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> Meanwhile, Deutsche Bahn AG hopes to attract 200 million long-distance rail passengers by 2030, an increase of 35%. Good luck with that. DB neither has the r

• winkelwagen 7y ago
  It is a shame, France has great rail, the Netherlands as well. My last experiences with traveling long train distances with DB rail were pretty abysmal. Resulting in taxi rides payed by DB themselves. I’ve even considered going back to buses. Although trains as much preferable to buses and planes, Connections are not an issue (usually).
  • NeedMoreTea 7y ago
    Meanwhile here in the UK we have a fine rail network suitable for the 1910s. We finally upgraded to 1970s speeds in the 2000s -- deliberately avoiding 1980s speeds. HS2 might not be made available at all, let alone to the more northerly bits of the country. That nice Mr Beeching threw away half the network in the 1960s. It shames us to see our closest neighbours do rail so well -- especially when the demand is there, it's just political will that's missing.
  • tremon 7y ago
    Ah, that brings back memories. Boarding a direct international train from Zurich to Amsterdam, only to have the train terminate at Frankfurt airport because of congestion problems up ahead (spring weather). Then having to wait for hours because a few thousand stranded passengers had to be served by a two-man information desk, then receiving a voucher for a taxi ride that would only take us to the border (wtf), instead of the destination printed on our train ticket. If there had been a plane to NL available at the airport, I would have taken it immediately.
• bluGill 7y ago
  Those problems are solvable. If they focus on them all now they can get there. There are several companies in the world making good rolling stock. There is a fairly long leadtime, which means they better be making orders today to get the rolling stock they need in time. Good rolling stock is of course a requirement to increase passenger count. Infrastructure can be built and rebuilt. The know how exists in the world, it just needs money and a bit of time (the more money the less time) These two need to start today. However some smart planning and priorities the places where the most gains can be had. Doubling ridership in a small but busy section is often easier than doing the whole system and can add up to 35% overall increases even though the rest of the system is slightly down. This could be doable in 10 years. (then you focus on the next small part of the system and bring that up, while continuing to keep service high on the first, and soon your network is useful) People can be hired and trained. The right people will make it work. That is management, and maintenance, and operations. They have 8 years to do the above: it typically takes 2 years for riders to respond to better service once it exists. It is a hard problem for sure, but if they have the money and will it can be done. That is a rather large if though, and I don't know if they do)
  • foobarian 7y ago
    On the surface it seems like such a simple thing to make - a box on some metal wheels. Why is it such an accomplishment to make "good rolling stock?"
    • pjc50 7y ago
      A house is a simple thing, being a wooden or brick box? A car is also a box on wheels? A rocket is just a metal cylinder? </sarcasm> - could we at least try to think or research before posting the middlebrow dismissal? A passenger rail car is more like a house or very large caravan. In addition to all the engineering below the body (wheels, suspension, vacuum brakes, coupling), you've got a large superstructure with windows, plumbing, electrics, HVAC, power-operated doors, and design considerations of accesability and crash safety as well as comfort. They generally need a special site to be built on (unless you want to ship them by road, which can be done but is inconvenient) and some heavy capital equipment. The UK built bus-on-rail conversions to cover a period of national poverty; the notorious "Pacers". They were uncomfortable and unpopular.
• netsharc 7y ago
  It's a company that advertised a new version of their mobile app with a seemingly proud "Now with delays notification!"...
  • pintxo 7y ago
    I would actually like to get __working__ delay notifications. Last I took DB I remember delay notifications be adjusted on a "we exceed the delay already" basis. Example: train expected at 1200, at 1155 you get a 10 minutes delayed notification. Which will be replaced at 1212 by a 15 minutes delayed notification. Which will be played this way more or less until the train finally arrives. So you see, a working delay notification would actually be a real improvement. I have not problem with delays in general, but I do like to know if it even makes sense to wait, or if I should get a car or plane ticket to make my schedule.
• Gravityloss 7y ago
  That's 11 years away. Relatively easy to build a lot of trains and cars by then. There are a lot of companies in Europe and over the world that are eager to bid.