Kind of a Bad Flyer - 3/23/06

[Muninn]

...Why would she have been on a plane by age 10?

It's not that uncommon, I was airborne on planes before I could properly walk.

[DHLawrence]

I'm 20, and I've never been on a plane. Any long-distance travel has usually been by car, but I all too rarely take the train.

[Tum0spoo]

Never been on a train.

[Richard K Niner]

I've been on the train before. It's better than the bus, and cheaper than the plane.

[Gizensha]

I've been on the train before. It's better than the bus, and cheaper than the plane.

And cheaper than a bus. Plus by the time you get onto the plane, normally quicker than a plane.

But then. Americans think 100 years is a long time. The British think 100 miles is a long distance.

[Richard K Niner]

I've been on the train before. It's better than the bus, and cheaper than the plane.

And cheaper than a bus. Plus by the time you get onto the plane, normally quicker than a plane.

The bus is cheaper, but not by much. And while the train may be quicker on shorter trips, it isn't between Ottawa and Toronto.

[DHLawrence]

The bus is cheaper, but not by much. And while the train may be quicker on shorter trips, it isn't between Ottawa and Toronto.

That's because VIA Rail suffers from an acute money deficiency and isn't able to provide better service, coupled with a low priority--the freight railways won't give higher priority to trains from other railways operating on their tracks.

You'd think the TO-Ottawa run would be better though, since they own the track for much of the run.

[Richard K Niner]

The bus is cheaper, but not by much. And while the train may be quicker on shorter trips, it isn't between Ottawa and Toronto.

That's because VIA Rail suffers from an acute money deficiency and isn't able to provide better service, coupled with a low priority--the freight railways won't give higher priority to trains from other railways operating on their tracks.

You'd think the TO-Ottawa run would be better though, since they own the track for much of the run.

Well, it's still a 4 hour trip, thanks to a couple of stops en route (Fallowfield, occasionally Smiths Falls, Brockville, Kingston, ocassionally Cobourg, occasionally Port Hope, and *tries to remember* a GO Station in Scarborough). Without those stops, It could be cut down to 2 hours and 45 minutes at full speed.

[Bocaj Claw]

I've only been on a plane twice: a round trip. I flew up to New Jersey to visit my grandparents and then back again a few weeks later. Wee. My strongest memory is of horrible burning ocular pain once we were above cloud cover.

[DHLawrence]

Well, it's still a 4 hour trip, thanks to a couple of stops en route (Fallowfield, occasionally Smiths Falls, Brockville, Kingston, ocassionally Cobourg, occasionally Port Hope, and *tries to remember* a GO Station in Scarborough). Without those stops, It could be cut down to 2 hours and 45 minutes at full speed.

Why stop in Scarborough? Wouldn't it be quicker and cheaper to just take the subway?

[Richard K Niner]

Well, it's still a 4 hour trip, thanks to a couple of stops en route (Fallowfield, occasionally Smiths Falls, Brockville, Kingston, ocassionally Cobourg, occasionally Port Hope, and *tries to remember* a GO Station in Scarborough). Without those stops, It could be cut down to 2 hours and 45 minutes at full speed.

Why stop in Scarborough? Wouldn't it be quicker and cheaper to just take the subway?

Most of the trains stop there anyways, and you could ask a similar question about Fallowfield in Ottawa (every few minutes, a bus leaves the main train station, heading out to Fallowfield station, via the Transitway).

Also, they only stop there on the way into Toronto, and only to let people off. (So, if they happen to live in Whitby, it's suddenly faster.)

[The MAZZTer]

Whenever I go home for break I gotta walk 20-30 minutes to the T (MBTA subway) then take the T down to Logan Int'l, from where I fly into Philly Int'l or Newark (in New Jersey) where my mom picks me up to take me home.

Then to go back I do everything in reverse order. :p

[Lissou]

I was 13 the first time I took the plane. It was from Paris to Madrid, with a change in Amsterdam. (yes, that's weird)
I took the plane several times since then, and I like it.. Except that I'm sick, but I am in any transportation anyway, I have medication for that.
As for the train, I take it quite often. I guess it's normal, as I can't drive, and you can't take a bus from a city to another, only inside a city.
And I took the subway four times a day for years.
I've been on boats too... That's the worse about sickness, if you're not outside. If you're sick in a boat, don't stay inside, go out, even if it's raining. you'll feel a lot better.
Oh, and I've been in a car, too.

[Richard K Niner]

I guess it's normal, as I can't drive, and you can't take a bus from a city to another, only inside a city.

Really? There's no French coach service?

[Gizensha]

Express busses are great, but trains tend to be more comfortable, and faster.

At least if you wind up on a Virgin Train, anyway.