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Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

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Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#561

Post by potato3732842 »

CalRobert wrote: post #416
hylaride wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some cultures are more sticklers for creating and following rules and bureaucracy than others, though. A good example: Here in North America I'll jaywalk without a thought if there's no traffic. In Germany, you'll get grandmothers calling you a child-killer for setting a bad example if you did the same. Another example: Both France and Germany spend roughly the same amount (in raw Euros) on their militaries. France (…

Of course, the very idea of jaywalking was created to remove the obligation to not kill people from drivers and shift it to the very people being killed, but this doesn’t seem to bother the meddling grandmothers.

These are generally the same boot licking demographics who'll sit and wait out a 2min light cycle at 1:45am rather than treating it like a 4-way stop. Putting their money where their mouth is puts them head and shoulders above the types that tend to dominate the discussion on such issues.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#562

Post by blitz_skull »

tomesch1982 wrote: post #559

Clickbait. The opening paragraph contains some factual errors (you can only get kicked off a train when you do something illegal) and the whole story lives by exaggeration and missing facts. It is as moronic as saying people were kidnapped when a plane had to divert because of the weather. Also he would have been entitled to get a paid cab ride to his destination when that happens. But that is just one of the facts h…

[flagged]

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#563

Post by potato3732842 »

mothballed wrote: post #297
HPsquared wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that basically what happened to the USSR? (Yes not technically "first world" but highly industrial and bureaucratic)

People in the USSR at least had the good fortune of already living in a world where they were highly adept at recycling and barter and maintenance, and in the case of the chechens also community self defense. I think most of America would be fucked as most people don't know to how to do anything but their job plus buy things with money from their job. The top 25% of handy people might be able to change their own oil…

>I think most of America would be fucked as most people don't know to how to do anything

Most of America would be substantially less fucked than the slice of mostly officer workers who mostly have enough money that "spend money rather than upskill or barter" is their default mode of operation you see via HN.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#564

Post by nicbou »

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…

Although Germans are famously methodical, my experience with German bureaucracy was that it's quite flexible. They will break you, and when you finally give up and seem like you're about to cry, they will roll their eyes, and oblige you, stressing how exceptional and magnanimous they are for letting you get what you want. In reality, they were rooting for you the whole time, but did not want their flexibility to be taken for granted.

I document German bureaucracy for a living. I cannot stress enough how "vibes-based" the entire thing is. Half the job is convincing bureaucrats that you're either overprepared or litigious to be worth the trouble.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#565

Post by peterfirefly »

KronisLV wrote: post #511
wiz21c wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the crux: we must invest in trains instead of planes.

I have no idea how planes are the dominant form of transport for relatively short routes (like within the bounds of a large country or to an adjacent one) and how even in Europe the train networks can be a bit of a mess. Like surely it’s easier to run a railway network when compared to the insane complexity to safely operate an airport and all the work that goes into plane maintenance and pilot training and so on.

You need a lot of infrastructure for trains (and a lot of it isn't even used all that much -- it's not like all rails have a train passing by every 5 minutes). You also can't get much use out of your rolling stock because the speeds are fairly slow. You also don't have the same flexibility as planes have regarding routes.

The upshot is that trains are a lot costlier than most believe think and most railway routes require state subsidies (with goods transport usually being an exception), whereas air traffic works so well it can be taxed heavily.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#566

Post by bondarchuk »

pjmlp wrote: post #215
bcye wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Splitting trains is a quite common thing in Germany (though more long distance) and communicated in the official app. If third party apps don't show that information that's on their part. Usually it's also said after departure inside the train by the conductor, though maybe just on long distance trains.

Yes, although quite often they forget not everyone speaks German. I once had a bit of Schadenfrunde while travelling in Netherlands, having the conductor telling us to switch trains in Dutch, and all my German fellow travellers wondering what it was all about.

Or.. english-speaking people forget not everyone speaks english. If you go to another country you have to learn a bit about how things are done there, ask for help, etc.., most people consider this a normal part of traveling.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#567

Post by aspect0545 »

tomesch1982 wrote: post #559

Clickbait. The opening paragraph contains some factual errors (you can only get kicked off a train when you do something illegal) and the whole story lives by exaggeration and missing facts. It is as moronic as saying people were kidnapped when a plane had to divert because of the weather. Also he would have been entitled to get a paid cab ride to his destination when that happens. But that is just one of the facts h…

Of course there’s exaggeration. Nobody really believes this person was kidnapped by the German train company.

People do get kicked off trains, usually it’s the entire train that is being emptied. Happened to me in NRW. Happened to me in Brandenburg. When there’s a problem with the train, then sometimes it has to be evacuated.

He would have not been entitled to a cab ride by the way, he was travelling with Deutschlandticket. Your entire comment is not only pedantic, it’s also completely wrong lol.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#568

Post by wouldbecouldbe »

jrjeksjd8d wrote: post #241
dmurray wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Airlines are vague about this (at least in Europe) because different types of problems mean different obligations to compensate passengers. After the incident they will determine what's the least expensive lie they can plausibly give (perhaps the weather will change fast enough that you can blame the weather, perhaps you can't lie about an equipment failure when everyone in the airport sees you swap out the airplane)…

Thankfully the EU at least has regulations requiring compensation. On my last business trip to Europe I got 650 euros for an overnight delay. The last time I got delayed in the US I got a hearty "fuck off" from the gate agent.

On paper yes, but every time my flight was delayed in EU the airlines (KLM, Lufthansa, RyanAir) always had a cop out, weather, airport issues, etc. and I didn't get compensated. Even though other planes managed to fly in the same conditions.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#569

Post by kioleanu »

raphman wrote: post #316
JeremyTheo wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know how sketchy it sounds, and it was even documented in DB Navigator. But DB makes this information inaccessible a couple of days later in the app, so there is no way to „proof“ it except asking DB itself.

Just to be sure: your blog post mentions 24.12. 2024 - did you mean 2025? Is this the right connection?: https://bahn.expert/details/NX%2028521/j/20251224-a0049123-9... The RE5 seems to be operated by National Express, not Deutsche Bahn, right? (but DB InfraGo is most probably responsible for the routing)

Well I’ll be damned, I’ve really seen it all, OP sorry for doubting w

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#570

Post by nephihaha »

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…

We live in a society where complaining is considered "verbal abuse" or "harassment", but where we have to put up and shut up about everything going on.

The message out of 2020 and 2021, is that the big people know what they're doing and we don't.

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