Frequent delays on German railways have caused embarrassment abroad
2024-08-17
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Germans are famous for their rigor, but German railways are naturally rebellious and famous for being unreliable. For a long time, the German railway timetable can only be used as a reference for travel. Being late is the norm, and the length of the delay depends entirely on luck. This has caused dissatisfaction among neighboring countries. Since the beginning of this year, many German-Swiss international lines have had to change trains at the border due to delays. In the first quarter of this year, more than 10% of German railways stopped outside the border and were taken over by Switzerland.
Image source: Internet
Currently, Germany has several railways connected with Switzerland. From January to March this year, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) required 11% of Deutsche Bahn trains on the Munich-Zurich line to stop at the border in advance and have Swiss trains take over the passengers. On the Freiburg-Basel line, 12.4% of Deutsche Bahn trains needed to turn around at the border and miss the Swiss mountains and waters.
This move is really because of the huge gap in "railway culture" between Germany and Switzerland. In 2023, the punctuality rate of Swiss trains was 92.5%, while that of Germany was only 64%. According to a Swiss Railways spokesperson, depending on the route, the buffer time stipulated by German Railways for trains is as long as 10 to 15 minutes. The reasons given by the German side for the delays include: road construction, contact network failures, infrastructure problems, and strikes. Matthias Gastel, a member of the German Bundestag, said: "Decades of neglect of railway infrastructure means that the operating quality of German Railways is increasingly lagging behind our neighbors." "Switzerland's approach is understandable, and of course it is painful for passengers."
It seems that the problems of German railways are not only clearly understood by the people in Germany, but also by its neighboring countries.
Special Contributor Zhuang Sheng
