The Even Greater Tokyo Region

Training Home

I love trains. In fact, off the top of my head, I can think of three songs about trains that I love.








Also, there is this terrible J-pop song which was always hilarious to sing at Karaoke.


I probably love trains because growing up there were only two in the town I grew up in. One was a miniature train that went around a small lake - and this one wen't the furtherest. Trains are great because they just show up and you get on without having to worry about the driver. Being in Japan for all those years made me learn to expect that trains come on time. The only times I were held up was for earthquakes, suicides and extreme winds, and even then, I wasn't always pleased when they weren't on time.

However, in Holland, not only are delays almost inevitable, but there are delays so frequently that you wonder why. A few weeks ago, there was a fire in the building which deirects the trains into Utrecht, the central station in Holland. Thousands of people were stranded and had to sleep on makeshift beds for the night.

That's why I wasn't feeling too optomistic when I walked into Amsterdam central station and saw that it was full of people. Because of 'extreme weather conditions' all traffic had to be routed through Utrecht. Extreme weather conditions? Really? Because sure there was a nice layer of snow, but nothing that Holland shouldn't be accustomed to by now.
This is the official photo used to show the 'extreme weather circumstances'.

Hell, I remember a news item from Japan how a train driver had to apologise after he tried poughing through more than a metre of snow to avoid making the train arrive late, making the train derail killing 8 passengers. I mean, sucks for those 8 passengers, but I like the attitude. And in comparison, this snow in Holland was just a sprinkling.

After half an hour I was able to get on a train, however it was announced that there was no driver. We had to wait. The driver was probably stuck in traffic. Oh the irony. Another half hour later and we were off. Slowly. And then we had to wait for several other trains to drive into Utrecht because there was a traffic jam of trains.

Luckily I was able to mosh my way through the crowds at the station to make my connection just on time. My travel time was only doubled. But all that extra time has made me seriously reconsider my stance on loving trains.