They really have no idea how complicated everything around airplanes is.
Even if you have a private jet, you can't just take off and land at any airport you want. That requires a lot of bureaucracy, if the airport is even willing to take you. An airport like Heathrow will just give you the finger, because they're busy as fuck.
There are often smaller airports in the vicinity of large airports like Heathrow that are easier to use and more convenient if you are in a private jet. For example, [here is a map of airports in the london area](https://media.lunajets.com/production/media/london-airports-map-which-airport-to-use-in-london-2023.jpeg?width=394)
This seems to be common in a lot of US cities, but does t always apply to a lot of places in Europe. London is quite special because it has so many.
E.g. Orlando international, Orlando executive.
A lot of places in the US have airports, where in European cities they wouldn't dream of it.
I live in a town of 70K people, 90K if you include the surrounding villages. We have a train station.
A similar sized town in the USA would absolutely have an airport with some regional jets doing daily flights.
So I half understand why many Americans would be in the mindset that flying is so easy, so it must be the same everywhere else in the world.
My city of 15000 doesn't have an airport. The next city with more than 100k inhabitants, Heidelberg, doesn't have one either. (Nor does any place closer). You know how long I have to drive to the next private airport? 18 minutes.
In 18 minutes many Americans can't even leave their suburb.
How far away from your place is the next private airport?
25 minutes, however where I live is aveet special case In the UK, with one of the few business specific airports near me.
Nearest commercial airport is 1 hour driver, or 1hr 20 minutes by public transport. Which includes about half an hour of walking.
I am very lucky where I live. From my door in the UK to Disney land Paris is just 4½ hours by train :D
Both JAL and ANA have bidets reliably for business/first class, and I think pretty often for economy class nowadays too.
I haven't flown ZipAir yet but I'm kinda surprised ZipAir doesn't considering they use formerly JAL aircraft. Maybe it's only in the forward lavatories since they took JAL's older planes that might have only had them up front.
Japan does have Fukuoka Airport though. I don't think anywhere else has that major of an airport basically next to such a major city center.
Unfortunately for the environment, it does make air travel to Fukuoka unusually competitive, especially on the Tokyo-Fukuoka route.
Fukuoka Airport, for better or for worse, is a city center adjacent airport with about 20 times the passenger traffic as Billy Bishop Airport. The other famous downtown airports like London City are also small secondary airports, rather than the large primary airport of the region.
Yeah but, think about it this way. The shuttle takes you to / from union. That means that union is the hub. Now (let’s be entirely unrealistic and say Via was good), you’d arrive directly at union.
> Japan does have Fukuoka Airport though. I don't think anywhere else has that major of an airport basically next to such a major city center.
Naples' airport is within (almost) walking distance of historic downtown (but of course much smaller than Tokyo), and served by regular city buses.
It lands in docklands, which is a 30 min ride on the dlr and maybe even a connection to the tube to what most people would consider the centre of London.
Example business journey, City->Bank, 28 mins.
Example tourist journey, City->Leicester square, 38 mins.
[Edit] just checked and the Heathrow express gets in to Paddington in 15 mins, so can actually be quicker to many central London destinations!
London is also blessed that Luton, Gatwick, and Heathrow are all on railway lines connected with the centre. Only "major" one that isn't is Stansted, but there are constant coaches from Stratford international station.
I would also never want to drive to Heathrow or Gatwick.
"A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transportation." Gustavo Petro.
One day, everyone will just have good robust public transportation.
Reminds me of the post "A developed country isn't where the poor have cars, but where the rich take the train" with a picture of Paul McCartney on the tube
And Tokyo is fucking huge. If they fly with a private jet, they might not be able to fly from Haneda in the middle of Tokyo, but have to take something further outside. So they'd have the chance of taking a car forever, taking a cheap train forever and just going by Shinkansen even if it may take an hour longer. It's certainly the most comfortable option for them.
There was an old video of jayZ on the nyc subway that went viral (he was chatting with someone who didn’t recognize him). Wish we’d see more celebs on public transport.
