SBB done me wrong
(NOTE: Yes, I realise if this is what constitutes a quality-of-life issue here, life is pretty good. Yes, this is not exactly Iraq or Darfur or Nepal or Afghanistan or East Saint Louis or Southeast DC or Appalachia. Duly noted.)
In a world of chaos and uncertainty, there is one thing you can count on: Swiss trains run on time. It's an article of faith that you can generally set your watch to the arrival and departure of trains here (the only exceptions being acts of God or slackers from France, Italy or Germany). When they changed the train schedules last year to make rail travel even more efficient, it was major national news. So when we had difficulties last Friday, it was if there was a tear in the fabric of the universe.
On the way back from Brussels, two colleagues and I boarded the 4:43pm train at the Zurich Airport for the 10-minute ride to Zurich Hauptbahnhof, where we would catch the 5:02pm to Basel. As we were pulling into the station we all of a sudden came to a stop and waited. And waited some more. Finally we pulled into the station at 5:00pm--seven minutes late, but just enough time to catch our train if it was close and we ran. So we quickly checked the yellow Abfahrt board (I was just looking for an excuse to say "Abfahrt") and saw that the Basel train would leave in two minutes from the next track over. So we ran downstairs, over one track, up the stairs, and saw the sign for a train to...Brig? Utterly confused because the Abfahrt board seldom lies, we made the mistake of running for the main station rather than going back downstairs to find a much closer departure board. When we got there, we found a board that said the train for Basel was a bit behind schedule but would be leaving momentarily from five tracks away. So we launched into a full sprint (still wearing business suits on an unseasonably warm day) and arrived just in time...to watch the train pull away. DOH! It's not so much being late that was bothersome--all it meant was an additional half-hour spent at the station drinking a beer--but rather the realisation that the Swiss Railways can be...(gasp)...fallible. Once the dominoes start falling, next thing you know the Swiss might start making noise after 10:00pm, shopping after 6:00pm, etc...
In a world of chaos and uncertainty, there is one thing you can count on: Swiss trains run on time. It's an article of faith that you can generally set your watch to the arrival and departure of trains here (the only exceptions being acts of God or slackers from France, Italy or Germany). When they changed the train schedules last year to make rail travel even more efficient, it was major national news. So when we had difficulties last Friday, it was if there was a tear in the fabric of the universe.
On the way back from Brussels, two colleagues and I boarded the 4:43pm train at the Zurich Airport for the 10-minute ride to Zurich Hauptbahnhof, where we would catch the 5:02pm to Basel. As we were pulling into the station we all of a sudden came to a stop and waited. And waited some more. Finally we pulled into the station at 5:00pm--seven minutes late, but just enough time to catch our train if it was close and we ran. So we quickly checked the yellow Abfahrt board (I was just looking for an excuse to say "Abfahrt") and saw that the Basel train would leave in two minutes from the next track over. So we ran downstairs, over one track, up the stairs, and saw the sign for a train to...Brig? Utterly confused because the Abfahrt board seldom lies, we made the mistake of running for the main station rather than going back downstairs to find a much closer departure board. When we got there, we found a board that said the train for Basel was a bit behind schedule but would be leaving momentarily from five tracks away. So we launched into a full sprint (still wearing business suits on an unseasonably warm day) and arrived just in time...to watch the train pull away. DOH! It's not so much being late that was bothersome--all it meant was an additional half-hour spent at the station drinking a beer--but rather the realisation that the Swiss Railways can be...(gasp)...fallible. Once the dominoes start falling, next thing you know the Swiss might start making noise after 10:00pm, shopping after 6:00pm, etc...
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