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Amusing article. Yes German trains are often late. One of the main reasons was suicides. Previously all trains in that area would be stopped until all body part

Amusing article. Yes German trains are often late. One of the main reasons was suicides. Previously all trains in that area would be stopped until all body parts were found and collected. This practice is no more. Trains have to go slower in the clean up area but not stop. Comparing Deutsche Bahn and the UK train service is like comparing night and day. With DB you get value for money and comfort. With UK trains you get something else entirely, must not forget to mention most of them don't pay tax and are run as offshore entities..

fbdab103 3y ago
According to random search result[0], there are ~800 annual suicides by train per year in Germany. For the number of lines in the country, that does not seem like a sufficient number to explain away train delays. [0] https://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/rail-suicide-a-train-driver-struggles-with-lives-taken-a-1191500.html https://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/rail-suicide-...
- lispm 3y ago
  If you have two of those each day, you'll get lots of network effects. Imagine a train track from Hamburg (where a lot of ICE trains are starting) to the south being delayed for two hours in the morning. That means a lot of effects since the train lines and train stations are often operating at the higher end of the capacity. For example recently two girls im my hometown were doing Tiktok videos for a challenge on a high-speed train track. One got killed and one barely survived. The whole track between Hamburg and Berlin was closed for hours. Whenever there are reports of people on the tracks, they need to be checked and trains are stopped.
- permo-w 3y ago
  I mean that is on average >2 lines per day, which doesn't sound like much, but how many people use a line per day? and I'm guessing suicides occur more often on busy lines, so it's significant still
permo-w 3y ago
UK trains are very expensive but it's a myth that the service is poor. when I was last in Germany, I took 3 trains. 2/3 were more than 15 minutes delayed and the third was 5 minutes late. obviously 3 is a small sample size, but I've taken tens of trains in a row in the UK without a delay of even 5 minutes. the trains also appeared to be a lot older and in worse condition than the average British train I've been on
- thesaintlives 3y ago
  Not true. Rail card makes German trains a total value for money proposition. Rolling stock is 10 times better. Comfortable, warm with many seating options. This is across the board. Want to experience time travel? Take a regional UK train and go back to 1950...
  - kmlx 3y ago
    depends on the lines. from my experience the UK is considerably better in all regards compared to german trains.

fbdab103 3y ago

According to random search result[0], there are ~800 annual suicides by train per year in Germany. For the number of lines in the country, that does not seem like a sufficient number to explain away train delays. [0] https://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/rail-suicide-a-train-driver-struggles-with-lives-taken-a-1191500.html https://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/rail-suicide-...

lispm 3y ago
If you have two of those each day, you'll get lots of network effects. Imagine a train track from Hamburg (where a lot of ICE trains are starting) to the south being delayed for two hours in the morning. That means a lot of effects since the train lines and train stations are often operating at the higher end of the capacity. For example recently two girls im my hometown were doing Tiktok videos for a challenge on a high-speed train track. One got killed and one barely survived. The whole track between Hamburg and Berlin was closed for hours. Whenever there are reports of people on the tracks, they need to be checked and trains are stopped.
permo-w 3y ago
I mean that is on average >2 lines per day, which doesn't sound like much, but how many people use a line per day? and I'm guessing suicides occur more often on busy lines, so it's significant still

permo-w 3y ago

UK trains are very expensive but it's a myth that the service is poor. when I was last in Germany, I took 3 trains. 2/3 were more than 15 minutes delayed and the third was 5 minutes late. obviously 3 is a small sample size, but I've taken tens of trains in a row in the UK without a delay of even 5 minutes. the trains also appeared to be a lot older and in worse condition than the average British train I've been on

thesaintlives 3y ago
Not true. Rail card makes German trains a total value for money proposition. Rolling stock is 10 times better. Comfortable, warm with many seating options. This is across the board. Want to experience time travel? Take a regional UK train and go back to 1950...
- kmlx 3y ago
  depends on the lines. from my experience the UK is considerably better in all regards compared to german trains.