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Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

theocharis.dev

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Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#941

Post by fxwin »

utllitarian wrote: post #169
indiantinker wrote: post #17

DB is weird. They seem to make their own rules and then run the game and “dont tell the rules to anyone”. I was on my way to catch a flight from Munich to my home (Madrid). I didn’t knew that apparently at one point the train splits into two parts and the front part goes to the airport and the other part just goes to the nearby cattle farms and comes back in 3 hours. Google Maps - No idea Citymapper - what? English a…

It’s likely some utilitarian reason, i.e. sacrifice the riders on the train for the good of all the other schedules. This is the one benefit of living in an overly-litigious country that has news media which can pick up on a story like this. They’d rather have the masses suffer to avoid the legal fees and bad press, so instead of sacrificing a train, they’d make everyone’s lives worse overall. I’m not arguing for uti…

I think you're reading a bit too much into this

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#942

Post by prasoonds »

lostlogin wrote: post #872
eldaisfish wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a train going to an airport, English. This is the norm around the world, especially with complicated situations like a train splitting in two.

Is it though? Why should anywhere cater to my failure to learn their language and systems? It’s nice if they do but I don’t expect it.

Are you seriously asking why Airport infrastructure should support English or is it rhetorical?

If you are not a backwater that doesn't get any travelers, you should cater to tourists who, as a rule, do not speak your language. Even those tourists who do speak a few phrases will absolutely be unable to understand something as complex as a the train spilling up into two before going to the Airport.

> Why should anywhere cater to my failure to learn their language and systems? It’s nice if they do but I don’t expect it.

I certainly don't see this attitude from Germans in Spain.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#943

Post by lostlogin »

twobitshifter wrote: post #940
lostlogin wrote: post #871

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone travelling for the first time in a while - Wise has changed travel for the better, and dramatically. Managed 2 weeks in the UK without touching cash and the transactions between currency were inexpensive and quick. Massive fan.

How were you using it? I have only ever used Wise for bank transfers. There are travel credit cards without any foreign transaction fees and that’s what I always use.

> How were you using it?

I’ve used it like a debit card/credit card. On phone and as a physical card for tap-and-go on transport. I’ve used it for booking accommodation bookings online too.

Fees are low/non existent and conversion rates good.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#944

Post by josefx »

cyphar wrote: post #836
Etheryte wrote: post #632

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things do not work well in general. DB is internationally infamous for its garbage service because everyone who has ever taken DB has a horror story. I lived in Germany some years ago and not once did I manage to catch a train that was on time for both arrival and departure. And this doesn't even touch on the topic of being stranded in the middle of nowhere as a regular occurrence.

As someone who has caught DB a fair number of times over the years, I think DB is most hated by Germans (who love to complain) and German locals. Maybe I've just been lucky so far, but as an Aussie it is hard to overstate the fact it is even possible to travel almost anywhere within the country and between several other countries by train for fairly cheap is already quite miraculous to me. Yeah, I've run into a fair…

> Maybe I've just been lucky so far,

A lot of the issues are local, some are time constrained. There is a CCC talk on youtube "BahnMining - Pünktlichkeit ist eine Zier (David Kriesel)", that concludes that any train traveling through certain trainstations will most likely end up significantly delayed. Then you have certain train models failing during summer. Or my recent favourite planned construction work with no apparent plan for a reliable replacement service beyond "here is a train, it might leave at some point".

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#945

Post by lostlogin »

prasoonds wrote: post #942
lostlogin wrote: post #872

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it though? Why should anywhere cater to my failure to learn their language and systems? It’s nice if they do but I don’t expect it.

Are you seriously asking why Airport infrastructure should support English or is it rhetorical? If you are not a backwater that doesn't get any travelers, you should cater to tourists who, as a rule, do not speak your language. Even those tourists who do speak a few phrases will absolutely be unable to understand something as complex as a the train spilling up into two before going to the Airport. > Why should anywhe…

> you should cater to tourists who, as a rule, do not speak your language.

Why should tourists be supported? Tourists are trashing my country nearly as badly as our largest industry (dairy). Without infrastructure they shouldn’t be encouraged.

I have no interest in having more.

We also have no trains, but I’d like that to change.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#946

Post by jacquesm »

whstl wrote: post #330
raverbashing wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what's the level of mutual ineligibility between DE NL (probably DE is easier to NL) but it's funny how Germans sometimes seem to play dumb and not understand a thing in NL

As a German speaker, spoken Dutch REALLY trips me up because of small pronunciation differences in almost every word. Written Dutch is way closer. The Dutch seem to understand German better, but my Dutch friends credit that more to education and exposure.

Your Dutch friends have it right: In German high schools you don't get Dutch, Polish or Czech as a rule but you do get French and English. But in Dutch schools you do get German.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#949

Post by i80and »

ninalanyon wrote: post #681
ragall wrote: post #614

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of people use Amex in Europe. It's very popular as a business card.

I doubt that it is popular with the actual users, only with the company that they work for. When I had a company issued AMEX card the damn thing was practically useless. In fact even in the US there were plenty of places that wouldn't accept it.

I use an Amex as my primary and preferred personal card, and legitimately can't remember any place in the US where it wasn't accepted.

In Europe it is pretty hit or miss though, unfortunately.

Re: Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

#950

Post by ianbooker »

Kidnapper is likely not Deutsche Bahn but a regional subsidairy.

This is an effect of privatization gone wrong, with the national service, the infrastructure, the regional services (each), the network (not in infra), cargo and then some (sub)companies split for privatisation and an IPO that never happened. The highly segmented network is not digitalized in to any standard, so regional trains have to operate in policy frameworks and network cells that favor long distance trains. Its utter chaos on a daily basis.

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