Germany, the land of meticulous planning and clockwork timetabling, is grappling with a growing problem: tardy trains.
Our reporter, Humza Jilan, has more for our light, human interest story of the day:
>Last year, a third of all long-distance trains operated by Germany’s national railway company Deutsche Bahn ran late, the worst showing in 10 years, deepening an existential crisis in a country where failing to show up on time is verboten.
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>“This is an embarrassment, it is a cultural crisis for the German people,” said Andreas Knie, a professor of transport policy at the Berlin Social Science Center. “We love to brag about how we are the best, we are the most efficient, but the late Deutsche Bahn, and our failing football team, are proof that we aren’t making great things anymore,” apparently referring to the fact that both the German men’s and women’s soccer teams failed to advance in the most recent World Cups, to the country’s great dismay.
>
>A Deutsche Bahn spokesperson blamed the delays on rising traffic, aging infrastructure and construction projects. “We expressly regret this,” he said.
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>The delays are forcing Germans, who learn from a young age that “pünktlichkeit (punctuality) is the politeness of kings,” to make ever-more-complex travel plans. Stefan Bonauer, a 34-year-old teacher who lives in a suburb an hour outside of Munich, now wakes at 4 a.m. to ensure that he can make the 90-minute trip to the city in time for his 8 a.m. class. On his days off, he prefers to take his motorcycle to meet friends in the city. “I just can’t trust the train,” he said.
>
>DB, as the company is often called, is scrambling to soothe the nerves of its seething riders. It experimented with calming scents in its coaches, a move that prompted the German tabloid Bild to accuse it of “scent doping.” The state is pouring in €45 billion, or $49.28 billion, to upgrade the tracks. And in a rare act of German corporate self-flagellation, the train company has started trolling itself on the social-media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
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>In June, T.C. Boyle, an American novelist, skewered Deutsche Bahn on Twitter for their tardy trains during a trip to Germany. “We’re doing all we can to give you enough time to write,” DB shot back.
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>Onboard announcements provide some comic relief for raging passengers. “The train driver has not yet arrived because of another delayed train. Unfortunately, we are currently blocking the track for his train. We are curious ourselves how this will be resolved,” admitted one announcement, which was featured on a segment in a German comedy show.
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>In neighboring Switzerland, where trains still run like a proverbial Swiss clock, officials are now proposing banning the serially late Deutsche Bahn, for fear that German delays are tarnishing Switzerland’s own record of peerless timekeeping. “There is no comparable problem with Italian trains,” said Michael Müller, a spokesperson for the Swiss Federal Office of Transport.
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>The Swiss rate of late arrivals: just 7.5%. Already, trains arriving from Germany that are more than 15 minutes late are stopped in the border city of Basel, and passengers are required to board a Swiss train, instead.
That’s hard to imagine. I lived in Germany for 3 years in the 90’s without owning a car. From time to time, a bus might have been late, but a train never was.
State-owned DB has basically no incentive to improve services given they have a quasi-monopoly.
Yeah, let’s privatise everything
It worked so well in the UK. Lots of competition on each destination, muh free market
/s
How is this news-worthy?
So Japan is better at perfection than the Germans.
I wonder what the german government did with all the tax money the last 20-30 years.
Bad internet/optical fibre distribution, neglected railway infrastructure, highways, military and social housing.
No digitalization, still using fax and papers.
Yet still in dept.
Lemme guess, the AfD say that they will get the trains to run ontime?
9 comments
Germany, the land of meticulous planning and clockwork timetabling, is grappling with a growing problem: tardy trains.
Our reporter, Humza Jilan, has more for our light, human interest story of the day:
>Last year, a third of all long-distance trains operated by Germany’s national railway company Deutsche Bahn ran late, the worst showing in 10 years, deepening an existential crisis in a country where failing to show up on time is verboten.
>
>“This is an embarrassment, it is a cultural crisis for the German people,” said Andreas Knie, a professor of transport policy at the Berlin Social Science Center. “We love to brag about how we are the best, we are the most efficient, but the late Deutsche Bahn, and our failing football team, are proof that we aren’t making great things anymore,” apparently referring to the fact that both the German men’s and women’s soccer teams failed to advance in the most recent World Cups, to the country’s great dismay.
>
>A Deutsche Bahn spokesperson blamed the delays on rising traffic, aging infrastructure and construction projects. “We expressly regret this,” he said.
>
>The delays are forcing Germans, who learn from a young age that “pünktlichkeit (punctuality) is the politeness of kings,” to make ever-more-complex travel plans. Stefan Bonauer, a 34-year-old teacher who lives in a suburb an hour outside of Munich, now wakes at 4 a.m. to ensure that he can make the 90-minute trip to the city in time for his 8 a.m. class. On his days off, he prefers to take his motorcycle to meet friends in the city. “I just can’t trust the train,” he said.
>
>DB, as the company is often called, is scrambling to soothe the nerves of its seething riders. It experimented with calming scents in its coaches, a move that prompted the German tabloid Bild to accuse it of “scent doping.” The state is pouring in €45 billion, or $49.28 billion, to upgrade the tracks. And in a rare act of German corporate self-flagellation, the train company has started trolling itself on the social-media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
>
>In June, T.C. Boyle, an American novelist, skewered Deutsche Bahn on Twitter for their tardy trains during a trip to Germany. “We’re doing all we can to give you enough time to write,” DB shot back.
>
>Onboard announcements provide some comic relief for raging passengers. “The train driver has not yet arrived because of another delayed train. Unfortunately, we are currently blocking the track for his train. We are curious ourselves how this will be resolved,” admitted one announcement, which was featured on a segment in a German comedy show.
>
>In neighboring Switzerland, where trains still run like a proverbial Swiss clock, officials are now proposing banning the serially late Deutsche Bahn, for fear that German delays are tarnishing Switzerland’s own record of peerless timekeeping. “There is no comparable problem with Italian trains,” said Michael Müller, a spokesperson for the Swiss Federal Office of Transport.
>
>The Swiss rate of late arrivals: just 7.5%. Already, trains arriving from Germany that are more than 15 minutes late are stopped in the border city of Basel, and passengers are required to board a Swiss train, instead.
Skip the paywall and read the full story: [https://www.wsj.com/articles/germany-late-trains-national-psyche-7d84166f?st=6qt5acyx9kltfdq](https://www.wsj.com/articles/germany-late-trains-national-psyche-7d84166f?st=6qt5acyx9kltfdq)
-mc
That’s hard to imagine. I lived in Germany for 3 years in the 90’s without owning a car. From time to time, a bus might have been late, but a train never was.
State-owned DB has basically no incentive to improve services given they have a quasi-monopoly.
Yeah, let’s privatise everything
It worked so well in the UK. Lots of competition on each destination, muh free market
/s
How is this news-worthy?
So Japan is better at perfection than the Germans.
I wonder what the german government did with all the tax money the last 20-30 years.
Bad internet/optical fibre distribution, neglected railway infrastructure, highways, military and social housing.
No digitalization, still using fax and papers.
Yet still in dept.
Lemme guess, the AfD say that they will get the trains to run ontime?
Bring back Angela Merkel