This post isn’t so much of an update as a rant about German trains and their supposedly efficiency. I’ll try to post something else this weekend, but after 3 hours straight of German class I don’t have much energy to write anything new!
The punctuality of the Deutsche Bahn is a myth. A myth I tell you. You mustn’t believe it! Not only are the trains often late arriving to their destinations, sometimes they simply don't make it there, often changing their minds mid-journey.
Sitting on an ICE train from Hamburg to Basel - a train that was late arriving in Hamburg by 50 minutes, and that initially gave passengers the news that it would be delayed for "an unknown amount of time" - I hear over the train's speaker system that this train will no longer be going to Zurich: instead it will be ending in Frankfurt. Was there an explanation as to why, in fact, this train has decided to change it's end destination? Well of course not. That would be the customer service friendly option, and let me tell you, Germans are immune to a word you may have heard once or twice before: appeasement. They share no desire to appease the masses, to appease the customers that have paid 76€ for a train ticket. While they ARE immune to pleasing and appeasing, they are NOT immune to providing ambiguous, convoluted word jumbles when coming up with reasons for delays, cancellations, etc etc. While standing on a cold, overcrowded train platform, wondering how you're possibly going to catch your connecting train due to the fact that your current train is no where to be found (maybe it overslept, maybe its alarm 'didn't go off'), you may hear words such as "Notarzteinsatz" and "Betriebungsbeeinträchtigung:" words that have absolutely no meaning to anyone, aside from maybe the native/fluent German speakers. My German is decent, but hearing a mumbled pronunciation of the word (yes, it’s one word) Betriebungsbeeinträchtigung, I’m lost. My personal favorite reason for a delayed train was in Cologne because there were “kids playing on the tracks.” What a comical yet frightening image I conjured up that day.
While on the train (new destination: Frankfurt) I did receive a form that I can fill out and mail in order to try to receive some money back for the extensive delays, so I guess that’s a positive of the almost 11 hour long journey I had on Monday? As the DB employee handing out the forms said, “Die Vielfahrer kennen das schon” (rough translation: the frequent travelers are already familiar with this), which made the other passengers near me chuckle.
Now that a few days have passed I’m rereading this realizing that it’s a bit harsh of a tone, but for REAL people….. I haven’t met anyone here who hasn’t had an issue with DB! And ok ok, I know that thousands of trains travel every day so some mishaps are bound to happen, but c’mon, Germany, get your schnitzel together.
The punctuality of the Deutsche Bahn is a myth. A myth I tell you. You mustn’t believe it! Not only are the trains often late arriving to their destinations, sometimes they simply don't make it there, often changing their minds mid-journey.
Sitting on an ICE train from Hamburg to Basel - a train that was late arriving in Hamburg by 50 minutes, and that initially gave passengers the news that it would be delayed for "an unknown amount of time" - I hear over the train's speaker system that this train will no longer be going to Zurich: instead it will be ending in Frankfurt. Was there an explanation as to why, in fact, this train has decided to change it's end destination? Well of course not. That would be the customer service friendly option, and let me tell you, Germans are immune to a word you may have heard once or twice before: appeasement. They share no desire to appease the masses, to appease the customers that have paid 76€ for a train ticket. While they ARE immune to pleasing and appeasing, they are NOT immune to providing ambiguous, convoluted word jumbles when coming up with reasons for delays, cancellations, etc etc. While standing on a cold, overcrowded train platform, wondering how you're possibly going to catch your connecting train due to the fact that your current train is no where to be found (maybe it overslept, maybe its alarm 'didn't go off'), you may hear words such as "Notarzteinsatz" and "Betriebungsbeeinträchtigung:" words that have absolutely no meaning to anyone, aside from maybe the native/fluent German speakers. My German is decent, but hearing a mumbled pronunciation of the word (yes, it’s one word) Betriebungsbeeinträchtigung, I’m lost. My personal favorite reason for a delayed train was in Cologne because there were “kids playing on the tracks.” What a comical yet frightening image I conjured up that day.
While on the train (new destination: Frankfurt) I did receive a form that I can fill out and mail in order to try to receive some money back for the extensive delays, so I guess that’s a positive of the almost 11 hour long journey I had on Monday? As the DB employee handing out the forms said, “Die Vielfahrer kennen das schon” (rough translation: the frequent travelers are already familiar with this), which made the other passengers near me chuckle.
Now that a few days have passed I’m rereading this realizing that it’s a bit harsh of a tone, but for REAL people….. I haven’t met anyone here who hasn’t had an issue with DB! And ok ok, I know that thousands of trains travel every day so some mishaps are bound to happen, but c’mon, Germany, get your schnitzel together.