Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Why?

In many underground systems of the world, when you get to the platform there is a screen which shows you the amount of time you'll have to wait until the next train comes. In Bucharest (where I am today), there is a screen showing you how long it has been since the last train left. Why? What bloody use is that?

9 comments:

supercostica said...

Why make it simple when it can be complicated :)...you're supposed to already know at what time intervals the trains travel and use the data on the screen to calculate how many minutes remain till the next train.

Anonymous said...

They tell you the interval at which trains pass, give you the timer and then they let you live the thrill of waiting anxiously for the train to arrive...

Frank Sellin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Frank Sellin said...

The assumed interval is, of course, flexible. :) At least you have a decent probability of guessing when the next train shows up...

Now someone please tell me what the use is of having to change trains in both directions at Eroilor in order to get to (or from) the Industriilor line is (and has been for at least 7, possibly 11 years...)? I.e., is there any logical reason why there is no direct train to/from Piata Unirii??

I mean, they're not building another Casa Poporului down there, are they?

*sigh*

P.S. Sorry for having to delete and repeat the (spellchecked/edited) comment. I'm anal that way, sometimes...OK, most of the time. :-)

Anonymous said...

here in budapest it's the same... east-european thing :-) boro from csikszereda & budapest

Sebi Buhai said...

It's simple, Andy. They ( I won't say we because I try to see myself different :-)) live in the past. The next train might never come. So you might just feed on memories and turn nostalgic and look at how much time past since the last train :-).

But to get to (other) concrete things, one thing that totally irritated me in an otherwise marvelous city (caveat lector though: I've only spent there a few days, not enough for...well, anything) was that in Chicago you simply don't have any king of eletronic tables whatsoever, for outgoing or incoming (CTA) trains. There is of course an official schedule but I have to say that the the trains never arrived on those times when I needed them...

Andy said...

So basically it's an intellectual thing? It reflects a Romanian love of history and mathematics?

Cool. I'm down with that.

Anonymous said...

They're harvesting frustration to feed the bureaucracy.

Anonymous said...

Amazingly, I was just ranting on this precise topic the other week. Funny to then see a strikingly similar reaction around the same time.