So basically I've been making heavy use of the trains here, and my own two feet. I've not yet encountered their bus system.
Their trains are as punctual as you hear about, and they're as clean and all-round efficiently run as, well, the Japanese train service. The carriages haven't been particularly crowded, although I've avoided running around during rush-hour, and will continue to do so. A ticket for a two hour journey outside of the city, a further distance than the 18 pound Letchworth to London run cost me 1200円, which is about 8 pounds so it's cheap too.
However, there is a major drawback. HOW DO YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND ANYWHERE?!?!?! The maps are so confusing, they literally defy logic to provide a random splash of colours on a piece of paper, each representing something indefinable. The lines have been laid in a way that makes the mind boggle at just how much money these companies have, because they just keep building upwards, instead of logically arranging two adjoining stations next to each other, they just build upwards; to the point where you can have four different lines converging at a single point, yet they're stacked on top of each other, some dizzying number of metres in the air! Sheer madness!
All in all, the system is extremely quick and efficient. Unfortunately the one factor that lets it down is me, because I'm clueless as to how it all works...
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