[justanorherhack]

At least you can be productive ish on the train, sitting in the car for a daily dose of near death experience is even worse.

[dbetteridge]

Not sure which trains you're taking but any I've been on during peak times are standing room crush, no space for laptops or working

[Aachen]

Most trains I've commuted on (in the Netherlands and Germany this is) weren't like that 9 out of 10 days. How well you can work differs per line, year, time of day, and type of train, but overall I'd agree more with GP than with your experience. Both exist, of course