Train travel is gonna be a nightmare in Europe....

Travelling by train in Europe has been fantastic until now. So relaxing and is my preferred method of travel on the continent. But that terrorist attempt in Belgium combined with the refugee panic is going to make it easier to fly or drive. I see that today they closed down Rotterdam central and a huge part of the Dutch train system because a guy jumped on the train late and locked himself in the toilet. I understand that they have to treat it differently given the Belgian incident but it is soooo common that ticket Dodgers lock themselves in the toilet for the entire journey.

When commuting to Amsterdam from delft I would see people try that on at least 3 times a week to the frequency where you made sure you'd had a piss before getting on a train. The same thing happened on a train a couple of weeks ago when I was travelling from The Hague back to Dresden. I remember at the time thinking that I was surprised that they didn't call in the special bloody forces or something after what happened in Belgium. Until now the strategy has always been that if they noticed it the conductors would stand outside that toilet just before rolling in to each station and then man the person when they finally made a dash for it.

That, and "closed" borders are gonna change all that. Such a shame as rolling around Europe in a lively comfy train has to be one of the nicest ways to travel. Oh well.

Posted By: Steve in Holland, Sep 18, 11:34:33