3 ms·

A startup with wrong product focus would be insolvent in a few months. Deutsche Bahn can rot for decades spending money on technology that would not make any di

A startup with wrong product focus would be insolvent in a few months. Deutsche Bahn can rot for decades spending money on technology that would not make any difference when a quarter of its trains is delayed or cancelled.

thewarpaint 2y ago
Care to explain how trains being delayed or canceled is related to a new technology reducing sound pollution?
- tschwimmer 2y ago
  The article posits it could make approvals to build new rail lines near noise sensitive areas easier.
- ivan_gammel 2y ago
  The prospects of building something new with this tech are very distant. Just to get an approval for construction in Germany it can take years and then there will be traditional delays along the way. We won’t see it in any meaningful quantities before 2030-2040 - whether this project will survive until then is an open question. The acute service problem on the other side could be addressed by simpler means like investment in IT and better internal processes. My last trip was cancelled one hour in advance, despite that they knew it couldn’t happen days before. I had to visit their travel center, because the app couldn’t apply my seat reservation to alternative route, and that experience was awful. It is very hard to understand why some tech that may never see the light due to bureaucratic hurdles deserves investment at the time where service doesn’t show any signs of improvement.
microtherion 2y ago
My understanding is that some of the mitigation for delayed or cancelled trains will involve new construction, and that might be facilitated by reducing the noise impact.
usr1106 2y ago
Deutsche Bahn is not a startup, but provides public service. Are the Autobahns profitable? That they have problems with service quality does not mean other problems should not be addressed. Noise pollution has massive health consequences for those living in affected areas.
yau8edq12i 2y ago
A decades old national train company is about as far from a startup as can be. That's a really strange comment.

thewarpaint 2y ago

Care to explain how trains being delayed or canceled is related to a new technology reducing sound pollution?

tschwimmer 2y ago
The article posits it could make approvals to build new rail lines near noise sensitive areas easier.
ivan_gammel 2y ago
The prospects of building something new with this tech are very distant. Just to get an approval for construction in Germany it can take years and then there will be traditional delays along the way. We won’t see it in any meaningful quantities before 2030-2040 - whether this project will survive until then is an open question. The acute service problem on the other side could be addressed by simpler means like investment in IT and better internal processes. My last trip was cancelled one hour in advance, despite that they knew it couldn’t happen days before. I had to visit their travel center, because the app couldn’t apply my seat reservation to alternative route, and that experience was awful. It is very hard to understand why some tech that may never see the light due to bureaucratic hurdles deserves investment at the time where service doesn’t show any signs of improvement.

microtherion 2y ago

My understanding is that some of the mitigation for delayed or cancelled trains will involve new construction, and that might be facilitated by reducing the noise impact.

usr1106 2y ago

Deutsche Bahn is not a startup, but provides public service. Are the Autobahns profitable? That they have problems with service quality does not mean other problems should not be addressed. Noise pollution has massive health consequences for those living in affected areas.

yau8edq12i 2y ago

A decades old national train company is about as far from a startup as can be. That's a really strange comment.