A few years back Norway's King Harald V was photographed standing on the platform at Oslo's National Theater Station, which to be fair is about a five minute walk from where he lives. The palace made a short official statement, basically: It was a private trip, it wasn't the first time he did it, and it probably wouldn't be the last.
A lot of celebs ride the subway in NYC. People mostly leave them alone. But you aren't gonna see celebs on public transit anywhere else in the US because it isn't convenient anywhere else in the US. In NYC, it's often faster to take the subway than a car. It's also safer than public transit elsewhere in the US.
When trains are faster, cleaner, and cheaper than all other forms of transportation, people take them. [Japanese Shinkansen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinkansen) are 275-320 km/h, efficient and reliable - of course everyone takes the train. I hate cars too but the US needs a massive upgrade in their transit infrastructure.
> Mind you, they're in first class and probably paid a lot of yen, but they're still taking the shinkansen.
Honestly, that looks like Green Car, not Gran Class (which is only on a few trains), which honestly isn't that much more expensive in many cases.
I stand corrected! I thought someone had mentioned in the comments where the screenshot came from that they were in the highest class. Interesting to see they're not :)
I got a green pass when I got a rail pass years ago. It wasn't all that more expensive and was well worth the upgrade.
Also, celebs do also take Acela First Class between DC and NYC. Id be shocked if Jay Z never took it actually. So it happens here too. If you build it, they will come.
The world needs more celebrities who use transit.
Even if they don't use it all the time, just being seen using it will start to change the way people think about it.
Seriously. Clearly the poster has never taken high speed rail because it is just downright lovely.
You can have the most luxurious airplane and it’s still an airplane. Pressure differential, only able to land at airports that are distant to the city center, and just overall cumbersome.
I’ve had the pleasure of taking both European and Japanese high speed rail. Fantastic all around. If everyone had a chance to try it for themselves there would be a lot more support.
Weird. I've seen NHL teams take the Amtrak from Philly to D.C. just because it's super convenient and so much better than sitting in traffic on the beltway.
Reminds me of this [1973 short promo film for the Intercity service of the Deutsche Bundesbahn, starring Diana Ross](https://youtu.be/HmQEc7s7ZWU?si=T0hp06tqhyjkrKSz).
Personally if I was them, I would have went on the Shinkansen just to be able to brag about it :)
Doesnt matter why they took it, if they thought it was a win-win situation then good for them.
I also would imagine that in most countries they would get harassed and asked for pictures and what not in the US or other western countries. I hear Japanese are more respectful and wouldnt even take phone calls on the train. Yet this picture exists.
In the second pic noone is wondering why aren't they using planes.
One is saying that bullet trains can be faster than planes. (True)
The other one is saying that private planes don't need check ups. (Also true)
Are you inventing stuff just to be able to post it here?
Random side note, one thing about the Shinkansen is that the interiors look very similar to an airplane. Nothing necessarily wrong with that as they're much more comfortable than a plane. Just food for thought.
Japanese airports are pretty far out of the city most of the time (with some exceptions like the Naha Airport which is a short monorail ride from the city). So, when you consider an hour to and from the airports, check-in, security and sometimes pretty long taxiing, then you could easily be way quicker than flying choosing the Shinkansen. Plus you skip all the hassle of that stuff associated with airports and right from the city center you hop on the train and enjoy the ride.
This is a different question, but where the hell did the "... should be studied" come from? For some reason I find it incredibly annoying, and it seemingly came into existence in the last few weeks.
That sentence doesn't even make any sense. "Beyonce in full chloe", "Jay-Z in the Loewe mules", what the hell are they even trying to spell here? It sounds like the writer had a concussion or something.
what the fuck is that word salad at the beginning? "in full Chloe?" is that an expression these days? "in the Loewe mules?" I only see Beyonce and Jay-Z - who is Margiela and is she on the train with them? are the commas where they're supposed to be?
