That was a black day for the railways and their customers: a point fault on the ICE high-speed line Berlin – Hanover ten kilometers east of Rathenow in the state of Brandenburg caused long-distance traffic between the capital and western Germany to sink into chaos at the beginning of September. On the 90 kilometers between Berlin-Spandau and Stendal, there was no longer a fast train in both directions. The diversion route was almost twice as long and only slower to drive than the blocked 250 km / h line. Via Wittenberge on the Elbe and from there to Stendal, the long-distance trains over the congested Berlin-Hamburg route tormented themselves all day long. Minute-long stops and slow travel as well as a two-time change of direction in Wittenberge and Stendal kept the clock ticking.
At the end of the day, according to a spokesman, Deutsche Bahn's long-distance traffic totaled 1,500 minutes of delay on 32 trains. The journey took up to 95 minutes longer in individual cases. Passengers on that day are at least skeptical about whether everything was actually added up: the ICE 858 from Berlin to Cologne alone was 200 minutes late. The effects on the rest of the business can hardly be accounted for. Local rail transport, says Susanne Henckel, President of the Federal Association of Local Rail Transport, which represents the customers of regional rail transport - transport associations and state railway companies - drives 62 percent of all rail kilometers, long-distance transport only 14 percent."All in all, local rail passenger transport is significantly more affected by disruptions in the network than long-distance transport" - not least due to overhauls of delayed IC and ICE trains.
Another technical problem burdens rail customers on such crisis days: the “DB Navigator” app, which promises the actual timetable situation in “real time” in the event of delays, often turns out to be a failure, sometimes a total failure.
Delays appear late on the cell phone, connections are signaled that cannot exist.
On request, the railway did not comment on the navigator's errors and confusions.
Klaus-Peter Naumann from the Pro Bahn customer association sees a lack of digitization as a possible reason for failure: "Far too often, information in the event of a fault has to be passed on by hand by the dispatchers, which of course they don't have time for."
Trains between 30 and 40 years old are prone to failure
Important parts of the rolling stock are getting on in years. The first-generation intercity trains have been on the road for 40 years and are highly prone to failure, from the toilets to the doors. They should now be replaced "by new modern trains", explains a spokesman for the railway and refers to IC 2. Only: 40 trains with no more than five double-decker cars that have been taken from a local transport order and no faster than are rolling under the name Can drive 160 km / h. Your travel comfort is repeatedly criticized by rail customers: not good enough for longer long-distance trips. As a replacement for the old Intercity, they are only of limited use: It involves a much larger fleet of around 140 trains with 1200 cars, which have to travel at a top speed of 200 km / h for their timetables. Although decrepit,announced the railway to equip the wagons again with new toilets. Because the company has so far refused to order the next generation of intercity trains; Instead, he uses modernized ICE 1 trains. Despite the millions of euros invested in their restoration, they are already 30 years old.