How I survived the Deutsche Bahn (long)

Lucky I was travelling on Friday, I thought, and not Thursday, when the
German railway took the unprecedented step of shutting down the entire
network as a precaution against the hurricane, leaving thousands
stranded at major stations all night.
Before leaving for Stuttgart main station Friday afternoon, I took the
precaution of enquiring how the trains were running. No problems, I was
told, just a few connections running up to 10 minutes late.
I arrived at the ICE platform and, looking forward to my well-earned
prebooked 1st class seat in the Stuttgart-Cologne express with maybe a
relaxed beer in the dining car, I watched as the train glided in right
on time. As we started to board the train, I realized there was a
problem- there weren't enough seats. People were standing jammed
together in the 1st class, giving a good imitation of the Tokyo subway
in the rushhour. Stumbling over suitcases, I pulled out my seat
reservation looking for my seat, when the man next to me said, don't
bother, they've cancelled all the reservations. At this point, an
anouncement came over the louspeakers explaining that due to the storm
the previous day, the train was running with only half the regular
carriages, and apologised for any inconvenience. Finally, the doors
closed, and the train pulled out of the station.
Now, standing for 2 hours is not my idea of 1st class travel. The
carriages are not really designed for standing passengers, and there are
no handles or poles to hold onto, so you just have to grab the headrest
of the seat nearest to you, or hang on to the luggage rack. Never mind,
being German, we all put a brave face on the situation and cracked jokes
with our neighbours. There were no Brits on board to sing "always look
at the bright side of life", but some Americans were having a great time
and even burst into a round of Gospel singing, earning much applause.
Fortunately, at the first stop enough passengers got out that I was able
to get to sit, leaving the newcomers to share the luxury of 1st class
standing.
At Cologne a scene of chaos greeted us. The indicator boards showed
the trains that would be leaving if they were on schedule, but these
were all either cancelled or running hours late. I needed to get to
Duesseldorf, the next main station down the line. I wandered from one
platform to another and found a train that was going to Luxemburg via
Duesseldorf, so I jumped in. Just as I was getting comfortable, the
loudspeaker announced that the train driver had gone missing, but anyone
who wanted to get to Duesseldorf could take the Munich-Duesseldorf
express on the opposite platform.
I jumped out and forced my way across the platform, looking for the
1st class section. I couldn't figure out where it was, so I climbed in
anyway and found myself stuck in one of the 2nd class smoking carriages.
Yes - German railway trains are not non-smoking. By the time I realized
this, I couldn't get out- the connecting doors between the carriages
were jammed with passengers that got on after me. The train pulled out,
and then an announcement came over the speakers that for operational
reasons, the train would be detouring over Moenchen-Gladbach. To cut
the story short, the trip to Duesseldorf, normally 20 minutes, took 2
hours in a stuffy smoke-filled compartment.
One thing that should be said, I could have saved the money for the
1st class and done the entire trip for nothing. Not once did a conductor
ask to check my ticket in the chaos.

Tom Peel:

Sorry to hear about your experience, Tom. As you will understand, this is
not common, and you were probably lucky that you got to Dusseldorf at
all.

Sad thing to hear that people STILL smoke when the train is jammed. They
shouldn't, even though they were on a smoking carriage. It surprises me
that some of them still smoked...that's not really german, either. Didn't
anyone complain?

One thing that should be said, I could have saved the money for the
1st class and done the entire trip for nothing. Not once did a conductor
ask to check my ticket in the chaos.

Now, this is always an interesting thing. People seem OK with train
prices, as long as they get checked. They feel ripped off when they pay
the same amount for the same ticket if they're not checked at least once.

--
Erick
[shaking his head]

Erick T. Barkhuis wrote:
Tom Peel:

Sorry to hear about your experience, Tom. As you will understand, this is
not common, and you were probably lucky that you got to Dusseldorf at
all.

Sad thing to hear that people STILL smoke when the train is jammed. They
shouldn't, even though they were on a smoking carriage. It surprises me
that some of them still smoked...that's not really german, either. Didn't
anyone complain?

I didn't know that there was such a rule. Normally, if you are a smoker,
then you don't get upset by other people smoking do you? It's the
non-smokers who are a nuisance when they complain.

One thing that should be said, I could have saved the money for the
1st class and done the entire trip for nothing. Not once did a conductor
ask to check my ticket in the chaos.


Now, this is always an interesting thing. People seem OK with train
prices, as long as they get checked. They feel ripped off when they pay
the same amount for the same ticket if they're not checked at least once.

Of course, in no way do I wish to suggest that people should try and
ride the trains for free. My observation was merely that the conductors
didn't check any tickets. Maybe they were too scared?


T.

Tom Peel:
Erick T. Barkhuis wrote:

Sad thing to hear that people STILL smoke when the train is jammed.

I didn't know that there was such a rule.

There isn't. It's just a matter of courtesy to refrain from smoking when
you know that a carriage is jammed (probably with plenty of non-smokers
as well).


Now, this is always an interesting thing. People seem OK with train
prices, as long as they get checked. They feel ripped off when they pay
the same amount for the same ticket if they're not checked at least once.

Of course, in no way do I wish to suggest that people should try and
ride the trains for free. My observation was merely that the conductors
didn't check any tickets. Maybe they were too scared?

