Deutsche Bahn

Thirty-five percent of Germans now say they avoid the train whenever possible.
— HUK Coburg Mobility Study, highlighting the public’s deepening mistrust in the DB timetable following frequent delays.

German Railways – Deutsche Bahn – were famously, like all things German, Very Efficient. Punctual, reliable – everything both the commuter and the traveller needed. A few years ago, things started to go wrong. Decades of underinvestment led to increasing problems: cancellations, unpunctuality, breakdowns … By June this year, when we needed to travel through Germany to get to and from Sweden, punctuality was down to 59%.

Not a shot from our journey home. Not even taken in Germany. Unaccountably, our inward journey from Copenhagen to Malmö was on a Polish train …

Nevertheless, on our way there, we had few problems. Yes, our trains in Germany were a little late, but nothing to worry about. When, travelling home, we had a one-day window to get from Hamburg to home in England, it was a different story.

Overlooking Hamburg Station – almost, anyway.

Hamburg Station round about 8.20 a.m. Our inter-city train was announced to be about 10 minutes late. Ah well. Then – 20 minutes late. This was a bit more serious. We had a connecction to make in Cologne, to get to Brussels for our Eurostar to England. Then – train cancelled. We stood considering our options. Then they un-cancelled the train, which eventually trundled in. Our journey got underway. At Osnabrück we stopped. And stayed there, in the station. No movement. No announcements. The minutes ticked by. Then an hour. Then ninety minutes. Eventually we resumed our journey .

As we got nearer Cologne, the guard transmitted an announcement. Our train would be unable to stop at the central station (Why? We never found out), and instead stopped in the suburbs where most passengers got off, and caught an S-Bahn (metro train) to Cologne for, in our case, our Brussels connection, which obligingly waited for us. (It wasn’t our booked connection of course. That had long gone)

The station in Cologne.

In Brussels, our intended Eurostar train was well on its way to England. We started to explain our delay at the Enquiry desk. The words ‘Deutsche Bahn’ elicited immediate sympathy, and two reservations on the next train to London. Where, astonishingly, there was a train departing shortly after to Thirsk. We abandoned all thoughts of a leisurely meal at the station – the original plan – grabbed some chocolate, and ended up back home less than two hours later than we should have been.

By the next morning, news had reached us that had we been on German railways only a few hours later, our goose would have been truly cooked. The entire network, country wide, had come to halt for over two hours.

Imagine where THAT would have left us and our fellow passengers. Not to mention the hapless drivers and train staff of Deutsche Bahn, all hopelessly into unwanted overtime, and in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Has it put us off? Not at all. Despite that last day, getting round northern Europe courtesy of our Interrail passes gave us a stress-free and relaxing holiday, enjoying scenery and sights from train windows in six different countries in the course of our journey. We’ll do it again . Preferably dodging Deutsche Bahn.

Catching a shot of a rainbow on on of our (undelayed) journeys.

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Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

43 thoughts on “Deutsche Bahn”

  1. Trying not to feel too dispirited by this having booked a railway holiday which will take us through Germany and Austria to Budapest in October. We did know what we were doing but decided to risk it. Much sympathy with that last nail-biting jounrney. I’m glad Eurostar came up trumps!

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    1. When you say ‘booked a railway holiday’, do you mean through a company? If so, it won’t be too bad. They’ll find ways of bailing you out. We did everything ourselves, and consequently had no fall-back. But as you see, we live to tell the tale.

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      2. Perfect. You may be able to duck and dive a bit if you have to. Have you interrailed before? We hadn’t. The app defeated both us, and most of the (super-helpful) staff whom we dealt with. Chat forums are full of perplexed or exhausted passengers who’d also admitted defeat when using it!

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      3. This is our second interrail holiday. I gather it’s overly complicated but not too bad once you get the hang of it and we had an experienced friend who gave us some tips. Last time my partner couldn’t get the app to transfer tickets to my phone so they were all on his which was a tad uncomfortable. I look after organising accommodation which is much easier!

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      4. My grandson has just been interrailing. Needless to say, he had not a moment’s bother with the technical side. Being 21 has its advantages…. Yes, I’m happier dealing with hotels than timetables, so that was our division of labour too.

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  2. How very sad for German commuters. It will surely mean more traffic on the Autobahns. I hate that feeling of sitting helplessly on a train… waiting! It happened a little bit in Poland, back in the day, but that looks like a very smart, efficient train. And yesterday, on our wat to Faro on the local train, we sat for 10-15 mins waiting for the points to change. Patience, not my middle name. I could have walked a stop in that time!

    I’m not sure how you plan this kind of trip, Margaret? I envision sitting at a desk with an enormous map, me feeling hopelessly lost xx

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      1. Thanks for the link. I have heard of, but not used it. His dropdown of countries doesn’t include Portugal, but I imagine if we were going to Scandinavia we’d go via the UK xx

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      2. Honestly, Jo, I don’t know what would be best. And Sweden is SO big. Did you know that if you turned it on its head it would extend to Rome? Sorry that Portugal’s missing from Seat 61.

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    1. Well, that was the plan. A late lunch in Brussels, and an early evening meal in Kings Cross. They both got junked of course, but that’s how we salvaged quite a bit of time to finish our journey.

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  7. Oh no, how stressful. I have only taken the train in Germany a few times recently, but now that you mention it, two or three were quite delayed. I thought it was just bad luck, because Germany is/was known to be so punctual. Thankfully you made it home. Maggie

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  9. Oh, goodness…you ended up being very lucky not to get in the mega delay but all the same not a ggreat experience. I must say, lik Brian I enjoyed my travels around Europe by train a few decades ago, I guess it was my fortune to travel when I did,

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  11. Those annoying software updates rarely go to plan. It would seem transport delays are a common theme no matter what country you’re in. I agree delays wouldn’t put me off travelling, as there’s always some amusing distraction until things get moving again.

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  12. My husband, who is a German American, loves German trains, European trains, in general. I do not like lugging my suitcase onto any train. Once I am aboard, it is good. I agree with Tony Judt, Swiss trains, through The Alps seem close to Heaven. It is great fun to travel by train through Europe.

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  13. Deutsche Bahn… oh, don’t get me started! It used to be great. In the past twenty years or so, it’s gone downhill, lack of investment, the usual, and nobody directly responsible for anything any more. I noticed the difference on my frequent trips to Germany over the past few decades since moving to Scotland.

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