Differences between UK and mainland European railways

[Thebaz]

In the last five years or so I've started to build up some good experience of travelling on railways of mainland Europe and I wanted to discuss some of differences I've noticed.

Firstly, it seems that most major lines on the mainland are signalled for bi-directional running and I wondered why this is rarely the case in Britain? Surely this would be highly beneficial in times of disruption. Travelling on the European Sleeper from Brussels to Prague a couple of weeks back we certainly appeared to switch sides regularly whilst travelling through the Netherlands in the middle of the night.

This brings me onto which side is driven on in different countries. Before I ever travelled on a European train I assumed that all countries would drive on the right, but not so!: In France, Belgium, Italy they drive on the left. The Netherlands (disregarding previous comment) the right-hand side seems to be mainly used, as in Germany, Austria, and Czechia. Slovenia was interesting as coming down from Villach in Austria we took the left-hand side as far as Zidani Most (approximately half way across the country), after which we switched to the right and this persisted beyond the penultimate station to the Croatian border Brezice (and presumably all the way into Croatia.) Why the sudden change in the middle of the country and not at the border?

The other notable difference was how unfriendly towards less-able bodied passengers the railways were in former communist countries - No level boarding in Czechia and as for Slovenia platforms are barely above rail-height!

Any comments or corrections welcome.

 

[DanielB]

Travelling on the European Sleeper from Brussels to Prague a couple of weeks back we certainly appeared to switch sides regularly whilst travelling through the Netherlands in the middle of the night.

Could also have been the so called "roestrijden". As the Dutch ATB system works with a current in the tracks for train detection it is required for all tracks and points to be used at least every 24 hours AFAIK to remove any rust which leads to poor detection.
Some points are inconvenient for doing this during the day (for example when there's no option to switch back to the right for a while), so a night train is convenient to derust those as there is limited oncoming traffic)

The Netherlands (disregarding previous comment) the right-hand side seems to be mainly used

All right hand traffic here, except HSL Zuid south of Rotterdam, Utrecht Central - Blauwkapel Junction on the IC tracks and the cross-border sections south of Roosendaal and Maastricht (as Belgium is left hand running).
And on some single track lines trains may be left hand running on passing loops, mainly due to local track layout (for example to have trains stop after a level crossing instead of passing it at departure).

 

[dazzler]

Slovenia was interesting as coming down from Villach in Austria we took the left-hand side as far as Zidani Most (approximately half way across the country), after which we switched to the right and this persisted beyond the penultimate station to the Croatian border Brezice (and presumably all the way into Croatia.) Why the sudden change in the middle of the country and not at the border?

I may be totally incorrect, but when the railways were built Slovenia, Croatia, etc. didn't exist as independent countries and were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As it happens, Zidani Most is roughly on the border between the Austrian and Hungarian parts of the Empire.
It may well be that the Austrian half built for left-hand running and the Hungarian part for right-hand running. When the railways were originally built, they would have been built as single track, so the issue of "changing sides" at a frontier would not have been a problem.

 

[Bemined]

In the Netherlands Zwolle - Olst was the last remaining domestic line that was not bidirectional, but it got upgraded earlier this year. Only some border-crossing lines remain now, plus some passing loops on single track lines that have automated points that only allow trains to pass one way.

Left-hand running is limited though on many lines. There might not be any intermediate signals, the entire line is often one block with
just one block with a distant signal and a home signal at the end of the line. So when running on the left, there can only be one train at a time. Also on some lines there is a 40km/u speed restriction as well at the end of each block, even when you don't cross over back to the right track. And at stations the crossings are often not equipped with a stop/pass circuit so if there is a level crossing after a station, it will be closed for the duration of the stop as well, which can result in dangerous passenger behaviour if the platform change was not announced in time.

There are also lines equipped with 'dual single track signaling', this does feature intermediate blocks in both directions, though the stop/pass circuits at crossing might still be installed only for right hand running. They have not been actively upgrading to this type of signaling though and I doubt they will with the ERTMS upgrade coming up as that will make the old signals obsolete anyway.

 

[nwales58]

So much history ...
Left-hand driving on roads was much more widespread in Europe than now. Sweden only changed in my lifetime (Gothenburg had coupled single-ended trams back to back at the changeover). The Austrian+Hungarian empire was all left-hand I believe. I've seen left-hand traffic in Italy and Spain in old pictures.
Railways probably depended on who built them and british engineers worked in many other places.

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

Austria for the railway part is still not fully right-hand running with left-hand running still existing on Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof – Absdorf-Hippersdorf, Bruck an der Mur – Werndorf and Lebring – Leibnitz. Originally, many more lines were left-hand running with some only recently converted.

Slovenia is left-hand running apart from Zidani Most - Dobova, with Croatia running on the right.

