[HN Gopher] It will take years to get Deutsche Bahn back on track
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It will take years to get Deutsche Bahn back on track
Author : rustoo
Score : 27 points
Date : 2023-05-25 20:41 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.economist.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.economist.com)
| g_sch wrote:
| I think it's not fair to fault DB or EVG for failing to run 100%
| service after a nationwide strike was called off just a few hours
| before it was supposed to start. An orderly temporary shutdown of
| a major rail network is going to require plenty of ramp-down and
| ramp-up as trains and people get in position. Some of that was
| undoubtedly already underway when the tentative agreement was
| reached, and you can't just turn it around on a dime.
| hutattedonmyarm wrote:
| To be fair, DB dragged EVG to court over the strike trying to
| get them to cancel it. DB wasn't surprised by the cancellation.
| [0]
|
| Nonetheless, a last minute reschedule of train and worker's
| shift plans at that scale is a huge task and I'm impressed that
| they managed to get a big chunk running again
|
| [https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/wirtschaft/bahn-evg-streik-
| ab...]
| johannes1234321 wrote:
| They couldn6ne sure about winning the court case (well, the
| didn't win, but settle the case technically) and not
| preparing for strike and then losing the case would have lead
| to a longer period of issues as the no train and no personal
| end up where they are needed
| outside1234 wrote:
| https://archive.is/INBuP
| thriftwy wrote:
| Meanwhile Russian Railways are chugging just fine, and make up
| for closed airports in the south of Russia.
|
| You can also take a suburban train from Rostov-on-Don, change
| train at Uspenskaya and ride all the way to Makeevka, DPR.
| TazeTSchnitzel wrote:
| Visiting Germany by train can be cost-effective: there's a good
| chance your train is delayed by more than an hour and you can
| reclaim the ticket price.
| HPsquared wrote:
| The same is true on UK trains (delay repay)
| johannes1234321 wrote:
| No surprise since that's a pre-Brexit EU regulation.
| pixelpoet wrote:
| Trying to get that money back is like drawing blood from a
| stone; depending on your hourly rate and capacity for
| frustration it might not be worth it. I'm genuinely traumatised
| by a recent DB fuckup which ruined a 6 day holiday after an
| entire day of frantically trying and failing to get alternate
| connections and being brushed off by them (you have to
| physically visit a separate building or send snail mail), to
| the point where I'm putting off important stuff in another city
| because I just can't handle dealing with them yet.
|
| I realise this is more about me than them, but I sincerely am
| having mental health problems regularly because of DB and have
| forgone 100ish euros refund several times in the last months
| because of it. Words cannot describe my seething hatred for
| Deutsche Bahn.
| PaulHoule wrote:
| I live in Germany in 1999 and was excited as an American to ride
| the rails everywhere but I found that even then Europeans thought
| trains were passe and were more inclined to fly, but also that
| flying in Europe was a much better experience with less BS at the
| airport, more competition and less of the "let's make coach as
| awful as possible so people fly first class" game that domestic
| U.S. carriers play.
| mschuster91 wrote:
| > but also that flying in Europe was a much better experience
| with less BS at the airport
|
| For what it's worth, that's no longer true since 9/11. We have
| the same security theatre the US has (with the exception that
| we don't demand TSA locks), our airports have gone all in on
| upselling you overpriced crap (really, they're better equipped
| than some malls, it's insane), and Ryanair drove down the bar
| for "acceptable" behavior to below zero.
| rippercushions wrote:
| Hey, at least you can still keep your shoes on.
| mnky9800n wrote:
| You don't have to take your shoes off at any European
| airport. Also the security people all seem professional and
| not on a power trip. This has not been my experience in
| America.
| AdrianB1 wrote:
| I worked in an airport in Europe for several years: it
| depends on the country, the airport and the flight (some
| commercial flights had special security requirements,
| extremely strict).
