Modern-day Official Guide to the Railways?

ExCon90 wrote:This may be a reflection of the intensity with which the Swiss use their rail system -- and it is an integrated system, for all that there are very many different operators involved.

It's also a reflection of he fact that SBB doesn't suck. They run a tight ship, and yes, with Swiss precision. Go to their website and punch up their passenger section - you get a clock in the corner. A subtle reminder of what they're known for...

When a transportation system is well integrated, fast, and über-reliable, people tend to leave the car at home, since, there's no need for it.

But you can be sure - if the Swiss were contenting with what we've got over here, they'd be driving everywhere and clamoring for freeway expansion, too...

(BTW, the little 'build a railroad' game on SBB's website is fun, but remember, they always leave on time )

People generally do call for more of what they are familiar with. Heck, I never realized it 2004 but my DAD had never been on a train and pretty much had driven everywhere he went since he got his first driver's license in 1947. (Even back then, 83% of all passenger miles were from driving.) He hadn't been on a train until I booked him and my mom on a Cascades train from Seattle to Bellingham on a visit to an Aunt & Uncle out there.

And the biggest obstacle to changing things is inertia. People gotta get into advocacy groups and put their money where their mouth is to give legs to passenger rail advocacy.

Swiss weather and topography sort of lends itself to rail to. Kind of hard to negotiate mountainous Swiss highways in the snow but trains are known for their all-weather capability.

BTW, I'm a bit of a fan of mechanical Swiss watches myself. I own 5 Swiss mechanical timepieces from a 1949 vintage Zenith to a modern Tag-Heuer chronograph and hope I can visit a watchmaker or 2 in Geneva when I eventually get over there (besides riding the SBB trains.).

Well, on that note: I wonder if someone COULD compile a database of all regularly scheduled train service in North Amreica. After all, what is Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz but a compilation of airline schedules and fares for the legacy carriers to sell seats. (Southwest, Jet Blue, Spirit, and possibly others do not participate in these sales sites.) I have a Via Rail timetable fro a few years back that also shows schedules for BC Rail, Ontario Northland, and Algoma Central.)

Airlines have largely gone away from a printed timetable in favor of a downloadable format although Southwest still has a timetable booklet printed quarterly last time I checked.

M&Eman wrote:Has there ever been impetus to create a modern day National Guide?

Google Transit is effectively doing it. When every operation signs on, you'll be able to generate and print your own guide out of GTFS feeds. Note that *Amtrak* is producing a GTFS feed for Google Transit (though it only includes some of the routes so far); so as of now, Google Transit is not just for short-distance operations.