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What the Deutsche Bahn teaches us about life
I’m currently sitting in a crowded ICE (= InterCity Express) run by DB (Deutsche Bahn, the German railway company) to Cologne from Frankfurt. This route would normally take 1:04 hours, but today, after precisely one hour, I’ve just made it to Frankfurt airport.
People are fussing, people are complaining — they’ve got somewhere to be. I’ve got somewhere to be, too. A friend of mine is getting married. But luckily, I planned with buffer time.
As a business traveler, I take long distance trains in Germany almost every week, and about 33% of the time, they’re delayed, the reservations don’t work, you miss your connection, the wagons are in the wrong order or the track is switched two minutes before departure. The prices go up and up every year. All that shit, and despite that, I still take the train. Every. Single. Time.
Why? Why do I do this to myself?
Because in the end, it’s still by far the best option to move inside of Germany. How else would I go places? By car? By plane? By — dear lord — bus?
Travel by car
As much as there are issues with the train, they are no less with a car. A car may break down just like a train would, and you get stuck in traffic all the time. For solo travelers, it’s more expensive; it’s a lot worse for the…
