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Bet on German Train Delays

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Re: Bet on German Train Delays

#81

Post by sveme »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #71
fnordian_slip wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's incredible that about 80% of people in this thread seem to be commenting without having looked at the website. In defense of Deutsche Bahn, countries with comparable infrastructure but more reliable transport have put in about twice as much money per capita for the last 30 years at least. Also, it went through a pseudo-privatisation back then, which hasn't helped (just private enough to focus on quarterly profit…

> In defense of Deutsche Bahn, countries with comparable infrastructure but more reliable transport have put in about twice as much money per capita for the last 30 years at least. Why is that "in defense?" When you let your infrastructure rot away since the 90s of the last century for something as complex as a train network by brutally underinvesting. Then you seriously fucked up. There's nothing to defend here.

I think the defense is that it's the fault of the politicians (CDU/CSU, actually), as they are the ones allocating funds towards train infrastructure. The Deutsche Bahn is state-owned in all but name (which was one of the major fuckups of the last red-green government).

Re: Bet on German Train Delays

#82

Post by InfinityByTen »

surrTurr wrote: post #42

if you want to look up historic delay data (to make better guesses) you can use zugspaet: https://zugspaet.de/

I was considering trains for a Berlin-Frankfurt trip, and after looking at the performance of the preferred train, I'm not sure I want to still go that way: 25% cancellations :/

Re: Bet on German Train Delays

#83

Post by yawniek »

fnordian_slip wrote: post #45
croisillon wrote: post #14

for the people who wouldn't have inadvertently clicked on the website: it's not real money, it's a campaign to nudge the German provider to care about their infamous delays

It's incredible that about 80% of people in this thread seem to be commenting without having looked at the website. In defense of Deutsche Bahn, countries with comparable infrastructure but more reliable transport have put in about twice as much money per capita for the last 30 years at least. Also, it went through a pseudo-privatisation back then, which hasn't helped (just private enough to focus on quarterly profit…

Yes everyone does their best but in typical german fashion nobody does the right thing because it would mean to break some rules or habit. Its a general problem but it shows hard at DB.

Re: Bet on German Train Delays

#84

Post by okanat »

ilikerashers wrote: post #63

German trains are absolute chaos. Tickets are sent via PDF for trains running 3 hours late. I was in Frankfurt last year getting to Cologne and back a few times. Coming from someone who has to commute via South Western railway into London everyday. Sad state of affairs for Germany.

What is the issue with receiving tickets as PDF? It is the most flexible yet digital option. PDFs work regardless of the medium. You can show it in the phone or you can always add them to DB Navigator App anyways or if you would like to be old school, just print them.

Re: Bet on German Train Delays

#85

Post by exabrial »

I have loved my journeys through Germany in recent years; locals are more than willing to speak English to you and are happy to direct you around.

This does hit home though: I did miss an international flight due to the S-Bahn out of Munich. Eventually they were like "this train is so delayed, we're going to make everyone get off and catch the next one". ::shrugs::

...and the Munich airport is just painful in general (the flight status boards shorten the flight numbers with ellipsis for instance).

Re: Bet on German Train Delays

#87

Post by pantalaimon »

croisillon wrote: post #14

for the people who wouldn't have inadvertently clicked on the website: it's not real money, it's a campaign to nudge the German provider to care about their infamous delays

The problem is the infrastructure. There is already the Generalsanierung under way, it will take a decade and secure the status quo.

A lot of delays are due to rail corridors being at capacity, but overboarding bureaucracy makes any improvement there a generational project.

Hamburg - Hanover has been discussed for decades with strong opposition from NIMBY groups with no solution in sight.

But even if there is no opposition things take ages. E.g. for restoring the 2nd track and electrification between Cottbus and Görlitz the plan is now to finish the project by 2041.

This is absolutely insane for 100km of track that were removed as WW2 reparations.

And looking at previous projects it's unlikely to finish in time.

The new S-Bahn track in Berlin between the main station and Gesundbrunnen was supposed to open in 2017. It got delayed over and over and is now finally scheduled to open by the end of this month - just a delay of 9 years.

And that's with an interim station because the real station at Hauptbahnhof wasn't finished in time - and no intermediate stop, that's now also in the planning phase and will mean the line will have to be interrupted again in the near future

Re: Bet on German Train Delays

#88

Post by ilikerashers »

fxwin wrote: post #76
ilikerashers wrote: post #63

German trains are absolute chaos. Tickets are sent via PDF for trains running 3 hours late. I was in Frankfurt last year getting to Cologne and back a few times. Coming from someone who has to commute via South Western railway into London everyday. Sad state of affairs for Germany.

> Tickets are sent via PDF for trains running 3 hours late I agree that the delays are unacceptable, but the official app is great w/ digital tickets + seat registration, you don't need the PDF at all (it's even optional during checkout, so if you don't like them you can just uncheck the box lol)

Maybe i booked through a shadow site. The ticket office printed out something else.

The ticket office did have impressive throughput and lines building up.

Re: Bet on German Train Delays

#89

Post by chebureki »

ilikerashers wrote: post #63

German trains are absolute chaos. Tickets are sent via PDF for trains running 3 hours late. I was in Frankfurt last year getting to Cologne and back a few times. Coming from someone who has to commute via South Western railway into London everyday. Sad state of affairs for Germany.

The DB App is great. It lets you buy tickets, informs you of delays and possible alternatives especially if you miss your connection, you can file a request for a refund, you can reserve a seat, you can use the comfort check-in and check yourself in, so you wouldn't have to show your ticket. You can even request a refund up to two hours after you purchased your ticket, without any fees.

No PDFs or print-outs or forms are needed.

Yes, you still get a PDF ticket sent to your email, but you aren't required to use it.

Re: Bet on German Train Delays

#90

Post by i-blis »

When I was young (70s-80s), we were all amazed by Deutsche Bahn's punctuality and quality of service (second only to the Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses). Now, French and Italian trains are a lot more reliable, which is rather strange.

The Swiss Federal Railways asked German trains to wait at the border and has even ban many German trains to enter Switzerland over excessive delays to prevent their train schedule from being affected.

The site is hilarious by the way. I hope it will have an effect on DB, even though I doubt it.

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