I don't know how I managed it, but I seem to have got on the wrong train at Lausanne station earlier this morning. It wasn't until 10 minutes into the ride that the train stopped and I realised I'd never seen that station before... by which time the train had moved off again so I had to wait until the next stop, and hope no ticket inspector came along...
This moment of inattention led to me spending the last half an hour at Vufflens-la-Ville train station. Nice place to get away from it all on a sunny day, although it could be improved by the installation of a snack machine, and public toilets are always welcome... It is a bit of a puzzle to me as to what the train station is there for, as there was no civilisation in sight... perhaps I didn't investigate enough.
So, have you ever got on the wrong train and ended up in some random location?
Yes, last week I took the S15 to Uster instead of the S16 in Oerlikon, did not greatly improve my sorry state of mind that day
Yep - midnight in London, 1970 ... right train, but wrong part of it- when trains split at Clapham Junction, I ended up going to Twickenham instead of Isleworth where I lived. Pouring with rain, didn't have a penny left on me- and only been in London couple of months. A knight in shining armour took me home by taxi- 45th wedding anniversary on 29th of May
I've taken the wrong train many many times.
It happens a lot when I'm running for a tight connection and the platforms have changed and I don't bother to check the displays. This is the risk of habituality, as it only happens on the connections I regularly use.
Not the wrong train - but many years ago I didn't know the German for "stop on request" and was most annoyed when the train sped through my intended stop
cue the story of dumb tourists not knowing the Italian name for Luzern.
When I first moved here - headed to Pfaffikon ZH rather than Pfaffikon SZ - with no sense of where I was, it took me quite a while to realize I was on the wrong side of lake Zurich!
Not train, but I took the wrong night bus from Fribourg station a couple of years ago and in my slightly inebriated state, didn't realise until it was too late. I just stayed on as I knew he'd be heading back into Fribourg for the 2 am run, so I could just hop on the correct bus. The driver looked a bit confused when he saw me on an otherwise empty bus at the final destination.
No, but I was about halfway to Bern from Z-HB, when a nervous American student realized, and I confirmed, that this train was NOT going to the airport. His flight was supposed to leave in some ridiculous short time - like an hour.
I still wonder from time to time how he resolved that situation. It's not one I would have ever wanted to find myself.
A few years ago, yes - two trains departing at :37, one for Winterthur, one for Chur, on platforms next to each other.
That's one hour to Sargans, and one hour back, with beautiful views on the way
And once had to spend the night at a train station in the middle of nowhere after missing the "Halt auf Verlangen" (press the button to stop) of the last night train and stupidly just getting out at the next stop.
I once had to spend the night on a bench at Valencia station. I missed the last train and all hotels in the vicinity were fully booked (there was some major sporting event on). I saw the next train was at something past 6 so set my alarm to be up on time but needn't have bothered as I couldn't sleep much anyway.
Finally I made it to the platform at the supposed time but there was no train to be seen. Then it dawned on me that clocks had gone forwards that night, so yet another hour to wait-
What a lovely story Odile!
I got the S16 from Zurich Flughafen to Effretikon instead of Oerlikon...but I'll never beat my old college friend, Reg.
Back in 1982, Reg used to get the Preston to Wigan train to go to college. One Monday morning, he was really hungover and fell asleep on the train. He woke up at London Euston, went to the Transport Police and explained his predicament. The police managed to get him a ticket issued to get him back to Preston, but the next train was in 2 hours time. Reg went to the pub for a pint to kill time, as you do, and met a bloke who had some weed. The two of them got wasted before getting on the train back up north. Reg woke up in Glasgow...
Oh, and I also got on the IC from Bern to Thun (platform 6), rather than the IC to Fribourg (platform 5), but managed to get off before the train left.
That's pretty boring, actually.
On weekends, my OH and I often arrive at Basel SBB and take the next train leaving the station. It is a great way to see Switzerland (Yay GA card!) and it has a sort of Douglas Adams feel to it.
Not sure this counts, however.
Not a train, but local bus. I needed to reach the OBI in Renens from a bus stop in Renens. Although it was merely 10 minutes walk away, it was super hot and I wasn't keen on encouraging my migraine. Thus, took the first bus that came along (and which would be stopping near OBI)- except it ended up going in another direction. Sat on the bus until it eventually reached the stop 30 minutes later.
We call this *36
We were doing one of these mad rides around Switzerland, rolling a dice to decide when to get off and what train to take next when the ticket inspector came around accompanied by one of those statistics people and said our GAs were Ok but where were we going? We explained and they stared at us blankly before the inspector said to the lady with the electronic thingy, type *36. Since then it's become our standard name for it.
My OH always said if he got another job here, I could give up work for a year and he'd get me a GA card so that I could just wander. Still waiting for the GA card
ive got on a section of train that splits and goes to a totally different part of europe as I didnt read the signs
Once in the train from Zurich to Bern there was a little girl crying. Turns out that since December they have two trains going for Bern on the new tracks (nr 30-something), opposite each other. She was with her grandpa, and they were in the wrong train. They noticed it and tried to get out, she got out with their luggage (a plastic bag), he got stuck in the train with their tickets as the doors were closing. In the end he found a kind guy and phoned his own cell phone, which was with the girl in the plastic bag, and they managed to find each other again in Bern.