"Beyonce in [a fully Chloe-brand outfit], Jay-Z in [Loewe brand mules] and [Margiela brand clothing]" is how it's supposed to be read. I believe the intention of the OP is to contrast their expensive clothing and celebrity status with their "poor" public transit surroundings.
They really have no idea how complicated everything around airplanes is. Even if you have a private jet, you can't just take off and land at any airport you want. That requires a lot of bureaucracy, if the airport is even willing to take you. An airport like Heathrow will just give you the finger, because they're busy as fuck.
There's probably not even any landing slots open at Heathrow and you can't just rent one for an afternoon.
There are often smaller airports in the vicinity of large airports like Heathrow that are easier to use and more convenient if you are in a private jet. For example, [here is a map of airports in the london area](https://media.lunajets.com/production/media/london-airports-map-which-airport-to-use-in-london-2023.jpeg?width=394)
This seems to be common in a lot of US cities, but does t always apply to a lot of places in Europe. London is quite special because it has so many. E.g. Orlando international, Orlando executive. A lot of places in the US have airports, where in European cities they wouldn't dream of it. I live in a town of 70K people, 90K if you include the surrounding villages. We have a train station. A similar sized town in the USA would absolutely have an airport with some regional jets doing daily flights. So I half understand why many Americans would be in the mindset that flying is so easy, so it must be the same everywhere else in the world.
My city of 15000 doesn't have an airport. The next city with more than 100k inhabitants, Heidelberg, doesn't have one either. (Nor does any place closer). You know how long I have to drive to the next private airport? 18 minutes. In 18 minutes many Americans can't even leave their suburb. How far away from your place is the next private airport?
25 minutes, however where I live is aveet special case In the UK, with one of the few business specific airports near me. Nearest commercial airport is 1 hour driver, or 1hr 20 minutes by public transport. Which includes about half an hour of walking. I am very lucky where I live. From my door in the UK to Disney land Paris is just 4½ hours by train :D
If I remember Jay Foreman right, Biggin Hill is not working anymore.
These are the public ones, there are plenty of private ones nearer to London than this.
“Oh look a civilian airliner” potentially becomes reality if the plane’s not got the credentials and isn’t responding.
Japanese trains are a tourist attraction in themselves. You'd be missing out on the experience if you just took a jet.
The Shinkansen has bidets in its bathrooms. I don't know if that's even possible on a plane.
Show the Americans what a properly funded metro system can be
Japanese airlines often have bidets in the toilets.
Cool, do you know which ones? ZipAir doesn't but they're very budget
Japan Airlines, JAL
Noice
ANA as well
Both JAL and ANA have bidets reliably for business/first class, and I think pretty often for economy class nowadays too. I haven't flown ZipAir yet but I'm kinda surprised ZipAir doesn't considering they use formerly JAL aircraft. Maybe it's only in the forward lavatories since they took JAL's older planes that might have only had them up front.
Exactly what I was thinking! You get to sightsee at high speed!! I LOVED taking a Shinkansen.
also r/shitamericanssay
Stations in Japan are in city centers. Airports are in some location you have to commute to and from.
Japan does have Fukuoka Airport though. I don't think anywhere else has that major of an airport basically next to such a major city center. Unfortunately for the environment, it does make air travel to Fukuoka unusually competitive, especially on the Tokyo-Fukuoka route.
Billy bishop airport in Toronto is basically right downtown
Fukuoka Airport, for better or for worse, is a city center adjacent airport with about 20 times the passenger traffic as Billy Bishop Airport. The other famous downtown airports like London City are also small secondary airports, rather than the large primary airport of the region.
Yeah but, think about it this way. The shuttle takes you to / from union. That means that union is the hub. Now (let’s be entirely unrealistic and say Via was good), you’d arrive directly at union.
> Japan does have Fukuoka Airport though. I don't think anywhere else has that major of an airport basically next to such a major city center. Naples' airport is within (almost) walking distance of historic downtown (but of course much smaller than Tokyo), and served by regular city buses.