The German Wikipedia has a comprehensive article on the topic: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehrgleisigkeit#Fahrordnung_in_den_einzelnen_Ländern

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

In Austria the Nordbahn (Vienna to Bohumin, Krakow and with its partners on to Lviv) was built for left hand running.
So was the Südbahn (Vienna-Semmering-Graz-Ljubljana-Trieste).
I think Budapest began with Nyugati (Staatsbahn) and Deli (Südbahn) as termini of left-hand routes, with Keleti (the original MAV station) as right hand.
But the Westbahn (Vienna-Linz-Salzburg and beyond) was built right-handed, to match the Bavarian system at Salzburg.
The Brenner was built left hand from Verona (begun when it was still in Austrian hands) and still switches at the summit/border.
The Staatsbahn (StEG) had a mix to begin with but eventually went right.
With border changes and general standardisation most of the left hand running has been converted to right, the last bit to go will be the Südbahn south of Semmering Pass - the new Koralmbahn (Graz-Klagenfurt) opening next year will be right hand.
I expect the main lines in Slovenia, connecting to Italy, will stay left hand.

Germany began with left hand running (Leipzig-Dresden) but soon converted it to right.
Spain's Norte railway (CCHNE) from Madrid to Irun was/is left hand, but is now largely bypassed by the right-hand high speed line.
The other main railway in Spain (MZA) was always right hand.
One country missing from the left hand list is of course Switzerland.
And as has been noted, most main lines now have bi-directional signalling so the left/right distinction is somewhat blurred.
ETCS is bi-directional, so most new lines can be run in either mode.

 

[Thebaz]

Fascinating insight guys, thanks for you contributions

Austria for the railway part is still not fully right-hand running with left-hand running still existing on Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof – Absdorf-Hippersdorf, Bruck an der Mur – Werndorf and Lebring – Leibnitz. Originally, many more lines were left-hand running with some only recently converted.

Slovenia is left-hand running apart from Zidani Most - Dobova, with Croatia running on the right.

The German Wikipedia has a comprehensive article on the topic: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehrgleisigkeit#Fahrordnung_in_den_einzelnen_Ländern

Thanks - I'll give that a read

In Austria the Nordbahn (Vienna to Bohumin, Krakow and with its partners on to Lviv) was built for left hand running.
So was the Südbahn (Vienna-Semmering-Graz-Ljubljana-Trieste).
I think Budapest began with Nyugati (Staatsbahn) and Deli (Südbahn) as termini of left-hand routes, with Keleti (the original MAV station) as right hand.
But the Westbahn (Vienna-Linz-Salzburg and beyond) was built right-handed, to match the Bavarian system at Salzburg.
The Brenner was built left hand from Verona (begun when it was still in Austrian hands) and still switches at the summit/border.
The Staatsbahn (StEG) had a mix to begin with but eventually went right.
With border changes and general standardisation most of the left hand running has been converted to right, the last bit to go will be the Südbahn south of Semmering Pass - the new Koralmbahn (Graz-Klagenfurt) opening next year will be right hand.
I expect the main lines in Slovenia, connecting to Italy, will stay left hand.

Germany began with left hand running (Leipzig-Dresden) but soon converted it to right.
Spain's Norte railway (CCHNE) from Madrid to Irun was/is left hand, but is now largely bypassed by the right-hand high speed line.
The other main railway in Spain (MZA) was always right hand.
One country missing from the left hand list is of course Switzerland.
And as has been noted, most main lines now have bi-directional signalling so the left/right distinction is somewhat blurred.
ETCS is bi-directional, so most new lines can be run in either mode.

I have travelled in Switzerland but I couldn't remember which side they used!

 

[WessexEclectic]

The German Wikipedia has a comprehensive article on the topic: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehrgleisigkeit#Fahrordnung_in_den_einzelnen_Ländern

Natürlich! Danke.

 

[geoffk]

Many other differences of course, notably the lack of lineside fencing. Any fences which I've noticed appear to have been put up by the landowner to prevent animals straying on to the track. That's not to say you can just wander around on the track and there are generally signs at stations telling you not to cross the line. Indeed some Scandinavian stations have a low fence between the tracks at stations to prevent passengers crossing, even where there is a designated foot crossing rather than a bridge/subway.

Another difference is that continental railways have not followed the British trend of putting in ticket gates, which I've seen only on metros (e.g. Paris). Passengers seem to to be trusted to have the correct ticket and to validate it when required and there are penalties for transgressing. (In the last 10 years I've used trains in Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Slovenia).

 

[DanielB]

Well, the Netherlands has both fencing and ticket gates. Though the fencing is maybe a little less than in the UK.

 

[signed]

Another difference is that continental railways have not followed the British trend of putting in ticket gates

SNCF has installed them at most mailine stations now

But they are only used with TGV services and not for TER for ex.

