I'm not talking about whether Germany's rail network is better or worse than other people's rail networks, but rather whether it embodies the supposed national

I'm not talking about whether Germany's rail network is better or worse than other people's rail networks, but rather whether it embodies the supposed national characteristic of being methodical and precise. The problem with the German rail network is not that they are running too many trains (I mean, they're planning on shutting services down!). The problem is primarily that there has been a significant lack of investment in necessary repairs and upgrades to maintain existing capacity levels, let alone support the increased capacity that comes from a growing population. The two options here are not "one time but rare" or "not on time but regular" — you can have both things, and it is completely within the power of a properly-funded DB to implement both things.