Alon@[email protected] @DiegoBeghin @Squig @jon @antonia @fishter_uk @OlivierRazemon ...10%? Does that include intercities or just commuter trains? Because DB Fernverkehr is profitable, and so was SNCF until the combo of strikes and OuiGo.
🦕 Justus ☠️ Tóth 🏁 Römeth@Alon @PGLux @DiegoBeghin @jon @antonia @fishter_uk @OlivierRazemon I‘d argue all of SNCB could be classed as non-Fernverkehr in DBs cagegorization, if one wanted. (The ICs could be REs or ICs)
Diego@Squig @Alon @[email protected] Oostende-Brussels-Liège might be the one breakeven domestic line (but that's just speculation).
@Alon @DiegoBeghin @PGLux slow speed and too many stops (except for the IC to KL) for too many trains, no?
@Squig @DiegoBeghin @[email protected] Does it matter that much? Commuter trains tend to lose money because they're empty most of the day (or else, in the US, they're not run when they'd be empty and then the fixed costs are spread across too little service).
@Alon @Squig @[email protected] Fair, the line to Antwerp gets higher frequency so maybe it averages out with the slower speed.
@Alon @Squig @[email protected] They don't seem to run extra peak trains so it can't be that peaky.
Btw while checking this, I found they're finally running a Brussels-Antwerp IC that stops only in Mechelen! I've long advocated for this, bypassing Vilvoorde also means bypassing an extra slow portion of the line.
It saves 10 min compared to the other IC trains but unfortunately the timetable has degraded further :/ B Centraal to A Centraal (46 km) the trip improvement is 50 min -> 40 min.
@Alon @Squig @[email protected] Before I was expecting a 45->35 min reduction.
Anyway I should readjust my talking points, average speed on Brussels-Antwerp is 70 km/h now.
@DiegoBeghin @Squig @[email protected] Why is there degradation? Was the 45 minute timetable not reliable? Or is it like in Germany and the US, where every few years they slow down the trains hoping to improve punctuality, failing, and restarting the cycle of slowdowns?
@Alon @Squig @[email protected] It's exactly that, I remember the last round of slowdowns in the early 2010s made quite the scandal in front pages, people were pointing out that trains were no faster than in the 1930s when the line was electrified.
Jiří Franek@DiegoBeghin @Alon @Squig @PGLux If I remember correctly, that train goes on the old line, not L25N. So it doesn't actually bypass Vilvoorde, it just doesn't stop there.
@jfranek @Alon @Squig @[email protected] Oh wow, then there is indeed opportunity to speed it up more.
@Alon @Squig @[email protected] Brussels-Antwerp has high ridership but it's so slow (60 km/h). The other line also gets high ridership because it goes to the beach and popular tourist town Bruges and also to Flanders' 2nd city Ghent. It's considerably faster (~95 km/h IIRC).