5 ms·

> The long-distance ones only arrive within 5 minutes 75% of the time. By standards I am familiar with, that's good. Last time I checked, my local train statio

> The long-distance ones only arrive within 5 minutes 75% of the time. By standards I am familiar with, that's good. Last time I checked, my local train station had trains arriving within 10 minutes only 50% of the time.

mtmail 7y ago
"In Germany, there are two kinds of "on time". So far [2017], 94.2% of trains have reached their final destination within six minutes of the scheduled time, and 98.9% within 16 minutes." The article also goes into detail how every country measures punctuality differently. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42024020 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42024020 (Yes, Germans love to complain about the train company)
- darzu 7y ago
  I really wish articles like this put these numbers into a table or graph. Does anyone know of a table comparing train punctuality?
- lucb1e 7y ago
  > 94.2% of trains have reached their final destination within six minutes of the scheduled time That's a terrible statistic. First off, connections are designed to be just a few minutes, so 5 minutes delay (not included in this stat) makes you miss an average connection. Secondly, that statistic is about trains, not people: one could manage to have 50% of people be delayed by 30-60 minutes every day and still have 94.2% of trains run on time just by having only the busiest trains between 8-9h and 16-18h delayed enough to miss people's local connection. Finally, the final destination says nothing about intermediate stops (why not just look at every stop?). Things like switching drivers, refueling, or just introducing some slack in the schedule is most often done at endpoints. Heck, if I know this is the statistic being used, I would be sure to design my schedules to have even more leeway at the endpoints than I otherwise already would. I'm curious to see how this statistic changes when it includes intermediate stops and counts delayed passengers rather than empty trains running on time. Optionally, counting the full delay (missed connection / actual frustration) instead of the technical train delay would also be interesting. As one datapoint, my girlfriend takes a train from Cologne in rush hour that is 4-20 minutes late more than half the time, with a connecting bus that goes once an hour that is always on time or even early. She usually misses it.
  - merb 7y ago
    also this statistic is favored towards the north of the country. because there are way more trains. he lives in the south I guess (near munich) probably which has way less trains for regional traffic
- cosmodisk 7y ago
  I see Germans taking best lessons from English counterparts... Reached last destination my ass...
lucb1e 7y ago
75% punctual is good? Because I usually use the long-distance train when I need to go somewhere, not to go for a drink, and having a 1 in 4 chance of being late at a customer's or missing a plane... I dunno, that's not really a chance you want to take, so you end up planning for 1-2 hours of delay every single time, depending on how bad it is if you're late due to no fault of your own (a departing plane won't care but a customer might understand).
- coldtea 7y ago
  >75% punctual is good? Because I usually use the long-distance train when I need to go somewhere, not to go for a drink, and having a 1 in 4 chance of being late at a customer's or missing a plane... If you're gonna miss a plane because a train is more than 5 minutes late (I'm guessing closer to 10 or so, not 30), then you didn't plan your trip to the airport that well...
  - lucb1e 7y ago
    Right, so you have to build in slack yourself, i.e. you can't rely on the "high punctuality" of 75%. They might as well be 1% punctual and, unless the amount of delay also increases, it wouldn't change a thing.
  - cosmodisk 7y ago
    While I agree with you on the planning part, it still doesn't chsnge the fact thst a train can't reach all the stations on time, despite having a predefined schedule,almost no traffic and etc.
  - CodesInChaos 7y ago
    10 mins delay is often enough to miss a connecting train, forcing you to wait for the next one, which is typically 1h later than the previous one. So planning for a 1-2h delay on a multi-leg train journey is prudent, if you need to be on time.
- esrauch 7y ago
  When I used to take Amtrak in the US routinely for a 6 hour ride I believe it was 0% punctual by a definition much much weaker than that. I don't believe it was literally ever delayed less than 30 minutes. Also in the US airports you can't always rely on security being less than 30 minutes (barring TSA precheck), so the idea of missing a flight because the train was 10 minutes late is an absurd thought here. I lived in Europe for the past couple years and as an American it really is shocking how drastic the understanding of public transit fundamentally is in the minds of the public at large.
holri 7y ago
In Austria this number is 86,6% (long distance, max 5 min late) Austrians also travel the most by train in the EU. (a coinicidence?)
Rebelgecko 7y ago
I was in Switzerland recently and they put German trains to shame. I dont think we were ever more than a minute behind schedule. As soon as we crossed into Konstanz the scheduling went to shit

