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Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

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Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#361

Post by ludicrousdispla »

reddalo wrote: post #42
junon wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

German trains do typically announce in English. If they don't, that's the exception. Just ask around. Most people here speak English and will be able to repeat what was said, especially if they're under 40 or so.

> Most people here speak English Germany is the country where I found the highest number of people not being able to speak English, even people working in accomodation! French people probably know English but they refuse to speak it; Italians don't know English that well, but they try their best using rolling R's and gestures. (I'm a bit ironic)

I've learned they very quickly switch to English if you speak to them in German :)

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#362

Post by snr243 »

Tbh this is just another average trip using DB. I was on a RB from Munich to Kochel and the driver decided to stop in the middle of a field for reasons best known to them, the other time I took an ICE from Stuttgart we were marooned at Augsburg.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#363

Post by xxmarkuski »

When you have a simple journey and no interruptions DB in long distance is pretty good, not excellent but solid. But with more complicated things traveling with DB is not well thought out and they don't see what could be possible. Changing a platform should show you in-station navigation door to door. DB navigator should not show you impossible journeys, it presents you with train switches where the second train already left once you arrive or displays the stop is canceled entirely. DB Navigator and bahn.de have a monopoly over german train routing and ticketing, but are not subject to anti-trust regulation enough or run by the government directly (dataquality issues, etc). DB is very much against grassroots movements trying to improve customer experience and quality, like community built ticket stores or wallet and calendar integration. I also think the ministry of transportation and politicians are at fault for not getting DB to step up their game. Trying to privatize DB, rigid regulations for how DB has to run and not enough attention to rail as a whole for example. I would consider the "ampel" (21-24) to be one of the better ones. After some reforms, the government is still not in a position to control the monopolist enough.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#364

Post by pjerem »

flr03 wrote: post #168
pjerem wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Idk how it is in Germany but my wife is currently trying to became a train driver in France and there are far more requirements that what you would imagine. Even if the job is actually opened to basically everyone (and that’s pretty nice), you have to be in perfect physical and psychological shape with pretty strict tests, you have to be intellectually apt enough to follow the training which is pretty intense. You ha…

Nothing is perfect but living in the UK after living in France, I have now a lot more love for SNCF than I used too.

Actually I’m a taking the train everyday to go to work and I have barely any complaint with the SNCF.

Most of the time they do what they can to deal with issues.

I don’t feel like there are too much issues it’s just they are extremely bad at communicating issues when they happen.

Sometimes the train is not there when it should but on the screen it just disappears as if it passed. Most of the time it’s just 2-5 minutes late but you can’t know. Maybe it’s just late. Maybe the traffic is stopped. Who knows.

I just dont understand how they don’t have people whose job is just writing messages for the information screens.

What is worse is that in my region, they have a pretty decent community managers for live information but they only post information in twitter because why not. So they already have the people doing this work but those people are saying different things than what the screen shows. Just let them write things on the screens :D

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#365

Post by apexalpha »

foxrider wrote: post #41
microtonal wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also funny considering how here in South America we look at Germany trains (and Switzerland trains) That's very outdated, DB has been terrible for a long time though. Switzerland is still the best though. Here are some stats for 2025: https://chuuchuu.com/2025wrapped Since you have to scroll down quite a bit to get the list of most reliable European trains (with percentage on time): 1. Switzerland 97.8% 2. The N…

After living in Italy for a few years - if you're doing worse than Italy with your train schedule it's time to reflect hard.

Germany and Italy should gang up together to make the trains run on time and... wait a minute.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#366

Post by jsnell »

CurtMonash wrote: post #268

My first thought on seeing the headline was: Charlie on the M. T. A. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdymgQmdK_A

So that is what the classic "Cheney on MTA" Lisp implementation paper was named after. It felt like a reference, but I never had an idea about what it was referring to. Thanks!

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#367

Post by chironjit »

Zealotux wrote: post #221
BloondAndDoom wrote: post #131

I feel like we lost humanity somewhere in modern world. I grew up in 3rd world country and if this were to happen, train would literally stop somewhere, anywhere. (With the assumption it’s safe from crewing into another train). But the idea that you go 55 minutes just because of policy; and skip 15 stations is crazy to me. Again with the assumptions that it can safely stop somewhere for 5m and I’m pretty sure the ans…

I worked for a massive German company you heard of, this sounds more like the typical German philosophy of strictly following the process -- as absurd as it might be -- and refusing to take initiative for anything that is not explicitly defined as one's responsibility. As a French, the culture shock was brutal and I never really got around that work attitude. I went through a similar issue back when I used to take a…

Yeah, I think people who have not experienced the system have no idea how absurd the German process mindset is. If it's not part of the process, it's impossible - damned what the reality on the ground is

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#368

Post by tipsysquid »

The most maddening part about this experience is the helplessness. Its inconvenient, sure. Ive been late because of traffic, etc. Being carried along well beyond my will without a breakglass: Fine, I'll just walk! option makes my skin crawl.

Events like this seem to only be explained by accountability sink[0]. Naming it gives me some brief sense of sanity.

I appreciate that there is a safety concern; where's the humanity in large systems, especially as we trend towards more automation?

[0] https://aworkinglibrary.com/writing/accountability-sinks

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#369

Post by mcv »

nperson wrote: post #185
microtonal wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also funny considering how here in South America we look at Germany trains (and Switzerland trains) That's very outdated, DB has been terrible for a long time though. Switzerland is still the best though. Here are some stats for 2025: https://chuuchuu.com/2025wrapped Since you have to scroll down quite a bit to get the list of most reliable European trains (with percentage on time): 1. Switzerland 97.8% 2. The N…

The less complex your train network, the easier it is to ensure trains are on time. France, Italy and Germany possibly have larger networks than Switzerland.

Then split your network into segments you can handle. Switzerland receives lots of international trains. Not only that; it has a lot of rail companies, serves even tiny villages, and has the highest use per capita in Europe. Size of the network is a lame excuse. German trains used to be fine. Now they're a disaster.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#370

Post by mcv »

jansan wrote: post #55
microtonal wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also funny considering how here in South America we look at Germany trains (and Switzerland trains) That's very outdated, DB has been terrible for a long time though. Switzerland is still the best though. Here are some stats for 2025: https://chuuchuu.com/2025wrapped Since you have to scroll down quite a bit to get the list of most reliable European trains (with percentage on time): 1. Switzerland 97.8% 2. The N…

In Germany in 2025 it got worse with only 55% of trains being on time (defined very generously as being less than 6 minutes late).

I find this figure absolutely baffling. How can you run a train system with half of all trains being late?
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