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In the absence of a flair system on lemmy yet, let’s try to make it easier to scan through posts by type in here by using tags:
As it turns out it doesn't actually cost that much on regular transit, there's an AIRPORT SURCHARGE because it's an "airport train".
No wonder Americans don't use public transit, even when the system exists it's ridiculously difficult and expensive to use.
I just got to Panama City, buses are a flat $0.25 regardless of distance and the Metro is a flat $0.50 regardless of distance.
took the train for ~8 mi into town to get to my hotel for $0.50.
I'm in Mumbai. The 37km north-south journey from one end of the city to the other costs 20¢ on the local train. $1.20 if you want to ride the fancy train with AC. East-west is 13km and costs 50¢ on the elevated metro line.
I remember 5 rupee tickets on the Chennai Suburban.
They're still there
Just think: the public transport system in the bay area is one of the better ones in the u.s.
The poorer the country (not on average) the more demand there is for low-cost transit, that demand brings down the price of public transport tremendously because less public money is spend on other (more private) forms of transit. The 'problem' isn't only people loving cars it's also people being able to afford them. In general it also isn't the rich asking for public healthcare and education. The lack of public transport shows the power of the wealthy over the power of the masses.
Took a 3 day train in India from the south up to Nepal. I think it was $30
India trains are the best trains in the world.
Ehhhh...no, not really. There's a lot of room for improvement there, honestly. They're absolutely pretty inexpensive, but even then they're sorely lacking in basic amenities, and successive governments (especially the current one) have steadily been ignoring the railways more and more in favor of roads and airlines -- because rich people tend to either drive or fly, and mostly only poor people take trains. I guess the powers that be think that means the railways aren't worth caring about.
It's causing a runaway effect where more and more people are being forced to use roads because the trains are either in terrible nick or overcrowded or both, which means there's even less focus on actually improving the trains, and so on and so forth.
I'm glad the trains aren't luxurious. Then they would be unaffordable.
They have toilets, running water, and cheap beds. What more could you ask for?
I wish more countries would emulate Indian trains. Trains should be for everyone, not just for the rich.
I didn't say luxurious, I said lacking in basic amenities. You're absolutely right that trains should be for everyone, not just for the rich -- but everyone also deserves to travel with a certain basic level of sanitation and comfort that isn't there on a lot of Indian trains. Just because they're cheap doesn't mean they should be shit.
The toilets are filthy and unhygienic, the running water often...isn't, the bed linen has been found to be dirty and/or infested with vermin on quite a few occasions, and the general state of most trains is just bad. Over and above that, the trains themselves haven't been upgraded in years AND an increasing number of them just...aren't in service any more, which means delays, horrible overcrowding, conflict on board the train, and an overall unpleasant passenger experience that further drives people away from taking trains.
This is made a lot worse by the fact that the railway authorities here tend to focus on trying to improve the experience for actual rich people in the upper classes (ie. 1st class/AC class) who aren't even taking the train anyway -- they're flying. That means ticket prices for even the lower classes are rising, because all that money has to come from somewhere, but there's no commensurate increase in the standard of service.
The berths on Indian trains don't have linens. Sounds like you're complaining about the rich people cars.
Overcrowding is only an issue if you didn't book a berth. That is one issue I see with the trains in India. They need to rebuild the website to be more like redbus.
I'm from here and I ride the trains up and down the length of the country fairly often, usually in sleeper class. Every class from Sleeper (SL) and up has linens -- sometimes they're hard to find or just not supplied, but they're there.
Overcrowding is an issue regardless of whether you have or haven't gotten a confirmed berth, because folks with unreserved tickets will also come crowding in (because they have to get where they're going and there simply aren't enough trains to satisfy demand) and you end up having to share your space with them even if you have a reserved seat. It's exponentially worse in the sleeper/general (sitting) cars but it happens everywhere on the train. I've shared my space with them and I've been them. It's not a pretty sight or a good experience for anyone involved.
Yoooo. I'm from Mumbai too. Did you check Aqua line metro?
Yep, I use it every time I need to get to the airport
Rich people 🥲
Lol sure, if you can call flying middle-seat economy on Indigo once every few months "rich people" behavior
Metro is $0.19 for me, so are trolleybuses. Our exchange rate is fucked, but hey, at least it makes it sound impressively cheap