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Originally Posted by monkeybreath
having experienced the transport services in london and paris i can safely say that london is a lot better- i am always confused as to why people are always using the transport as an excuse.
The tube network is extremely good- better than the paris metro, and when there are events at wembley huge numbers of extra tubes are laid on, and after the number of events i have been to (both at the stadium and arena) i have not had to wait more than 10minutes before a tube arrives.
London also has the advantage of a regular cheap bus service- something which i could not find at all in Paris.
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I have to disagree, I'm afraid. I lived in Paris when I used to work for Air France, and commuted using public transport - it was great.
The Metro is more efficient, cleaner and safer than I've ever found the tube to be. I've always found the tube to be more expensive than the Metro, but that may no longer be the case, as it's been several years since I've used either on a regular basis.
You also have the RER, which is used for more regional train journeys, as opposed to just the Metro. This is fast and efficient and cheap
Finally, the express trains (the TGVs) are absolutely fantastic. Imagine British Rail's service that is a helluva lot faster, is always on time, is comfortable and a pleasure to use, and is not affected by leaves or snow on the track - that's the TGV. We used to use it to go from Paris to Montpellier, if we didn't fly. It really is faultless, imo. Yet the French moan about the trains... if only they knew what things were like in other countries.
The bus service in Paris is absolutely great - trust me, I used to use it a lot after the Metro was closed, and I needed to get home after a night out. I've rarely used London's buses, but on the few occaisions I have, they've always been dirty, unconfortable, old double deckers that spew out enough carbon monoxide to poison a small African country. The Parisian buses are more modern and thus more efficient (including eco-friendly buses), and vastly more comfortable. They're better designed, with a separate door to allow people to alight whilst passengers are entering the bus, so you're not waiting at bus stops for ages, or getting hassled by people getting off whilst you're getting on - and they're bendy in the middle too!
In fact, the only area that I would say is not as good as it is in Blighty, is air travel. For some reason, they're a few years behind the UK.
Anyway, that's enough of a rant for now
