It’s easy to be annoyed at our Public Transport, so the occasional foreigner being mind-blown by how good it is in comparison is a nice reality check.
It’s easy to be annoyed at our Public Transport, so the occasional foreigner being mind-blown by how good it is in comparison is a nice reality check.
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This Canadian-Dutch youtuber traveled through Switzerland by train for a week and was apparently quite impressed, compared to what he knew from North America obviously, but even compared to what he knew from the Netherlands.
Besides giving personal feedback of his experience he also gives stats and explains the integrated schedule we often take for granted.
I have been travelling on DB all day, and a 6 hour journey took 9 because of multiple cancellations and literally every train being delayed.
I have my (many) issues with the SBB, but compared to most other countries’ rail companies they’re amazing nonetheless
Trains are really great in Switzerland, and I’m happy that there are big youtubers highlighting this. Hopefully it will motivate and convince more people of other, car-focused countries that a good train network is essential for happy living.
Not just bike the yt channel changed my view on cars or bicycle infrastructure . I really really recommend this YT channel and don’t watch every video he posts because after 10 videos it’s just ranting sbout cars and preferring bikes but the first three or five videos are pretty interesting.
Who else remembers being told not to put your head out the window because you would loose it?
Well most of the windows still opened when I was a kid. Does that make me old now?
Things I like about Swiss trains (and which astonished my somewhat TGV-centric French friends):
* you can have a beer at a real table with a real tablecloth (hope that’s still true?);
* you can take the train like the tram, getting out at a random station, have a stroll, even eat a meal, you know you won’t have to wait very long for the next one.
i lived in Switzerland before and i currently live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
the public transport system in the Netherlands is pretty good. trains are almost always on time. and if there are delays, they are rare and manageable (i.e. you’d have a bunch of alternatives and you’re never stuck).
the Amsterdam metro on the other hand, is not the best. quite often there are delays and disruptions. the metro carriages aren’t that clean.
i have traveled throughout Germany and let me tell you that’s a disaster. i’ve never had a smooth trip with DB so far. and the delays are significant. i’m talking minimum 2 hours for a trip from Amsterdam to Hamburg, for example.
the public transit system in Switzerland is impeccable. i think it’s more expensive compared to the Netherlands, as far as i know, but i think the quality, punctuality and cleanliness thereof are worth it.
Great video – I love SBB’s reliability and service. It made me think about how remote working will change the overall population’s mobility and how much SBB could navigate this challenge. I used to own a GA, or at least ZVV regional cards (depending on where my employer located). But now, none.
I’ve binged this channel a couple of weeks ago and it has really opened my eyes to all the things I’ve sort of taken for granted here in terms of the infrastrucure. Seeing how poor things are designed in places in North America and elsewhere that have the means to do much better has really shown me how good we have it.
I’ve also come to appreciate the importance of proper bike infrastructure, even though I’m not a cyclist, and how car-centric things still are in Switzerland. Much room for improvement on this front.
Swiss trains are phenomenal. Clean, timely, the ticket agents are (mostly) kind. Miss traveling on a train every day I get in my car
“It’s easy to be annoyed at our Public Transport”
I live in Basel for almost 3 years now after spending 27 years in Paris, I think I will never be annoyed by the public transport of Switzerland 😀
I never had much to complain with Swiss public transport except the price. Which the video doesn’t mention once. Who needs a damn restaurant wagon when the roundtrip from my town to Zurich (50 min) costs like 52$?
It’s much better than the German one for sure. Dunno why DB has such a good reputation outside German speaking countries, it’s awful. Currently living in Poland (well, Warsaw) and here I’m actually super happy with public transportation. The delays aren’t too bad, connections are good too, at least as clean as the ones in Switzerland and it’s of course much cheaper (though I use more trams, busses and the metro in the city, not so much trains. Only used those once and they’re old but were surprisingly on time haha).
The best public transport at a place where I lived (train wise) was definitely Japan though. Simpler than Swiss trains, but dependable, cheap-ish and clean.
Big fan of his channel for some time. It’s quite educational about how city planning is done right (for humans) or wrong (for cars).
I am, however, a bit embarrassed about the big praise for the Swiss railway network. I have the exact same experience with taking the trains here in Switzerland. However, it’s more fashionable, to bash the railways (I guess the car lobby gets stronger in Switzerland, too).
I was especially puzzled about his praise for the SBB app. I like it, too. (And I have used other apps from France, Belgium and the Netherlands and think that I can compare). The number of people complaining and moaning about this extremely useful and easy to use app is astonishing.
Thank you stranger. I thought that I’m the only one happy with the SBB and their app.
> occasional foreign or being mindblown
I would say that’s quite the understatement. I doubt anyone has ever come to Switzerland and not been mindblown by this with the exclusive exception of Korean and Japanese travelers who might find the delays of 1-2 minutes from time to time annoying. I lived in Japan for 10 years and can attest to the fact that it’s the only other place that might exceed CH on this front. I’m also originally from Southern California. Which while slowly improving its profile was an absolute wasteland for public transit up until about 10 years ago.
I’m (similar to the author of the video) now fairly regular tourist visitor to Switzerland, and lemme tell you chaps: there are numerous reasons why most of the youtube videos about Switzerland sound like love letters.
And yes, I am aware that every country has issues. I’ve myself moved to Germany from eastern European country some time ago, and while my honeymoon with Germany is long over, I still appreciate everything Germany gives to me (in terms of opportunities and not things given for free, I am not a welfare beggar). Similarly, I am aware if I tomorrow actually move to Switzerland in few years that honeymoon will be over too and I would start to get annoyed by a lot of stuff.
But still, objectively, you’re doing one of the best jobs in running the country there. Be proud of it, appreciate it. But don’t become lazy about it, building functional society is hard work and destroying it is moderately easy. In short – keep up the great work, Confoederatio Helvetica.