On Thu, 08 Apr 2004 23:41:39 +0200, Gunnar Thöle wrote:

"Schnellbusse" (fast buses) (8 lines): These are very long lines, often
going all the way through Hamburg, the idea is to provide fast
connections from suburbs to the city and back. They run all day and they
cost a supplement of 1,05 Euro per trip. A season supplement is available.
In my opinion the supplement makes them completely useless. They are
rarely faster that getting a local bus to the next railway. They get
stuck in traffic. They are not very comfortable.

If they're still the O405s, I disagree. Even I had a good 8 inches or so
free legroom if I went for the seats over the wheelarch at the back. The
coach-style vehicles used on the Schnellbus from Bergedorf were even
better, IMO.

I did like using them - but then I wasn't always in a hurry, and quite
liked sitting back and enjoying the scenery They weren't that fast,
but did reduce the number of changes for certain journeys.

I don't want to pay a premium for them and most other Hamburgers, too,
it seems, as everytime i see a Schnellbus it has between 1 and 10
passengers only.

This is perhaps the point - you're paying extra for first class, part of
which is lower loading (especially in the peaks) and nicer seats...

There was of course one exception - though I don't know if it still
exists. The Blankeneser Bergzeiger (sp?) minibuses were considered
Schnellbusse, presumably because they'd be uneconomic to operate
otherwise, and the affluent inhabitants of Blankenese could probably
afford them. Is this still the case?

In my opinion the hamburg express bus system is rubbish... with one
notable exception: In weekend nights there is an express night bus from
the Reeperbahn amusement district to my front door, using a motorway for
most of the trip. This express bus is unbelievably cool!



Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
Mail me on neil at the above domain; mail to the above address is NOT read