On Wed, 7 Apr 2004, Neil Williams wrote:

On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 20:54:56 +0100, Tom Anderson wrote:

What do you mean by a 'supplementary fare'? You mean that the
duplicating buses are more expensive than standard buses? But are thus
still cheaper than the train, while being as nice and not a lot
slower?

No, they are more comfortable than the train, and more expensive (EUR1
or so on top of the standard fare). The idea is that they save you
having to change, but you are charged for the privilege, mainly because
of the limited capacity. They aren't always that quick.

Crumbs. The idea of a road vehicle being *higher* status than a train is
pretty radical!

It's worth bearing in mind that the number of bus routes entering
central Hamburg can probably be counted on the fingers of both hands.
The public transport system is geared up such that buses mainly provide
links from non-rail-served locations to the nearest rail station, as
well as quieter circumferential routes, with the Schnellbusse (express)
and Nachtbusse (night) being a separate, largely radial network "on top"
of the rail network.

Sounds extremely sensible.

The difference in bus and train fares seems to be a British thing - in
the German Verkehrsverbuende (like TfL or the PTEs) there is no
differential - your ticket is valid for a through journey, with
connections if desired, on any or all of the available modes of
transport. There isn't a "train fare" or a "bus fare", just a "public
transport fare".

Also extremely sensible. Ein Stadt, Ein Verkehrsverbund, Ein Fahrpreis!

tom


--
Dude, read Aquinas if you want intelligent. This is the internet.