"Anon" wrote in message ...
Lots of people seem to compare London Underground unfavourably to other
countries transport systems.

Firstly the government has been reducing its investment for a long time
whilst other countries systems are heavily subsidised or have been privately
run many years. The big companies in the City who complain about loss do not
help to improve it with capital and neither does the Corporation of London.

Health and safety is very big in the U.K. and LondonUndergroud are subject
to many rules. This is partly its own fault having done so badly in the
past. Where you might see a cleaner with brush and bucket in London you are
more likely to see a cleaner driving a motorised vehicle on the Metro,
platforms included.

Those of you who were complaining about platforms being shut because of snow
should really compare the type of footwear being worn. Londoners seem to be
the least sensible.

In Thailand the monorail is clean and efficient but none of the locals use
it as the price of a ticket could get you a hotel room for two nights. It is
therefore only used by tourist and business execs.

In Las Vegas the buses run well but no one tells you that you should buy a
daily bus pass if you make more than two trips.

In Tokyo you can get a travelcard and then suddenly realise you are stuck at
the gateline and expected to pay more because you used a privately run
train.
If you use the shrinkansen you will be with the elite. Standard class is for
business execs, sumo wrestlers and tourists. Sumo wrestlers have to pay for
two seats for obvious reasons. 1st class is for movie stars and company
presidents.
Sticking with Japan I have been delayed on a few occasions one because of a
fight on the train ahead which subsequently made me feel homesick.
Also if a person does throw themselves in front of a train which seems to be
a regular experience in London. In Japan the family have to pay the clean up
cost. As they replace both rails and ballast it can be very expensive. Hence
very few suicides.

Yeah, I have to agree that the British are very good at slagging
themselves off in all areas of life, not just the underground as given
in this example. A simple fact worth remembering is that Britain has
one of the worlds top 5 economies (obviously that depends which study
you read) and the majority of its services are far superior to those
available in 95% of the rest of the world. Too many people are sucked
in by the flippin' preaching Daily Mail and its '3rd world hospitals',
'arcane railways' and 'crime waves'.

As an example, I used the Paris Metro and RATP RER many times and
never been left with the lasting impression that the service is in any
significant way better than the LU. Although the service is pretty
extensive, there is usually a strike of some sort (every Tuesday and
Thursday on the RER for a month while I was in Paris) and the stations
are often in a poorer state or repair/appearance than most London
stations. Oh and another thing - away from the TGV, French trains
leave a lot to be desired - even if they are heavilly subsidised. By
the same government that also props up SNCF (#3bn in debt?) I might
add.

Just to support my previous comment - I have also had some pretty
appaling treatment in a French hospital, far worse than anything I
have encountered in the NHS. And is it widely known that you have to
pay up front to be admitted to A+E in France.....

I have similar thoughts of transport systems elsewhere in Europe, with
the possible exception of Germany where everything seems to work...