Originally Posted by
railways
I find your comparison of European train services to "local mass transit services" baffling. If I were to "just turn up" next week at Hendaye station at 9am, say, for the next TER train to Bordeaux, I would have a wait of more than 4 hours. Nothing frequent or New York subway-like about that.
There are places on the New York subway with only hourly service. And other places on the MTA even have only a few trains a day. So it is not that odd a comparison.
At Hendaye I am pretty sure you would always be able to be on the next train, even if it is a TGV. You can still just buy tickets at the station for immediate departure. Even if all the seats are taken (which I would be very surprised to happen already in Hendaye). So you'd be on your way within two hours.
But the reason I bring this up, is that many non European overthink railway travel in Europe. It is not that complicated. It is mass transit. Just imagine that the cities in the US were all so close together that their mass transit networks overlapped at the edges. That is Europe.
So I, personally, would very much check timetables beforehand and plan around that.
Sure. I know people who will even consult timetables for a bus that runs every 6 minutes before walking to the bus stop...
But I would stop worrying the moment I knew that there were trains from San Sebastian to Hendaye, and from Hendaye to Bordeaux. You do not need to hammer down all details in advance.