 

[geoffk]

Well, the Netherlands has both fencing and ticket gates. Though the fencing is maybe a little less than in the UK.

Not been there for a while! Do they suffer more from fare evasion than, say, Germany?

 

[duesselmartin]

France is interesting as it is genrally left hand running except for the Elsace-Lorraine region which still has the German legacy of right hand running.

Easy access to train for wheelchairs, prams ect is where the UK is miles ahead.

 

[D6130]

Many other differences of course, notably the lack of lineside fencing.

In most countries fencing is only provided on conventional lines in urban areas and where lines pass through land used for grazing animals. High speed lines are fenced as a matter of course, often using special fencing designed to exclude wild animals such as deer and boar. Sadly these are not always 100% effective.

Another difference is that continental railways have not followed the British trend of putting in ticket gates,

They're now being installed increasingly at large city termini in Italy....more to keep undesirables away from the platforms than for revenue collection purposes. I've seen/used them at Roma Termini, Firenze SMN and Milano Centrale....and I believe that they are also present at Torino Porta Nuova, Napoli Centrale and Venezia Santa Lucia.

Indeed some Scandinavian stations have a low fence between the tracks at stations to prevent passengers crossing,

These have also been prevelant in a lot of Eastern European Countries for many years. They're even starting to appear at certain UK stations, such as Cross Gates in Leeds.

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

Germany did have ticket gates at most stations from the 1890s until the 1960s-1970s, nowadays there are no gates anywhere.

Here's a newsreel from 1965 talking about the difficulties of removing the gates: now passengers need to buy a ticket beforehand themselves, even if they're not checked before entering. Also, gates were staffed with disabled war veterans, for who now a new job at the railways needs to found https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/s...n-auf/swr/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS9hZXgvbzExNTgyNjY

 

[dutchflyer]

About ANY railway-all were completely state-owned/run untill around the [19]70ies had ticket gates-in the sense of manual checks-often only for getting out though. In my exp-and having visited this (in our eyes) still often a little different island in the NorthSea many times-@ least 1/yr -has much more kept to old traditions/practice. Whereas it at those times was also miles ahead in was having clock face fixed timetables-as we also had back then already in NL, but much, much less elsewhere.
UK also seems to have a much higher % of people interested in trains/railways, also notable in what working staff knows about it. Followed by DE=Germany. And has set on diesel traction a little too much vs electric traction. They often seem convinced it has to be some ´company´ to run trains-the old idea of those state-owned burocratic molochs (SNCF! NMBS!) appears to have forgotten.
Low platforms and stairs to climb to get into the high entries of the wagons was more the norm everywhere.
Another difference is in how easy it is to get tickets for INTERNational travel-completely done away with in GB, where as in DE or AT one can still walk into any station in a more sizeable town and ask for and get a printed ticket to out of that country. But yes, also now on a much, much lesser scale as once was possible. And mostly also not the best thing to do moneywise.

 

[Thebaz]

Well, the Netherlands has both fencing and ticket gates. Though the fencing is maybe a little less than in the UK.

Yes I certainly experienced the gates when I had to change at a rather swish-looking Arnhem station last year on the way from Dusseldorf to Amsterdam. I needed to leave the platforms to use the toilet but couldn't get the gate to work with my international ticket. Had to call for help to leave and then again to get back in. I am very thankful the Dutch are such good English speakers!

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Yes I certainly experienced the gates when I had to change at a rather swish-looking Arnhem station last year on the way from Dusseldorf to Amsterdam. I needed to leave the platforms to use the toilet but couldn't get the gate to work with my international ticket. Had to call for help to leave and then again to get back in. I am very thankful the Dutch are such good English speakers!

Spain has security barriers before boarding which involve baggage scanning, similar to airports.
I think this is only on long-distance services, but at main stations (eg Chamartin, Atocha) it can be a pest.

There's generally more ticket-checking on trains on the continent, but less/none at stations.
e-ticketing and mobile apps seem universal, while UK still seems to default to paper tickets.
Compostage is still a thing in some countries.
You can mix local and long-distance trains in the UK, but rarely on the continent where the networks are essentially separate.

 

[geoffk]

Escalators at stations more common on the continent? Outside London, I'm aware of those at Leeds, Manchester Picc (travelator), Birmingham New St, Reading and Glasgow Central. No use for wheelchair users of course so lifts generally better except where passenger numbers are very high.

 

[RailWonderer]

European railways have more consistent branding, blue LCD departure screens, often analogue clocks, chimes before an announcement, lower platforms, far fewer ticket barriers and most significantly, a wider loading gauge.

 

[rvdborgt]

Spain has security barriers before boarding which involve baggage scanning, similar to airports.
I think this is only on long-distance services, but at main stations (eg Chamartin, Atocha) it can be a pest.