mtmail 7y ago

"In Germany, there are two kinds of "on time". So far [2017], 94.2% of trains have reached their final destination within six minutes of the scheduled time, and 98.9% within 16 minutes." The article also goes into detail how every country measures punctuality differently. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42024020 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42024020 (Yes, Germans love to complain about the train company)

darzu 7y ago
I really wish articles like this put these numbers into a table or graph. Does anyone know of a table comparing train punctuality?
lucb1e 7y ago
> 94.2% of trains have reached their final destination within six minutes of the scheduled time That's a terrible statistic. First off, connections are designed to be just a few minutes, so 5 minutes delay (not included in this stat) makes you miss an average connection. Secondly, that statistic is about trains, not people: one could manage to have 50% of people be delayed by 30-60 minutes every day and still have 94.2% of trains run on time just by having only the busiest trains between 8-9h and 16-18h delayed enough to miss people's local connection. Finally, the final destination says nothing about intermediate stops (why not just look at every stop?). Things like switching drivers, refueling, or just introducing some slack in the schedule is most often done at endpoints. Heck, if I know this is the statistic being used, I would be sure to design my schedules to have even more leeway at the endpoints than I otherwise already would. I'm curious to see how this statistic changes when it includes intermediate stops and counts delayed passengers rather than empty trains running on time. Optionally, counting the full delay (missed connection / actual frustration) instead of the technical train delay would also be interesting. As one datapoint, my girlfriend takes a train from Cologne in rush hour that is 4-20 minutes late more than half the time, with a connecting bus that goes once an hour that is always on time or even early. She usually misses it.
- merb 7y ago
  also this statistic is favored towards the north of the country. because there are way more trains. he lives in the south I guess (near munich) probably which has way less trains for regional traffic
cosmodisk 7y ago
I see Germans taking best lessons from English counterparts... Reached last destination my ass...

lucb1e 7y ago

75% punctual is good? Because I usually use the long-distance train when I need to go somewhere, not to go for a drink, and having a 1 in 4 chance of being late at a customer's or missing a plane... I dunno, that's not really a chance you want to take, so you end up planning for 1-2 hours of delay every single time, depending on how bad it is if you're late due to no fault of your own (a departing plane won't care but a customer might understand).

coldtea 7y ago
>75% punctual is good? Because I usually use the long-distance train when I need to go somewhere, not to go for a drink, and having a 1 in 4 chance of being late at a customer's or missing a plane... If you're gonna miss a plane because a train is more than 5 minutes late (I'm guessing closer to 10 or so, not 30), then you didn't plan your trip to the airport that well...
- lucb1e 7y ago
  Right, so you have to build in slack yourself, i.e. you can't rely on the "high punctuality" of 75%. They might as well be 1% punctual and, unless the amount of delay also increases, it wouldn't change a thing.
- cosmodisk 7y ago
  While I agree with you on the planning part, it still doesn't chsnge the fact thst a train can't reach all the stations on time, despite having a predefined schedule,almost no traffic and etc.
- CodesInChaos 7y ago
  10 mins delay is often enough to miss a connecting train, forcing you to wait for the next one, which is typically 1h later than the previous one. So planning for a 1-2h delay on a multi-leg train journey is prudent, if you need to be on time.
esrauch 7y ago
When I used to take Amtrak in the US routinely for a 6 hour ride I believe it was 0% punctual by a definition much much weaker than that. I don't believe it was literally ever delayed less than 30 minutes. Also in the US airports you can't always rely on security being less than 30 minutes (barring TSA precheck), so the idea of missing a flight because the train was 10 minutes late is an absurd thought here. I lived in Europe for the past couple years and as an American it really is shocking how drastic the understanding of public transit fundamentally is in the minds of the public at large.

holri 7y ago

In Austria this number is 86,6% (long distance, max 5 min late) Austrians also travel the most by train in the EU. (a coinicidence?)

Rebelgecko 7y ago

I was in Switzerland recently and they put German trains to shame. I dont think we were ever more than a minute behind schedule. As soon as we crossed into Konstanz the scheduling went to shit