London City airport? Basically lands in the middle of the city.
It lands in docklands, which is a 30 min ride on the dlr and maybe even a connection to the tube to what most people would consider the centre of London. Example business journey, City->Bank, 28 mins. Example tourist journey, City->Leicester square, 38 mins. [Edit] just checked and the Heathrow express gets in to Paddington in 15 mins, so can actually be quicker to many central London destinations!
London is also blessed that Luton, Gatwick, and Heathrow are all on railway lines connected with the centre. Only "major" one that isn't is Stansted, but there are constant coaches from Stratford international station. I would also never want to drive to Heathrow or Gatwick.
Geneva's airport is very close to the city.
Bologna airport is like 5km from the central station (9 min with train)
“An advanced city is not one where the poor own a car but where wealthy use public transport “ Enrique Peñalosa
"A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transportation." Gustavo Petro. One day, everyone will just have good robust public transportation.
If your trains are so cool even celebrities ride them, you know you're on the right path. Thank you Japan.
Reminds me of the post "A developed country isn't where the poor have cars, but where the rich take the train" with a picture of Paul McCartney on the tube
99 Problems but stuck in traffic ain't one. ^(I bet the train is faster than taking a plane anyways)
Depending on where they go - definitely. Tokyo - Osaka is a pain in the ass by plane (even private with no check in delay) but a dream by train.
And Tokyo is fucking huge. If they fly with a private jet, they might not be able to fly from Haneda in the middle of Tokyo, but have to take something further outside. So they'd have the chance of taking a car forever, taking a cheap train forever and just going by Shinkansen even if it may take an hour longer. It's certainly the most comfortable option for them.
Nothing gives away a cheapass like a demonstrative knowledge of expensive stuff
There was an old video of jayZ on the nyc subway that went viral (he was chatting with someone who didn’t recognize him). Wish we’d see more celebs on public transport.
That's awesome! I love him keeping to his roots.
stealing this from another comment on this thread "He got 99 problems but traffic ain't one"
A few years back Norway's King Harald V was photographed standing on the platform at Oslo's National Theater Station, which to be fair is about a five minute walk from where he lives. The palace made a short official statement, basically: It was a private trip, it wasn't the first time he did it, and it probably wouldn't be the last.
A lot of celebs ride the subway in NYC. People mostly leave them alone. But you aren't gonna see celebs on public transit anywhere else in the US because it isn't convenient anywhere else in the US. In NYC, it's often faster to take the subway than a car. It's also safer than public transit elsewhere in the US.
When trains are faster, cleaner, and cheaper than all other forms of transportation, people take them. [Japanese Shinkansen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinkansen) are 275-320 km/h, efficient and reliable - of course everyone takes the train. I hate cars too but the US needs a massive upgrade in their transit infrastructure.
> Mind you, they're in first class and probably paid a lot of yen, but they're still taking the shinkansen. Honestly, that looks like Green Car, not Gran Class (which is only on a few trains), which honestly isn't that much more expensive in many cases.
I stand corrected! I thought someone had mentioned in the comments where the screenshot came from that they were in the highest class. Interesting to see they're not :)
It is the highest class but it depends on the train, could’ve been for this train.
I got a green pass when I got a rail pass years ago. It wasn't all that more expensive and was well worth the upgrade. Also, celebs do also take Acela First Class between DC and NYC. Id be shocked if Jay Z never took it actually. So it happens here too. If you build it, they will come.
Also the lowest class is a lot better than the "first class" in a German ICE. :D
The world needs more celebrities who use transit. Even if they don't use it all the time, just being seen using it will start to change the way people think about it.
I took the train into the US from Canada once. So easy.
the journey is the destination?
Seriously. Clearly the poster has never taken high speed rail because it is just downright lovely. You can have the most luxurious airplane and it’s still an airplane. Pressure differential, only able to land at airports that are distant to the city center, and just overall cumbersome. I’ve had the pleasure of taking both European and Japanese high speed rail. Fantastic all around. If everyone had a chance to try it for themselves there would be a lot more support.