| [deleted]
| switch007 wrote:
| > As is (consistently) utterly ill-mannered, power
| tripping, unprofessional security staff.
|
| Manchester or Manchester?
| moltar wrote:
| Yes, totally agree on the security personal. Everyone is
| shockingly friendly.
|
| I stopped flying via US where possible as the experience
| was always horrific.
| ponector wrote:
| Depends on the shoe type. I was asked multiple times to
| take off heavy winter shoes. But no one ever told me to
| take off my sneakers
| moltar wrote:
| Maybe it's not true for some countries. But I flew Porto to
| Barcelona and it was like riding a bus.
|
| My record time from taxi to gate is 12 minutes at Porto
| airport.
|
| There's definitely no excess of security or any theatre. Very
| vanilla.
| frutiger wrote:
| I regularly achieve this at JFK (having Global Entry
| certainly helps).
| edrxty wrote:
| You don't have to use the TSA locks if you go full American
| and throw some guns in your luggage.
| KeplerBoy wrote:
| That really was a long time ago.
|
| Trains are trendier than ever and the networks are expanding
| again. Sleeper trains are making a huge comeback and private
| companies are shaking up the industry with low fares on popular
| routes.
| EdwardDiego wrote:
| Flying through Tegel was a notorious exception to that less BS
| rule. The wait for our bags was longer than the flight in from
| Munchen.
| HPsquared wrote:
| The new Brandenburg airport is pretty good, if a bit big.
| witchesindublin wrote:
| Flying in Europe is now basically similar to taking a bus, even
| for all the full service airlines as well. It's only on a
| handful of international routes to Asia where you can get a
| nice level of service if you opt for the higher classes. In
| ever aspect there is very little comfort in plane travel these
| days, whereas train travel is generally more comfortable and
| with better services.
| HPsquared wrote:
| It makes sense that if you spend longer onboard, it's got to
| be more comfortable.
| bobthepanda wrote:
| No, European short-haul is uniquely not comfortable.
|
| European business class for example, is often just a triple
| economy-row seat and maybe the middle seat is blocked off.
| This is different from, say, American business, which is
| not great when comparing globally, but is at least a bigger
| seat with more seat pitch.
| witchesindublin wrote:
| Considering this is from the Economist, I think it is worth to
| mention the dire state of British railways.
|
| The main reason that Europeans fly (including Brits) is that it's
| simply the cheapest option, more-so that bus in many cases.
| Airplanes are pretty much providing services similar or lower
| than to buses, and trains tend to have better service and also
| tend to be more comfortable these days. Most airplanes have been
| reduced to low cost or no-frills status, even the full service
| ones, and flying is a nightmare in terms of peace-of-mind and
| comfort.
|
| Deutsche Bahn is one of the better railway operators in Europe,
| especially compared to the railways in Southern Europe or the UK,
| but obviously there are a lot of improvements that need to be
| made.
| lmm wrote:
| > Deutsche Bahn is one of the better railway operators in
| Europe, especially compared to the railways in Southern Europe
| or the UK
|
| Are you sure you're not just remembering their old reputation?
| DB's punctuality and performance has gotten to be terrible
| lately, I'd say they're well below Trenitalia or Renfe or most
| of the UK railways at this point. (And complaints about British
| railways are pretty overstated; prices are bad, but performance
| is objectively pretty good).
| [deleted]
| switch007 wrote:
| Train performance is abysmal in the north of England. It's a
| joke. The trains can barely be relied upon. It's managed
| decline of the railways.
| phatfish wrote:
| In the UK the franchise model is slowly falling apart after
| Covid gave it a death blow. Lines are being nationalized as
| the operators extract bonuses for the exec team and finally
| give up by tanking the service so the government has to step
| in. Here is the latest.
|
| https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65555262
| balaji1 wrote:
| This has to just be a side-effect of the revolving-door grace
| of government subsidies - Currently/lately, short-haul airlines
| are being subsidized. Even though those subsidies are costly
| and least effective.
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