The pensioner is sitting with her suitcase, which she had to laboriously heave onto the train in Marburg, in the second class of the ICE in the direction of Karlsruhe. “I think that's good with 3-G,” says Gudrun Daubert. She can't understand why people don't get vaccinated. The 3-G rule for buses and trains that was adopted in the Infection Protection Act has been in effect since Wednesday. Only those who have been vaccinated, recovered or officially tested are allowed to ride. Otherwise, after a control, you should get off at the next stop, if necessary with the help of the Federal Police. The evidence is to be checked “randomly”, as the railway reports. The mask requirement continues to apply. The pensioner is excited to see whether and how the new 3-G rule will be checked.

The ICE terminus in Karlsruhe is also your destination.

Her daughter, who she wants to visit today, lives there with her grandson.

They see each other once a month.

Then always take the fast connection with the ICE.

“It drives straight through.

It's really nice. ”Gudrun Daubert is a retired teacher for nursing professions.

She knows the current situation in the intensive care units.

“The clinic in Marburg is full,” she says.

Many of their former apprentices complained about the risk of infection, overtime, and stress.

Dutiful passengers

Everything is the same when you get on the train. The passengers wear masks, quietly take their seats, listen to music or read the newspaper. The train starts. "Please have proof of your vaccination or test ready," the announcement suddenly says. "We are probably really checked," says the pensioner. She went to the vaccination as soon as it was possible. She considers compulsory vaccination, at least for certain professional groups, to be right.

As she talks, she is interrupted by a friendly voice.

"Good Morning.

Tickets please. ”She shows her ticket routinely and then dutifully scrolls straight to the vaccination certificate on her smartphone.

The conductor waves it away.

“The colleagues from DB Security check it.” Daubert shrugs his shoulders and puts her cell phone and ticket back in her handbag.

So then wait for DB security.

"Security would definitely increase control," she says.

Many passengers on the train behave similarly when checking tickets.

As the press office of Deutsche Bahn for Hessen announced on request, the passengers are "well informed and have the evidence with them".

In general, the control staff reported that passengers had a “high level of acceptance of the new 3G rules”.

Training is still ongoing

Reinhard Fischer, a retired soldier, also finds the new rule “okay” and “sensible”. For the Munich resident, who commutes to Gießen twice a month because of love, vaccination is “a question of solidarity”. He too would like to be vaccinated. Again and again Daubert and the fisherman sitting behind her stretch their heads into the aisle of the wagon. No DB security inspector in sight. It is true that 9,000 employees across Germany are on the road and check how the company reports. Not only the security staff but also the customer advisors should be involved in the 3-G check on the regional trains. The training for this is still ongoing, however. However, the rule already applies.

Daubert and Fischer are not checked.

And no other passenger in this ICE, which is pretty full from Giessen.

That would be easily possible, says Fischer.

Simply check the proof together with the ticket.

Daubert says: "A rule that is not controlled is not a rule."