Josephine Roper @jroper@transportation.social

That’s it for trains today, here’s a lemon ramen

Got the Shinkansen for one stop back to Nagasaki, as we have JR passes so it’s the same price. 8 minutes vs 24 minutes on the Seaside Liner. Speed doesn’t look that different out the windows but it spends a lot more of the distance in tunnels. Shows how that kind of straightening, and not having stops, contributes to the effective speed of high speed rail. (The driving time would be similar to the slow train).

Sadly, they are building a new freeway next to the train line, instead of perhaps upgrading it from a single track, once an hour service…

On the way back we took the train from Aino to Isahaya, which is basically a glorified bus, 1 car. Apparently the most expensive train to maintain per passenger in the world? Or was it Japan? Latter seems more possible (I have not verified this at all)

A walk in Aino (non train interlude)

Bikes at Isahaya station. Have seen very few locked bikes in Japan!

Apparently I can post photos now, so a thread: Heading to see my cousin’s home on a Regional Rapid Seaside Liner, a good name for a train. 2 cars. Had facing seats like a subway, which seemed a bit unusual for an intercity train (we took it Nagasaki to Isahaya).

Really struggling to post here from Japan. Giving up on pictures of trains for now and describing my new travel mug (because I forgot to pack one and it was making me uncomfortable): it’s a pleasant moss green and the box declares it is “Gender/race neutral”. Well, better than the opposite I guess!

@IPEdmonton I only have an ebike at the moment but sometimes I turn it off or low… often on bike path segments I just want to go ‘naturally’, unless I’m in a rush. I could imagine choosing an acoustic for transport on flat routes, like if a separated route to my uni is ever constructed, but a lot of my short transport trips have surprising amounts of uphill, and I’m really attached to having power available now.

@Andbaker twentieth of all runs? Or long runs? If the former, you’re a brave half marathon entrant!

@pvonhellermannn yes! And like, so my brother lives in Japan, my partner is French, so I should get to enjoy the world more than others? Don’t think so… but also impossible to want to go back to the days when moving to Australia was a one-way trip for many. My great-grandparents returned to Sweden, by boat, once in their lives… what is enough? Some of my friends who return home the most seem the least happy, so there’s something important about making your life where you are, too.

#ClimateDiary spent a lot of time thinking about this trip beforehand. I could list all the ‘good’ reasons - family overseas, work, tying everything into one slow trip. But what does it matter? A little bit lower than standard upper-class Australian hypermobility is not really changing anything. It would be unsustainable if everyone in the world flew overseas every two years. Ofc most of the world’s population never will. So, why me?

Anyway, trying to put things aside and enjoy it now I’m here.

Oh wow it turns out my server had editing all along, just not on the web interface…

In Nagasaki, these red dots count down from the top to show how long pedestrians have to wait (and same on the green).

Obviously I’m lapping up one of the great national public transport systems, JR pass and endless snacks in hand, but it’s the little things too :)

@stephen_cragg where's this place?

#choralmusic in #Sydney: I'm going to be away for my choir's next performance, but I'm still going to rehearsals because it's one of the best parts of my life... the reasons for living, the ends and not the means.

If you like old, very old music and also very new music, check it out.

https://www.innominata.org/beatusvir/

@humantransit I also haven't noticed any such issues in Sydney.

Earlier in the pandemic you would see some bolshiness around wearing masks, which was mandatory on public transport for a longer time than in other settings, but since that ended everything is normal. (Though a majority of bus drivers are still wearing them).

@Olithal I went to Ljubljana by sleeper last summer! It was lovely. But this time we're going to meet our Slovenian friend midway in Austria.

@Sydney_Stations Ah yeah good point.

I like the idea of bus displays that are big enough to be read from a car, too. Preferably a car stuck in traffic who was previously unaware of the excellence of the bus routes next to them.