Rant: Eastern European Train Systems
So, as astute readers know from RJ3's kind posting of all of my dorky pictures of trains, I'm deep in the heart of my Eastern European travels. By this time, I've taken trains in many of the major European countries. And to preface my complaints, I realize that Eastern Europe is still developing and lacks money for many improvements, so I won't comment on the graffiti-covered trains or the three trains and a bus that made up my 'direct' train from Kosice to Krakow. Instead, I'll comment on two things that drive me absolutely nuts about travel on trains in this part of Europe:
1) Seating and Seat Numbering
I'm hoping one of our brethren from across the pond can explain this one to me. First, where the heck did the horrid carriages with eight-seat side compartments (rather than four and four with a middle aisle) come from? Other than conserving on heating and air conditioning costs by keeping the airflow constricted to a smaller area, whose brilliant idea were these things? What possible purpose would this serve that regular four-aisle-four seating wouldn't?
And more importantly, where do the seat numbers come from? My (horribly-drawn) sketch below shows the seat numbers in my more recent train, a very nice InterCity from Krakow to Warsaw. Follow the seat numbering and find logic in the order, please. And this is not unusual -- I've found this type of seat numbering all over Europe, and I can't understand the logic in the least.
2)
Handwritten Tickets
Warned in advance that the train station in Eger, Hungary couldn't sell international tickets (an amusing fact in itself, but regardless), I went to a travel agency in Budapest to purchase a ticket from Eger, Hungary to Kosice, Slovokia. The total travel time, including three transfers, was maybe 3 hours and the total cost was less than US$15. However, when the travel agent went to book the ticket, the process consisted of looking up fares in a big, white binder and then going in the back to "make my ticket". And by make my ticket, I literally mean handwrite my ticket. This is the flimsy piece of paper that got me from Eger to Kosice:
Now, I'd understand if the whole system was still in such a bad state that everything was on paper tickets. But Hungary has an extensive ticketing system, including seat reservations that can be done up to several minutes before departure, a trick some British train lines still haven't figured out. In fact, this is the seat reservation for one of the trains on that same trip -- nicely printed, with all pertinent information clearly readable.
So to Hungary, I say: if you want to make sure you're actually getting paid for people riding your trains and, perhaps, actually recoup some of your expenses, don't let them ride on hand-written tickets. Because if you do, people like me are going to think it's a brilliant idea to start counterfeiting tickets and selling them for half-price. And since you never actually collect the ticket, you'd never be the wiser, now would you? Anyone want to help me fund my next European trip?
Post Author:
amg | 4:36 PM |
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Can't explain the Polish seat numbering system. But the 8-seat side corridor coaches are a concept that dates back to the early days of railways, where coaches resembles multiple stagecoach bodies fixed to one underframe. Originally each compartment (seating ten rather than eight) had it's own external doors, and there was no corridor. The corridors came in with toilets and dining cars in late Victorian times
Open saloon coaches with a central aisle are a fairly modern concept; even many of those keep the face-to-face 'pseudo compartments'. 'Airline style' seats all facing the same way is even more recent, when the bean-counters realised they could fit more seats in that way.
Hi !
The seating layout you encountered in Poland is in fact a long-standing European* standard (as documented by the European equivalent of the AAR, the UIC: http://www.uic.asso.fr/index.php?changeLang=en ). BTW a similar system applies to couchette berths, and I shouldn't be surprised it also originated in the numbering of seats in stage-coaches!
In any case, it's now so well established that, like the "QWERTY" keyboard layout, to change it would cause great chaos. Note that only the 'tens' digit changes from one compartment to the next, and in the case of 'three-a-side' seating *7 and *8 are omitted. As all even numbers are on the same side, it's easy to figure out where each seat should be. However, in 'saloon' coaches where groups of seats all face the same way - eg most TGVs - the system is less easy to interpret in practice.
Other UIC codes are used in the data displayed along the lower coach sides etc.
Regards,
Alan
* strictly 'on the Continent', as the British and Irish railways are a law unto themselves...
