‘detached’ as in ‘different parts of the same company’ in Germany and a rather pro-SNCF entity in France. While this is generally a good idea, especially if you

‘detached’ as in ‘different parts of the same company’ in Germany and a rather pro-SNCF entity in France. While this is generally a good idea, especially if you combine it with standard tickets s.t. you only need to buy one ticket even if you use multiple train operators on your route (cf. National Rail in the UK)[0], it is certainly not the reason France or Germany have the ‘most developred rail networks’: the reason for that is showing off to their neighbours, even if it sometimes doesn’t make much sense :) [0] This only works in state-subsidised short-distance trains, long-distance trains not operated by Deutsche Bahn need different tickets, I believe the same goes for France.