The secutainment in Spain is for services that use the high-speed lines.

 

[DanielB]

Escalators at stations more common on the continent? Outside London, I'm aware of those at Leeds, Manchester Picc (travelator), Birmingham New St, Reading and Glasgow Central. No use for wheelchair users of course so lifts generally better except where passenger numbers are very high.

Depends on the country: the Netherlands have loads of escalators and lifts at stations (although they also break down often).
But in Switzerland for example most stations have long ramps for access to the platform besides stairs. Though stations with an overpass like Basel SBB do have escalators.

Not been there for a while! Do they suffer more from fare evasion than, say, Germany?

It was mostly a security thing than to prevent fare evasion: gates obviously also prevent access for homeless or other people who have no reason to be at a station.
Only about 80 out of the 400 stations have gates and at those are not equally distributed. For example in the Randstad with in general more aggression (and fare evasion) you'll find also small local halts with gates, while larger cities in more rural parts of the country don't have them.

 

[rg177]

Certainly GB, for all its faults, does (reasonably) level boarding, accessibility and staffing well compared to many other countries. Safety is definitely higher up the agenda, too.

Sweden in particular (away from a few key hubs) is horrendous if you need any help. I once rocked up to Haparanda station to find a deserted station with my train cancelled. There was a lone taxi outside which fitted about six of us - those left behind were essentially told to go find their own way to Luleå.

We're also fairly customer friendly compared to quite a few networks. Knowledge of ticketing notwithstanding, the vast majority of staff do at least come across as "human". I've had some extremely odd encounters abroad that'd probably result in a sacking in GB Though by contrast, I've found SBB/ÖBB/DB Fernverkehr staff to be, by and large, extremely knowledgeable and professional. I've also found Dutch staff (both on trains and in stations) to be extremely friendly - of course the excellent knowledge of English will help here.

Our compensation schemes are also pretty generous compared to almost everywhere else (I believe RENFE are quite generous with their long distance services too). A 60 min delay in GB would get you 100% of a single fare back with most TOCs - and a gallic shrug in many parts of the continent. DB does at least get it right with the policy that a 25min+ delay automatically turns your ticket into a flexible one so you can reroute as appropriate.

 

[Thebaz]

Escalators at stations more common on the continent? Outside London, I'm aware of those at Leeds, Manchester Picc (travelator), Birmingham New St, Reading and Glasgow Central. No use for wheelchair users of course so lifts generally better except where passenger numbers are very high.

Lifts much harder to find in the ex-communist countries too. Ljubljana had some strange Stannah stair lift type contraption up the platform staircases and one solitary lift to get from subway to station building (which thankfully did work)

Edited for strange typo of communist!

 

[geoffk]

On the subject of staffing, in 2014 I spent an hour or so at Roskilde station, a very busy station serving this historic city with a population of some 48,000, 30 km west of Copenhagen. I was surprised to see that the ticket office was open only between 0900 and 1600 on Mondays to Fridays. There were ticket machines and I assumed they offered the full range of tickets, but there was no visible station staff while I was there in the evening. The same appeared to be true in Sweden - only the stations in very large towns had ticket offices.

Incidentally, the quiet zone on Danish trains means just that - not just "no mobile phones" but NO TALKING! My mate and I were told off by a lady passenger for talking quietly.

 

[DanielB]

A 60 min delay in GB would get you 100% of a single fare back with most TOCs - and a gallic shrug in many parts of the continent.

The Netherlands have a similar scheme: 100% back for 60+ minutes delay, 50% for 30-59 minutes. At the high speed line even 50% back for a 15-29 minute delay, 100% back for 30+ minutes delay. Only drawback is that you must have had the entire delay with NS, so you'll get nothing when a 10 minute delay of an NS train causes you to miss an hourly Arriva train.

Holders of subscriptions offering unlimited travel on a route, off-peak or in weekends get a fixed percentage of the monthly price for each delay.
With NS Flex it has been even more generous as the delay repay used to be related to the actual route travelled, but this was reverted back to the scheme mentioned above as some frequent travellers actually got more money back each month than the actual cost of their subscription.

 

[williamn]

I think frequencies tend to be a lot higher in the UK, particularly on rural lines - especially in comparison to France and Spain in my experience.

 

[signed]

In Europe there is a much more pronounced bias to Inter-city travel, as opposed to small regional lines. Where in the UK, it balances itself out.

In France, many regional lines are just not served or with very very inconvenient services.

 

[rvdborgt]

I think frequencies tend to be a lot higher in the UK, particularly on rural lines - especially in comparison to France and Spain in my experience.

That depends a lot on which country you are looking at. In France and Spain, it's not very good indeed but that's only 2 countries.