> And comparatively the French train network is excellent

I don't think we're talking about the same country here.

Are you a regular user ?

"Comparatively" ?

Sure, if you compare it to the US train network or to Uganda's ... "comparatively", you can always find something to compare to that makes you look excellent.

> I don't think we're talking about the same country here.

> Are you a regular user ?

Not OP, but I am. The French railway system suffers from a few faults (like the fact that it's Paris first, or not enough capacity on some routes, especially around popular times like Friday afternoon), but is otherwise extremely good. There's very fast coverage between all big cities aligned to Paris (so Lille - Lyon - Marseille is super fast, but mostly because they are destinations linked to Paris); Marseille - Bordeaux is slow because it isn't aligned to Paris, and has to pass through bad terrain in the middle of nowhere).

In terms of coverage of % of the population with regional or high speed rail, or hell, low cost low or high speed rail, it's among the best in the world. It's only serious challengers are Spain, Italy, Japan, China.

Presuming there's a reason you excluded Germany, would you make a comparison with that system?

Your stereotypes about German trains are very old. Here, take these newer ones

https://www.tiktok.com/@liamcarps/video/7083888965668932869?...

https://9gag.com/gag/aW4W0qq

There's very little high speed rail in Germany, which means that longer trips are too slow to be useful.

That being said, there's very good regional and decently fast coverage. Delays are a problem due to postponed infrastructure investments though.

Thanks, that's my impression too. I wouldn't say Spain is much better, but my experience is limited.

Because Deutsche Bahn has been on steep decline for nearly 2 decades now and is the laughing stock of Europe right now.

Witness the calamitous state of getting the fans to stadiums during the current Euro 24.