Maybe, because the passengers weren't in too good a mood.
On the other hand, if carriages are packed, there is hardly a way a
conductor could perform his duties decently, right?


--
Erick

"When a fellow says, 'it ain't the money but the principle of the
thing,' it's the money." - F. McKinney Hubbard

In article ,
(Tom Peel) wrote:

To cut the story short, the trip to Duesseldorf,
normally 20 minutes, took 2 hours in a stuffy smoke-filled compartment.
One thing that should be said, I could have saved the money for the
1st class and done the entire trip for nothing. Not once did a
conductor ask to check my ticket in the chaos.

Sounds like Deutsche Bahn has been taking some lessons from the Brits!

(Actually British trains aren't /always/ that bad - and I think they're
all non-smoking now - but your story is all too familiar.)

On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 08:54:57 -0600, wrote:

In article ,
(Tom Peel) wrote:

To cut the story short, the trip to Duesseldorf,
normally 20 minutes, took 2 hours in a stuffy smoke-filled compartment.
One thing that should be said, I could have saved the money for the
1st class and done the entire trip for nothing. Not once did a
conductor ask to check my ticket in the chaos.

Sounds like Deutsche Bahn has been taking some lessons from the Brits!

(Actually British trains aren't /always/ that bad - and I think they're
all non-smoking now - but your story is all too familiar.)

The Cardiff - Bristol - Portsmouth service is a case in point. The
previous franchisee (Wessex Trains) was conscious of overcrowding, and
added an extra coach to the two-car diesel units. The franchise in now
in the hands of Great Western, vile spawn of the evil First Group (aka
Worst Group) who have changed them back from three-car to two-car
units.

And I'm travelling to South Wales tomorrow :-(



Keith, Bristol, UK

Let is be knownst that on Sat, 20 Jan 2007 14:54:46 +0100, Erick T.
Barkhuis -o-m writted:

Maybe, because the passengers weren't in too good a mood.
On the other hand, if carriages are packed, there is hardly a way a
conductor could perform his duties decently, right?

If a train is very late in Italy, you're unlikely to have your ticket
checked. Naturally every second person will want to express their
dissatifcation!
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

schrieb:
In article ,
(Tom Peel) wrote:

To cut the story short, the trip to Duesseldorf,
normally 20 minutes, took 2 hours in a stuffy smoke-filled compartment.
One thing that should be said, I could have saved the money for the
1st class and done the entire trip for nothing. Not once did a
conductor ask to check my ticket in the chaos.

Sounds like Deutsche Bahn has been taking some lessons from the Brits!

(Actually British trains aren't /always/ that bad - and I think they're
all non-smoking now - but your story is all too familiar.)

You remember that we were talking about the situation during a hurricane
when the whole traffic was stopped by Deutsche Bahn? It was the right
decision to do so and other countries did alike. Nobody was killed,
nobody was hurt. So what?

It is not a story about every day traffic on German railways.

"Deeply Filled Mortician" skrev i
meddelandet ...
Let is be knownst that on Sat, 20 Jan 2007 14:54:46 +0100, Erick T.
Barkhuis -o-m writted:

Maybe, because the passengers weren't in too good a mood.
On the other hand, if carriages are packed, there is hardly a way a
conductor could perform his duties decently, right?

If a train is very late in Italy, you're unlikely to have your ticket
checked. Naturally every second person will want to express their
dissatifcation!
--
Possibly the same everywhere, they're trying to be invisible more or less.
But I do remember a trip from Vienna to Germany. Due to an accident the EC
train was around 3h late, it was routed over a dieselhauled line and no
service was possible in the dining car. In Passau (borderstation) the
loudspeakers announced that we had to wait another hour because no
locomotive was available.
When the conductor arrived he started immediately with collecting the IC/EC
"zuschlag", the Germans made some comments about the necessity of that but
rules are rules obviously. I was on Interrail and not in hurry and stayed
over night in Nürnberg.

Peter Sinowicz wrote:
schrieb:

In article ,
(Tom Peel) wrote:

To cut the story short, the trip to Duesseldorf, normally 20
minutes, took 2 hours in a stuffy smoke-filled compartment.
One thing that should be said, I could have saved the money for the
1st class and done the entire trip for nothing. Not once did a
conductor ask to check my ticket in the chaos.


Sounds like Deutsche Bahn has been taking some lessons from the Brits!

(Actually British trains aren't /always/ that bad - and I think
they're all non-smoking now - but your story is all too familiar.)


You remember that we were talking about the situation during a hurricane
when the whole traffic was stopped by Deutsche Bahn? It was the right
decision to do so and other countries did alike. Nobody was killed,
nobody was hurt. So what?

It is not a story about every day traffic on German railways.

It is, however, a story od a complete failure to recognize an unusual
situation. The story would read quite differently without the line
which you cut/

"Before leaving for Stuttgart main station Friday afternoon, I took the
precaution of enquiring how the trains were running. No problems, I was
told, just a few connections running up to 10 minutes late. "

There is no excuse for such a level of misinformation in a modern system.

Things out of kilter that cannot be helped. Not knowing the situation
or misleading the customers that is bad news.