So much for a view
22-02-2010
One day after the dramatic accident just outside Brussels where two trains collided, the Dutch radio reports there will be no Thalys trains from and to France today. It’s unsure whether it will be possible to resume the Amsterdam – Paris service tomorrow. Train accidents have a big impact on society, as trains are considered the safest mode of transport. Moreover, it disrupts a vital transportation network and the impressive view of twisted metal terrifies us. People that were in these crashing Belgian trains must have been horrified when they saw the other train quickly approaching theirs. Out of control, nothing you can do to prevent the crash.
I travelled to the Netherlands to spend two weeks ‘back home’ to report to my supervisors and to participate in an Immunology course at the Erasmus MC. I love the red Thalys trains that promise to take you to Rotterdam in only two hours and thirty-six minutes. And although the trains rarely stick to this optimistic schedule – broken radios, spontaneous emergency braking and snow strongly interfere with normal operating procedures – Thalys travelling usually is pleasant and quicker than travelling by car, bus or plane, but there’s a downside as well: it has been stripped of any scenery and isn’t anything but efficient.
I vividly remember a train trip from Cairo to Alexandria. Together with a fellow member of the international organization of medical students, IFMSA, I arrived at three o’clock in the morning to Cairo’s chaotic airport. The city had cooled down a bit, but it still breathed the heat that dominated the day. Our taxi driver took us to the train station at speeds that completely mismatched the road conditions. He charged us a ridiculous amount of money that he quickly lowered as soon as the white-uniformed tourist police arrived (whom we naturally had to compensate for this special service in the middle of the night). We bought tickets for the next train and passed time away in plastic chairs, sipping a hot coke in a bar infested with flies. Half an hour to departure, we entered our train and had to confirm with other passengers that we hadn’t entered the presidential coach by accident. During the break of day we sat in our thrones and were served a majestic breakfast. As we rode through Egyptian farmlands, we saw people fetching water, walking their children to school and chatting with their neighbours. Although I understand that safety and speed have become first priorities, I miss this kind of a view when the Thalys speeds between two dikes, splits uninspiring farmland in two and races through tunnels and concrete bunkers.
Roel Klein Wolterink is a MSc Molecular Medicine student at the EUR. He recently received the Prof. Bruins Scholarship and is currently doing research at the Pasteur Institute in Paris.
