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My favorite would be British Rail, although it has been privatized the whole system is amazing, with my favorite being Chiltern Rail, serving out of London.
Yours?
Geoff Mayo Member # 153
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Mine would be Amtrak since it's foreign... to me in the UK! Although the French are supposed to be good, that's only the high speed lines - the secondary lines are just as terrible as the UK's are supposed to be. Same for Germany. Can't speak for the Far East or Australasia, not experienced those yet.
Geoff M.
Lee, Wonyoung Member # 2464
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I am South Korean, working for Korean National Railroads whose main job is operation of passenger train. I rode Acela between Boston and New york, Sinkansen Train in Janpan, Saemaul Train in south Korea. I think all the trains are good, comfortable and service persons are very kind and helpful. I can't tell which is best. I don't know European Train.
[This message has been edited by Lee, Wonyoung (edited 08-26-2003).]
mho357 Member # 1204
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I was quite impressed with Belgian Rail. They are amazingling on time, quick, and effiecient. Not to mention reasonably priced!
jp1822 Member # 2596
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Since my fear of flying has not taken me across the Atlantic (yet), I have only experienced the North American Rail System. I rank Canada's VIA trains over Amtrak trains. Even though Canadian trains don't have as many routes and frequencies as Amtrak, their customer relations, timekeeping, and overall accommodations have been nicer on the trains I have taken up there. Have been on most of the Canadian overnight trains and the Toronto to Montreal Corridor.
V/line Member # 2199
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I am an Aussie & the state rail systems are mostly different gauges here and have only recently been formally completely linked, capital city to capital city by standard gauge rail. Most of our state based sytems have been partially privatised or they now run as a business within their respective state governments. Without a doubt my favourite rail system within Australia is Queensland Rail. It has to be the biggest & most modern Narrow Gauge system in the world operating large coal trains, the Brisbane city electrified suburban network, higher speed interurban services, luxury land cruise long distance trains & high speed 160 KPH, thats 100 MPH tilt trains along the scenic Pacific Coast. See the attached link, Mike. http://www.qr.com.au/about/about_qr.asp
dilly Member # 1427
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#1 British Rail during the 1970s, when the railroad's amazing hodgepodge of passenger equipment spanned over six decades. Some of the cars on the more obscure branch lines had been in service since the First World War. And looked it. They were time machines on rails.
#2 Egyptian National Railway. Their trains have a funny habit of derailing in the middle of the night. But the sleeping cars (run by a separate "Pullman-like" agency) feel a lot like Amtrak Heritage sleepers. And First Class offers basic coach accommodations that wouldn't seem out of place on one of Amtrak's midwestern routes (think 60 seat Horizon).
On the other hand, Second Class is the equivalent of a commuter train to hell. And Third Class (as one travel site politely puts it) "is best left to the imagination." Still, when you've got camels, the Nile Valley, and four thousand year-old temples right outside your window, it sure beats the Lake Shore Limited.
[This message has been edited by dilly (edited 08-27-2003).]
Geoff Mayo Member # 153
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Hey, we've still got that stock in the UK! I believe the oldest in normal use is the Isle of Wight ex-tube stock, dating back to the 1930s. Many trains in the south east date from the 50s.
All these new trains we're supposed to be getting are way behind schedule, in some cases 2-3 years. Delays from builders (Alstom, Bombardier, Siemens etc) as well as problems gaining acceptance certificates from Network Rail, nee Railtrack.
Geoff M.
ritchie Member # 1757
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I agree with V/line regarding Queensland Rail.I have experienced extensive train travel in the UK,USA,Canada and all rail systems in Australia {the latter including all services}.QR would be the best in all aspects except speed.
sutton Member # 1612
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I've ridden trains in most European countries; Germany's are wonderful, just gliding along. I had an interesting train ride in Thailand; I do remember the old train cars I rode on in England in 1979. I do love Amtrak, though I have to say the VIA rail's The Canadian was spectacular. To answer the question, I guess the most interesting ride was St. Petersburg Russia to Sofia Bugaria (72 hours). Middle of the night border crossings with guards inspecting everything (except my luggage since I was the only American on the train and they acted rather honored). Only weird thing was that they took the dining car off after the first day. Thankfully, my Russian friends had told me to take LOTS of food. I found out why. My only 'crisis' was that I finished the one book I'd taken in about half a day. The rest of the time was looking at lots of birch trees. Fun things, trains.
pismobum Member # 2628
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Have ridden everything on Amtrak (including all the 'lost' trains) since the beginning, and done VIA Halifax-Montreal and Toronto-Vancouver. Nothing touches a candle to Swiss rail. Here's an extensive travelog... http://trainweb.org/web_lurker/swiss
CoastStarlight99 Member # 2734
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Well...whenever I fly from Los Angeles to Milan I have to get to where my family is from in Italy which is Firenze (Florence)...And I take the Euro Star which goes all thru europe but its great for this 3 hour trip..Theres also the "Traino Locale" Which is the train in the region of Tuscany in Italy which is an old 70's Diesel Train which is very..."Intereasting" except for the Cleansiness of the train....But I have to say out of the modern trains in Europe and Japan theres somthing about Amtrak that I really enjoy!
All aboard Amteak Anton L. pillsbury09@excite.com
PullmanCo Member # 1138
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Die Bahn.
------------------ The City of Saint Louis (UP, 1967) is still my standard for passenger operations
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