Duplicate: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48651552
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Trains halted across Germany because of communication system problem
71–80 of 203 posts
Re: Trains halted across Germany because of communication system problem
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mainly Meta Services, which seem to spike, isn't it? And Google Fiber
A bit more, traderepublic, tiktok, snapchat, X, AWS, CloudFlare https://xn--allestrungen-9ib.de/en/ These could be based on different scales of numbers since it is midnight in Germany
Ah, now it's more obvious.. True! Thank you
Re: Trains halted across Germany because of communication system problem
#73If this weren’t Deutsche Bahn, I’d say it’s a cyber attack. Given that this is Deutsche Bahn, though, it may just as well be a maintenance issue.
That's what happens when you ignore critical infrastructure for three decades. Of course, if the government were to correct the mistakes of the past, it would get worse for another decade. The necessary repairs would cause a lot more delays, and voters would then say "Were giving them so much extra money, and it gets worse? Unacceptable!". So I fear we'll continue to have these problems forever.
> when you ignore critical infrastructure for three decades
To be fair, Deutsche Bahn is currently spending “€107bn between 2025 and 2029” on infrastructure upgrades [1].
[1] https://www.ft.com/content/db75e347-b13b-4753-8130-6301bb55c...
Re: Trains halted across Germany because of communication system problem
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe. OP isn't saying it's necessarily malicious interference though.
The UK buys most of their trains from Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) and just brands them differently. British person living in Berlin.
Incorrect. They wouldn't fit in the tiny UK loading gauge (profile). UK trains are indeed variants of continental models, but made to custom size, and many (most?) of them in the UK.
Re: Trains halted across Germany because of communication system problem
#75Any HNer blocked in a DB train who can share with us the experience?
I’m sitting in an ICE in Munich that was supposed to leave a few minutes before I saw this story on HN. First the conductor announced a 30 minute delay because the radio wasn’t working, and then they bumped it to 2 hours. They didn’t say it was a systemwide problem.
I would get out and look for a hotel before all of them get sold out. Probably tomorrow too.
Re: Trains halted across Germany because of communication system problem
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's what happens when you ignore critical infrastructure for three decades. Of course, if the government were to correct the mistakes of the past, it would get worse for another decade. The necessary repairs would cause a lot more delays, and voters would then say "Were giving them so much extra money, and it gets worse? Unacceptable!". So I fear we'll continue to have these problems forever.
> when you ignore critical infrastructure for three decades To be fair, Deutsche Bahn is currently spending “€107bn between 2025 and 2029” on infrastructure upgrades [1]. [1] https://www.ft.com/content/db75e347-b13b-4753-8130-6301bb55c...
They need to spend at least 3x that and they need to bring redundant workforce to fix Germany. It is completely broken now.
Re: Trains halted across Germany because of communication system problem
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe. OP isn't saying it's necessarily malicious interference though.
The UK buys most of their trains from Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) and just brands them differently. British person living in Berlin.
Deutsche Bahn doesn't manufacture rolling stock. They buy it from Siemens, Stadler, Talgo, Alstom etc...
Edit: AFAIK, some of it - mainly high-speed trains - is designed according to DB specs and subsequently offered under a new name (and with changes) to other train companies. For example DB ICE 3 (manufactured by Siemens) / Siemens Velaro.
Re: Trains halted across Germany because of communication system problem
#78If this weren’t Deutsche Bahn, I’d say it’s a cyber attack. Given that this is Deutsche Bahn, though, it may just as well be a maintenance issue.
For context, in case people are less familiar with German politics:
DB is in a misbegotten state of privatization, started in the 90ies. The government spun it out into a private company but still owns 100% of it. They were trying to pump it up so they could sell it for good money. They did that by skimping on everything including maintenance, to try and make the numbers look good.
Except they never got to whatever magic numbers they wanted before the maintenance debt came rearing its ugly head and now everything is royally screwed. And because it's a private company, there's a whole bunch of barriers limiting how much they can even subsidize the thing at this point.
Not sure if this is better or worse than the UK's Network Rail story, but at the end of the day the only thing that will solve this is if they re-nationalize the tracks & infrastructure. What kind of an idiot thought including that in the privatization is a good idea is beyond me. It's not like you can build a 2nd railway network in order to get free market & competition. (For comparison, imagine privatizing the entire road network, village street to Autobahn.)
Re: Trains halted across Germany because of communication system problem
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
> when you ignore critical infrastructure for three decades To be fair, Deutsche Bahn is currently spending “€107bn between 2025 and 2029” on infrastructure upgrades [1]. [1] https://www.ft.com/content/db75e347-b13b-4753-8130-6301bb55c...
They need to spend at least 3x that and they need to bring redundant workforce to fix Germany. It is completely broken now.
> They need to spend at least 3x that
According to whom?
Re: Trains halted across Germany because of communication system problem
#80If this weren’t Deutsche Bahn, I’d say it’s a cyber attack. Given that this is Deutsche Bahn, though, it may just as well be a maintenance issue.
For context, in case people are less familiar with German politics: DB is in a misbegotten state of privatization, started in the 90ies. The government spun it out into a private company but still owns 100% of it. They were trying to pump it up so they could sell it for good money. They did that by skimping on everything including maintenance, to try and make the numbers look good. Except they never got to whatever m…
> Not sure if this is better or worse than the UK's Network Rail story
“About 72 per cent of Deutsche Bahn’s intercity trains arrived within 10 minutes of their scheduled arrival time in the year to January 2025, compared with 78 per cent of British long-distance trains, according to the FT analysis.
Any interaction with the German rail network is also one of the biggest factors affecting the punctuality of long-distance rail travel in Central Europe” [1].
[1] https://www.ft.com/content/d3b6e6b5-eddb-4230-b866-932d284ce...