Tell me how great japanese train is

[Rakutenka]

aww...I have to go by train day by day XDD°

Aww...*likes trains*

I really would like to see the shinkansen <3<3<3

=^___^=

greetz~
Raku,.

[RickOShay]

Originally Posted by mariko0721

why i put the subject of 'tell me how great japanese train is' , i live in america and american train is.... sorry very messy,smells bad, dark,lots homeless, noisy, expensive and especially the ticket(and ticket machine)is low technology!!!

As you know ticket in japan, Suica , rechargeble prepaid IC card.

It is used for shop too....

On the other hand,, american one,,,, sorry,,, i can not believe it's big country...

i think EU is better, doesn't it?

I can not believe it's big country.. . umm I assume you are saying you think American train systems should be better.. but why? america has never really utilized trains for public transportation. Its all about cars, roads and highways in america. Which are far superior to what Japan has. Expensive tolls and running into traffic jams is all too common in Japan. (america has jams too and it depends on the city, I know.. but Japan cannot survive on roads alone, it needs good mass public transportation.)

That said, I hate JR. I constantly have bad experiences with them as a customer. For instance, if you overpay for your ticket.. the will not refund your money. It's bullshit! And yet if you underpay by just 10 yen.. the doors will close on you and they demand the fare (of course they should demand the full fare, but the opposite should be true too, if you overpay you should get refunded!)

[SamuraiAlchemistNinja]

Don't over pay then. Lol, I know...that is odd and rather annoying, and in America it probably would not happen (the train would get, like, lit on fire or robbed or something of that nature-I live in the US so yeah, the people would rebel lol.)
But, if we're talking about efficiency and dependability, well, Japan has got it in the train transportation department, at least. The Train is Never Late, according to my friends over there
The conductor, or whatever, will give you a note if the train IS late, in case you need it for work, school, etc. Which is a win in some ways, but a fail in others...like: You can't blame the train for your lateness if you were out the night before & over-slept lol, etc. But if you're looking for an efficient way around, take the trains & get to the station early so you're not one of the people being shoved into the trian later!

[ColinHowell]

Originally Posted by RickOShay

I can not believe it's big country.. . umm I assume you are saying you think American train systems should be better.. but why? america has never really utilized trains for public transportation.

Never? Come on. America doesn't use trains much for public transportation now, but at one time it had the largest passenger rail system in the world, both in miles of track and in amount of traffic handled. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Americans absolutely depended on the rail system to get around. The road system was primitive, the highway system practically nonexistent, and what automobiles were available were toys of the wealthy. Travel by air was a pipe dream. The biggest railroads, like the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central, were among the largest corporations in the country.

Even with the advent of mass-produced automobiles, which certainly cut deeply into the short-haul transportation market, trains dominated U.S. long-distance passenger transportation for decades. They weren't displaced from that role until after World War II, with the growth of the interstate highway system and the rise of the airlines.

Originally Posted by RickOShay

Its all about cars, roads and highways in america.

What you say is definitely true today, except that you left out air travel, the main way Americans get around over long distances. Passenger rail gets little attention now simply because most Americans don't use it anymore; it has become an "underclass" transportation system, which may partly explain mariko0727's unfortunate experiences.

Also, in one of her past postings, she stated she was going to Berkeley, which would mean she's probably using BART. Given California's ongoing monetary woes, services like BART have suffered badly. She may also be riding the system in the vicinity of Oakland, which might make things worse; the city is notorious for its high crime rate.