It’s been a while since I last posted about Deutsche Bahn. That’s certainly not because the trains have gotten any better. I’ve simply gotten used to the situation and accepted it. In return, I get to chuckle at the surprise of occasional travelers nervously glancing at their tightly scheduled connections. Even though I’m less surprised and annoyed these days, there have been two stories over the past few months that I want to share here.
But the train is right there?
Why it still wasn’t leaving
These days, the first thing I do before getting out of bed is check my phone to see how delayed my train is. After all, it often gets me a few extra minutes of sleep. The display isn’t exactly reliable, but you learn to read the signs.
A few weeks ago, however, things were different. The train was running almost on time, and I went to the station as planned. To my delight, the train was already at the platform. In Frankfurt, it usually has a layover of about 25 minutes. So, I hopped on and made myself comfortable. Ten minutes after our scheduled departure, we were still sitting there. Through the window, I could see a train attendant sitting on a bench on the platform. A perfect situation for a smoker. I got out and asked if there was enough time for a cigarette. Shaking her head, she laughed and said, “One? At least ten!” Why? For the train from Amsterdam, the locomotive is switched in Frankfurt. The Dutch locomotive is uncoupled from the front, and a Deutsche Bahn locomotive is attached to the other end. If there were a locomotive, that is. That wasn’t the case that night; they simply couldn’t find a locomotive to pull our train.
It took almost 60 minutes for Deutsche Bahn to track down a locomotive and couple it. At the main station in Frankfurt am Main, one of the largest railway hubs in Germany. At 3:00 AM. No idea where all the locomotives were, probably sleeping. The train attendant was also visibly annoyed and embarrassed.
Customers Smarter Than the Control Center
Optimism instead of realism
As mentioned above, one locomotive is uncoupled in Frankfurt and another is coupled to the other end. At least there’s no shunting involved, but it’s still a two-step process, the train is quite long, and staff is scarce. It takes two to three minutes just to walk from one end of the train to the other, which the staff has to do to couple both sides. All in all, ten minutes for the whole procedure is fast; it usually takes closer to fifteen. Totally fine, I get it, and it’s factored into the 25-minute layover. In theory.
If the train is delayed, the control center has to adjust the schedule. My stop also serves as a buffer, as they plan for a 30-minute stop but can leave sooner. If the delay is longer, the train on the subsequent route is also delayed. So far, so good. If only the control center weren’t so optimistic in these situations. After using up the buffer, they seem to think the coupling process will magically get faster. Five minutes should be more than enough, at least according to the adjusted schedule.
The week before last, I mentioned this to a train attendant. He just laughed and said to his colleague that the customers know the railway better than the control center does by now. Then, to me, he added: “Of course we’re not leaving on schedule; five minutes is absolutely impossible. The control center just doesn’t get it and then wonders why they have to redo all the plans again after we depart.” Surprise, the coupling took almost 20 minutes, so we left 15 minutes later than the adjusted schedule had planned. Have fun rescheduling.
What can you say? The railway never disappoints when it comes to delivering good stories. I’d much prefer to write only positive things about the trains here, or nothing at all. But oh well, it’s still more comfortable than driving. Although, I drove last week and could comfortably listen to an audiobook. It’s just that working in the car isn’t really an option.