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> The main cause (often somewhat hidden behind the term "decayed infrastructure") is that there are too many trains on too few tracks. Do you have a citation f

> The main cause (often somewhat hidden behind the term "decayed infrastructure") is that there are too many trains on too few tracks. Do you have a citation for this? The people I know from the DB bubble are telling me that while some places have not enough track (e.g. the infamous Frankfurt-Mannheim/Riedbahn), but the everywhere problem is that there's just fault over fault over fault in tracks (often switches, but even tracks themselves) and trackside equipment. > […] the number of trains per hour was increased by a factor of 2-3 […] Even this I'm not quite willing to accept without citation; the railway timetables in the 70ies and 80ies, especially after the oil shock, were quite dense.

lqet 1y ago
> Do you have a citation for this? I don't, this is just my personal experience with passenger rail in southwestern Germany. The smaller lines with 1-2 trains per hour are usually extremely reliable, while the lines on crowded tracks are usually delayed, or cancelled completely. Note that many of the reliable lines I regularly used over the past 10-15 years ran on track equipment from the 19th century, some still with wing signals and switches operated via pulleys. (Anecdotally, I never experienced any technical problems with this old equipment as a passenger, the technical problems usually started after modernization). > Even this I'm not quite willing to accept without citation; the railway timetables in the 70ies and 80ies, especially after the oil shock, were quite dense. The factor of 2-3 was for my local network (which was converted to an S-Bahn network a few years ago, and a 30 minute frequency was introduced, with 15 minute frequency during peak hours). Some parts of that network only had 1-2 trains per day from the 70ies to the mid-90ies.
- gcatellani2k 1y ago
  And with the introduction of ETCS the number of trains can theoretically be increased even more, as the distance for safe operation between the trains can be reduced thanks to it. I agree on all points though: the German Railway is in a predicted crisis and has very little to do with problems inside DB itself but from regulations stemming from the owners (the German Government). Without money to invest in new infrastructure and its maintenance nothing can get better, no matter what DB does.
- eqvinox 1y ago
  Mhm. I'll absolutely agree some infrastructure is at its limit/oversubscribed, but I also think you're generalizing a bit too much from your own experience without data to back it up. Btw. Wooden sleepers laid in the 19th century have completely rotted away by now; it's impossible for the line track itself to be that old (except very slow speed shunting tracks, maybe.)

lqet 1y ago

> Do you have a citation for this? I don't, this is just my personal experience with passenger rail in southwestern Germany. The smaller lines with 1-2 trains per hour are usually extremely reliable, while the lines on crowded tracks are usually delayed, or cancelled completely. Note that many of the reliable lines I regularly used over the past 10-15 years ran on track equipment from the 19th century, some still with wing signals and switches operated via pulleys. (Anecdotally, I never experienced any technical problems with this old equipment as a passenger, the technical problems usually started after modernization). > Even this I'm not quite willing to accept without citation; the railway timetables in the 70ies and 80ies, especially after the oil shock, were quite dense. The factor of 2-3 was for my local network (which was converted to an S-Bahn network a few years ago, and a 30 minute frequency was introduced, with 15 minute frequency during peak hours). Some parts of that network only had 1-2 trains per day from the 70ies to the mid-90ies.

gcatellani2k 1y ago
And with the introduction of ETCS the number of trains can theoretically be increased even more, as the distance for safe operation between the trains can be reduced thanks to it. I agree on all points though: the German Railway is in a predicted crisis and has very little to do with problems inside DB itself but from regulations stemming from the owners (the German Government). Without money to invest in new infrastructure and its maintenance nothing can get better, no matter what DB does.
eqvinox 1y ago
Mhm. I'll absolutely agree some infrastructure is at its limit/oversubscribed, but I also think you're generalizing a bit too much from your own experience without data to back it up. Btw. Wooden sleepers laid in the 19th century have completely rotted away by now; it's impossible for the line track itself to be that old (except very slow speed shunting tracks, maybe.)