Neil Williams schrieb:
That said, Hamburg[1] takes a different approach; direct, express buses to
and from the city centre do duplicate some railway lines, but at a
supplementary fare of (I think) EUR 1. They are provided with
high-quality, low-density seating and are treated as "first class".
Excuse me, but i can say something about Hamburg too... I actually live
there!
The express bus system falls into two categories:
"Eilbusse" (buses in a hurry would be a translation) is a system of only
6 lines. They are useable without a supplement. 3 of those lines are
serving the airbus airplane works in Finkenwerder. A few buses from
major stations or some parts of town go there in the morning and come
back in the afternoon.
The other lines serve a big settlement that has no railway connection
and another big company.
"Schnellbusse" (fast buses) (8 lines): These are very long lines, often
going all the way through Hamburg, the idea is to provide fast
connections from suburbs to the city and back. They run all day and they
cost a supplement of 1,05 Euro per trip. A season supplement is available.
In my opinion the supplement makes them completely useless. They are
rarely faster that getting a local bus to the next railway. They get
stuck in traffic. They are not very comfortable.
I don't want to pay a premium for them and most other Hamburgers, too,
it seems, as everytime i see a Schnellbus it has between 1 and 10
passengers only.
In my opinion the hamburg express bus system is rubbish... with one
notable exception: In weekend nights there is an express night bus from
the Reeperbahn amusement district to my front door, using a motorway for
most of the trip. This express bus is unbelievably cool!