What can aviation and rail learn from each other?

[jfowkes]

From discussions in this thread, I thought it might be interesting to discuss this topic more widely in a separate thread.

I've never been a professional pilot but I used to fly single-engine piston and gliders. I'm only a "rail enthusiast", whatever that is. So my experience of both worlds is extremely limited. But, I think the comparison between the two would be interesting to explore in depth, and not just around the issues of technical complexity and safety that have been discussed so far. Ticketing, "passenger comfort and conditions", infrastructure, ownership, funding to name a few.

So, what does rail do that aviation could learn from, and vice-versa?

 

[GRALISTAIR]

If you have a reserved seat on a plane it will not go down well if someone tries to poach it. On a train - well we saw what happened this week.

 

[etr221]

I wonder how much there is that can be learnt from each other, as many of the differences are down to fundamentals in what they do.

Railway companies (and that is how we still tend to think of them, not train companies) have always been infrastructure owners, providing the service that runs on them - with a match between service and capacity. Airlines have used infrastructure (airports) provided by others, and then only intermittently - not once they're flying.
Rail is local and national. Air transport is long distance and international. Trains make intermediate stops, and are expected to provide service between them. Planes are expected to be non-stop, from one place to another. Railways are expected to provide a national/regional network linking anywhere to anywhere, in a way that airlines aren't. Flights are generally infrequent, often less than daily; trains are generally fairly frequent.
Safety requirements mean aircraft have strictly limited capacities: trains do not in the same way, you can almost squeeze more on, even if they do have to stand. Airline passengers are well supervised/managed, with plenty of cabin crew, even apart from airport staff: train passengers are to a great extent expected to self manage.

And, while these distinctions may be less black and white than I state, they do have implications.
It is - essentially - fairly easy to provide extra or modify existing air services, just a matter of money and licenses, without having to rearrange everything; on rail not so.
Air travellers expect to book in advance for 'great expeditions', and to have to turn up at remote places (airports) in lots of time; rail travellers to 'turn up and go' at (relatively) the last minute for minor ones.