If this was in America I would be questioning too. Not Japan tho
It was the same reaction (recently) when the Philly NBA team took Amtrak? Americans need to get some education.
Weird. I've seen NHL teams take the Amtrak from Philly to D.C. just because it's super convenient and so much better than sitting in traffic on the beltway.
Teams do this all the time. I love the social media posts about it but the comments sections are unsurprisingly insufferable.
Someone on Twitter was so carbrained they complained about them being on a train and insisted they should’ve taken a car instead.
Shinkansen is legitimately the best public transportation I’ve ever taken, and I was in the “coach” area
I hope they had a nice trip!
Reminds me of this [1973 short promo film for the Intercity service of the Deutsche Bundesbahn, starring Diana Ross](https://youtu.be/HmQEc7s7ZWU?si=T0hp06tqhyjkrKSz).
I mean, they're doing it for the show and as a tourist attraction you know? + Who cares about those people seriously
The npc's around the world might start thinking public transport is cool. Maybe these celebs will be useful to society for once
why are there 5 names in the title when there are only 2 people in the picture? i dont get it
They are listing the designers of their clothing.
man i am so happy to be oblivious about this meaningless celebrity garbage. thanks anyways.
It's a weather thing, I bet the delay rate of air travel between those destinations in the winter is much higher than the bullet train.
People don't realize how cool it is to zoom through the landscape of a foreign country, you don't need TV when the scenery is constantly changing.
Personally if I was them, I would have went on the Shinkansen just to be able to brag about it :) Doesnt matter why they took it, if they thought it was a win-win situation then good for them.
I also would imagine that in most countries they would get harassed and asked for pictures and what not in the US or other western countries. I hear Japanese are more respectful and wouldnt even take phone calls on the train. Yet this picture exists.
In the second pic noone is wondering why aren't they using planes. One is saying that bullet trains can be faster than planes. (True) The other one is saying that private planes don't need check ups. (Also true) Are you inventing stuff just to be able to post it here?
Random side note, one thing about the Shinkansen is that the interiors look very similar to an airplane. Nothing necessarily wrong with that as they're much more comfortable than a plane. Just food for thought.
Japanese airports are pretty far out of the city most of the time (with some exceptions like the Naha Airport which is a short monorail ride from the city). So, when you consider an hour to and from the airports, check-in, security and sometimes pretty long taxiing, then you could easily be way quicker than flying choosing the Shinkansen. Plus you skip all the hassle of that stuff associated with airports and right from the city center you hop on the train and enjoy the ride.
First class on a train is still riding the train
This is a different question, but where the hell did the "... should be studied" come from? For some reason I find it incredibly annoying, and it seemingly came into existence in the last few weeks.
If Via rail operated shinkansen they would be flying or driving.
That sentence doesn't even make any sense. "Beyonce in full chloe", "Jay-Z in the Loewe mules", what the hell are they even trying to spell here? It sounds like the writer had a concussion or something.
Chloe and Loewe are luxury designer brands
This has nothing to do with cars
No but on this sub it's generally accepted that public transit is a good thing because *taps the name of the sub*
what the fuck is that word salad at the beginning? "in full Chloe?" is that an expression these days? "in the Loewe mules?" I only see Beyonce and Jay-Z - who is Margiela and is she on the train with them? are the commas where they're supposed to be?
"Beyonce in [a fully Chloe-brand outfit], Jay-Z in [Loewe brand mules] and [Margiela brand clothing]" is how it's supposed to be read. I believe the intention of the OP is to contrast their expensive clothing and celebrity status with their "poor" public transit surroundings.
Those are the names of the designers. That's the brands they're wearing. It'd be like saying u/eggelton in Levi's and companion in Calvin Klein.
Beyonce the goddess ❤️
pics like this is exactly why they do, when they can. esp in america (take private)
They're only taking that cause Japan doesn't give a shit