Germany's identity crisis: The trains no longer run on time

Post by petre » Wed, Aug 06, 2025, 3:47 AM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #47

c-linkage wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is why I do not like the American traffic signaling system. When the light turns red cross traffic has a two to three second delay. My feeling is that if people knew the cross traffic would go immediately when the light turned red they would certainly stop. But right now they know there's a buffer so they just run the red light.

Around here the power goes out to the lights now and then. Interestingly, the traffic flows smoother and faster without the lights! Even the arterials! It's amazing! Drivers simply politely cooperate with each other. (The same thing happens when a traffic cop handles the intersection.) I'm always assured that the city traffic light engineers know what they're doing and design the lights for maximum flow. They do no s…

Post by alexey-salmin » Wed, Aug 06, 2025, 3:58 AM UTC

layer8 wrote: post #58

thinkindie wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Germany is much flatter than Italy - while the the line between Bologna and Florence, Florence and Rome, Rome and Naples, must go through a lot of mountains or steep hills. Also, Italy is a territory with a lot of seismic activity every year, and that's something you can't ignore when you send trains at 300 km/h.

The problem in Germany is that due to the structure of the railway network, there are much more interdependencies between connections, so one disruption tends to be harder to contain. It spreads out and affects many more connections.

Post by anon-3988 » Wed, Aug 06, 2025, 4:10 AM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #19

When I toured Germany in the 1980s with a train pass, there were clocks all over the train stations. If the train was scheduled to start at 11:07, when the big hand clicked to 7, the train started to move. It was wonderful. BTW, the D community is all over the world. We schedule a zoom meeting each month. When we began the meetings, and the meeting started at, say, 8, the meeting organizer would say "we need to wait…

Post by alexey-salmin » Wed, Aug 06, 2025, 4:20 AM UTC

6510 wrote: post #74

alexey-salmin wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does this even mean?

One train has to get off for a different one to get on a track. Delays compound.

Post by laurencerowe » Wed, Aug 06, 2025, 6:57 AM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #47

c-linkage wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is why I do not like the American traffic signaling system. When the light turns red cross traffic has a two to three second delay. My feeling is that if people knew the cross traffic would go immediately when the light turned red they would certainly stop. But right now they know there's a buffer so they just run the red light.

Around here the power goes out to the lights now and then. Interestingly, the traffic flows smoother and faster without the lights! Even the arterials! It's amazing! Drivers simply politely cooperate with each other. (The same thing happens when a traffic cop handles the intersection.) I'm always assured that the city traffic light engineers know what they're doing and design the lights for maximum flow. They do no s…