rail and airport.

In my case the route chosen was from home to North Cheshire. The airport is actually closer to the destination than the railway station, but in deference to the screaming heeby-jeebys of railistas I loaded both with the same hire car costs.

[Andy Champ]

If he's in your killfile how come (a) you see his posts and (b) you think they are worth answering?

Andy

[Huge]

I don't. Someone quoted him.

Ooh, I wouldn't like him to think he was a poor, sad, orphaned killfile entry, no longer needed or wanted.

[The Natural Philosopher]

well yes.

I left it for intelligent people to notice that.

[tony sayer]

In article , Tim Streater scribeth thus

Well I do admire them sometimes for just getting on with things. Like the mobile phone coverage there even in the remote parts its solid. Want to put up a phone tower then just do it. Want to build a railway line then just do it.

Nuclear power station>, then do it get on with it and I see they haven't gone a bundle on Windy Mills either....

What to go on strike;?, then just do that;!)..

Interesting bit about the French TGV 'tho;!..

The chief designer on the project and the man behind the TGV's distinctive and renowned streamlined nose was Jack Cooper. He began working on the design for the TGV 001 Turbotrain, inside and out, soon after joining Alsthom in 1968. His visually impressive futuristic design was adopted with little hesitation. The design phase for the TGV was complete by the mid-1970s, and the first production order was placed on

4 November, 1976.

[tony sayer]

In article , charles scribeth thus

Ah! I assumed you being a light blue man would know that;)...

[tony sayer]

I think it may well come about due to the means of traction changing. Its very simple to run railways on Leccy and despite the advances in electric vehicles it does seem a long way off the leccy driven 44 tonner.

The whole system needs a co-ordinated rethink . It will come..

Also anyone heard of the battery driven 737;?...

[Tim Streater]

They have twice the land area that we have, for openers, so "just doing it" is in any case a lot less likely to cause a problem with the local populace.

Yes well quite.

[harry]

The place is laid waste due to untrammelled capitalism

[harry]

Some in Bolivia don't even have a roof.

[Andy Champ]

Madly enough they are working on battery driven planes.

200 miles in 2 hours while using the equivalent of about 2 gallons of fuel for 4 passengers.

(actually passenger equivalents. 2 of them were replaced by 200lbs of ballast each. _US_ passenger equivalents... )

Andy

[tony sayer]

So I'm told by my eldest who went there last year. She did keep away from the road of death cut into the mountains side!...

others like it perhaps a parachute might be more use then a roof;!...