Post #1271558

2026-04-04 08:47 UTC

@jonmsterling @elduvelle This summer I have to go from Barcelona to Berlin. The non-flight options are ... insane. I wouldn't mind a 24-hour trip by train, but it's not even that*. Many legs, no coordination between providers, subways and buses included. I am not a XIX century naturalist crossing uncharted territory, I am crossing the European Union from South to somewhat North. It's embarrassing. * I was hoping for a 2-leg train, i.e., Barcelona-Paris and Paris-Berlin in the same day, but no, that would require me sleeping in Paris! The lack of coordination is as astonishing as it is appalling.

Replies (5)

@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz 2026-04-04 08:57

@albertcardona @elduvelle Yeah, it is so crazy. To even contemplate it for a second is hellish and laughable.

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@erwaks@mastodon.social 2026-04-04 09:00

@albertcardona @jonmsterling @elduvelle how many people do need to depart from Barcelona to go to Berlin? I guess not that many, even if the trains are direct. Train needs mass to be efficient compared to car or plane.

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@MonniauxD@social.sciences.re 2026-04-04 09:01

@albertcardona @jonmsterling @elduvelle And ticketing is not coordinated either. Our "professional" travel agent does not know how to sell us tickets with train changes abroad.

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@elduvelle@neuromatch.social 2026-04-04 09:11

@albertcardona @jonmsterling I was invited to a potential symposium in a big conference in my field in Portugal this year. I live in Scotland, technically not that far away really, but I would have had to do something like 7 changes and dozens of hours to do the trip by train, and at a huge cost. I do not fly because flying destroys the planet, so I had to pass out on the conference opportunity. To be fair, this is also a problem with the conference itself, which does not allow hybrid talks... IMO all the conferences should be online or at least hybrid until we've fixed the problem of saving our planet. #Cosyne2026 #AcademicConferences #AcademicChatter

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@quixoticgeek@social.v.st 2026-04-04 09:14

@albertcardona @jonmsterling @elduvelle paging @moof who's done this train journey a few times...

Open ##1271604