To be more specific here. Does anybody on here just go on train rides for the hell of it. You don’t have to be going anywhere to do anything important. You just buy yourself a train ticket purely to enjoy the journey to where you want to go and then go back ???. I haven’t actually rode on a train in many many years. Since 2015 lol. If I’ve had to go anywhere it’s been by bus as I haven’t been far. Very recently I have suddenly had a bit of an urge to just go on a long train journey just to enjoy the ride but I don’t really have plans to go somewhere and spend a day there. Is this weird ??. 99% of train passengers are on a journey because they have to be whether it be to go to work, go home, see friends that might live far away etc etc. I’ve actually heard of people who get on buses just to sit and chill out. They don’t really have to be going anywhere. They just like the feeling of sitting in a bus and relaxing for a while. Kind of therapeutic you could say. I’d imagine trains would be perfect for this. Even if it’s only once in a while. Not daily or anything. Tickets are pretty expensive lol. If anyone does this I’d love to hear.
Nothing weird about it mate, it's just a symptom of you being... a railfan ! I've done almost all french routes around Paris that way over the years when I was young (early 2000's). But as you've said, people on board the train are either working as staff or are on a journey to home, work, etc, so it feels sometimes strange, for example during rush hours when you're the only one not in a hurry. Anyway, those getaways are nice to discover places you would have never been to otherwise, take pictures, and often to meet interesting people !
I work at a train station. Used to get 2 trains (needed to change as two separate services), going back on myself a fair bit, rather than take the 1 bus that'd get me there. Purely because I could. Purely for the train ride. First (or last depending on whether I was going to or from work) was always a 150, a 158 for the second journey. Although occasionally it was two 150s. Until I got a car that is.
Trains don't tend to go where I need to for the most part. Very rural area, so any time I ride on a train it's for the journey. Around here if we want to get out, we just go for a drive in the car.
Any train rides we take are leisure oriented these days. Of course the opportunities around Swindon are a bit limited. A diet of Hitachi AT300’s, routes that are not that inspiring scenery wise, well the Stroud Valley down to Gloucester is nice. Many of the views obscured by Network Rail’s linear jungle/forest. So it’s not quite as grand an experience as it was years ago.
I have literally gone down to Grand Central, grabbed pizza, and come back on the next immediate train with the same crew... "Didn't I just see you?" Yup, I wanted to go for a ride and wanted pizza from the city. In more recent years I've ridden Amtrak down the Hudson to take in the sights and just to go for a ride. I find it pretty relaxing and it clears my head from time to time. When I get down to the city I'll just walk the High Line or grab a bite in Moynihan, then return on one of the next trains.
I’ve never been on the Azuma. Me and my missus have thought about taking a train to Scotland. Maybe something I’ll plan to do in the summer. I like Scotland, haven’t been there in years.
One day when a freshman in high school, I played hooky for the day and rode nearly every CTA el line end to end. The current Red Line was my home line and the only one I had ridden much (North Side only), and in general the city is a lot bigger and more mysterious when you're a kid, so it was fascinating to see the variety of trains and scenery.
