Deutsche Bahn’s once-admired service has descended into chaos. Whether decades of poor investment or the company’s unusual structure is to blame, it’s a huge headache for a coalition trying to meet climate goals
The sleek high-speed train is 10 minutes behind schedule when it slides into Cologne’s main station before continuing its journey north to Dortmund. The delay is now such a common occurrence that the train manager does not even both to mention it to disembarking passengers.
In late afternoon on an unremarkable weekday in this western German city, holidaymakers are hauling suitcases through the station, workers are commuting home, and the late arrival of Deutsche Bahn’s IC 118 from Innsbruck is no surprise.
It does cause annoyance, though: a glance at the departures and arrivals board prompts one middle-aged man carrying a backpack to swear loudly as he enters the station.
Former managers of Deutsche Bahn did not care to invest into modernization. Managers get money for showing and keeping plus in their Excel sheets. They leave the company with all kinds of bonuses for that and risk no repercussions.
The next generation of managers are simply fucked. They inherit all the neglected infrastructure and bad processes.
Additionally politics made it even worse. They told the managers that repairs are not a matter of subsidies. Only new infrastructure is supported. So Deutsche Bahn literally let the tracks and stations rot until they need to be totally renewed.
This all based on absolute greed. And the best is you can harm Germany for free without any risks and keep all your money. No one here would get the idea to jail the responsible people who let it happen.
10 minutes? Ahh, if the problems with Deutsche Bahn would stop at 10 minutes late…that would almost be great.
2 hours late, trains not coming at all, skipping stops, having to take a completely different route just so you arrive at some point, but even then it’s 6 hours late. Trains being overcrowded, air conditioning failing or not being there in the first place, seat reservation systems failing, the list goes on and on.
Add to that that many smaller cities and especially villages have a single bus line that has one bus driving every 1-2 hours, but only until 8pm or whatever. Not only DB’s fault, but also of the local traffic association. Public transport is a complete joke in Germany. You need a car unless you live in a big city or don’t care about your sanity at all.
More problems include train stations often being a center for criminal activity, and smaller train stations offering no security personnel whatsoever. I know many people who are afraid to travel by train, especially after dark. And they have every reason to be, as (sexual) assault (especially towards women), robbery, drug dealing activities (list goes on) are quite the reality.
