Munich plant Ulm trip by train
Fritz Kaindl wanted to travel from Munich to Ulm with a regional express train operated by Deutsche Bahn (DB). After a six-hour odyssey, he breaks off the journey in Augsburg.
Munich – It should be a harmless trip. Fritz Kaindl from Munich will take part in a guided tour of Ulm on Thursday afternoon (July 14). He will travel from Munich to Ulm by train, which is climate-friendly and also affordable thanks to the 9-euro ticket. He has already booked the tour in Ulm. It started at 2:30 p.m.
Train odyssey in Bavaria: Munich wants to take the train to Ulm – and never arrives
In order to have enough buffers, as one reads a lot about trains and punctuality, Kaindl opts for the connection at 9.37 a.m. from Munich Central Station. Less than two hours later, at 11:35 a.m., the regional express is scheduled to arrive in Ulm. But nothing will come of it. Somewhere before Augsburg there is a fire brigade operation on the route. The journey had to be interrupted in Gessertshausen in the Augsburg district.
First stop: Gessertshausen – the SEV does not come for two hours
Deutsche Bahn can do little for a fire service. What the Munich man then experiences in the hours that follow, he will not soon forget. The passengers in Gessertshausen are informed by announcement that a bus will soon be available as a rail replacement service (SEV). Also they wait. “We were around 300 people, including many old people and small children.” It’s 33 degrees in the shade. There is no kiosk at the station, no drinks. You wait two hours. During this time there is no new information from Deutsche Bahn, Kaindl and his 300 or so fellow sufferers personally do not meet any DB service employees on their entire odyssey. A bus does not come either, but a new passage: The train towards Ulm would continue, the route was free again, everyone got on again.
Last stop: Dinkelscherben – here Fritz Kaindl gives up in exasperation – after six hours
And the train actually continues, but only as far as Dinkelscherben, also in the Augsburg district. There it says again: Get out! It continues with the SEV. It’s already ready. He does not. Even in beautiful Dinkelscherben there is no information, no bus, no railway employees. After all: A restaurant nearby is open and sells drinks. Kaindl waits there for another hour and a half. It’s already 4 p.m., the city tour in Ulm is long over. Here Kaindl decides, “frustrated and overheated”, to give up and start the return journey.
Chaos ride with the DB regional express: railway spokesman apologizes
Confronted with the story, a spokesman for Deutsche Bahn wrote to us on Friday: “We are very sorry that your readers had such a negative experience on their trip and were therefore unable to enjoy their trip as planned. I would like to apologize to our passengers on behalf of DB.”
And further: “Unfortunately, rail traffic had to be closed yesterday morning due to a fire brigade operation along the route between Burgau and Gessertshausen. The trains of DB Regio therefore initially ended in Burgau and Gessertshausen. In the further course of the day, the route could then be released to Dinkelscherben. However, the closure between Dinkelscherben and Burgau had to remain in place due to the ongoing fire brigade operation. For this reason, your reader’s next train was able to continue in the direction of Ulm, but only got as far as Dinkelscherben. It was only in the afternoon that the blockage could be completely lifted.”
Railway odyssey in Bavaria: DB statement reveals dangerous weaknesses – Bahn has no plan B
As far as the fire service. The further explanation by the DB as to why Fritz Kaindl and 300 other passengers had to endure hours in the prairie, however, reveals a dangerous Achilles tendon of the railway: The DB has no plan B in the event of a probable route closure.
If the route is blocked, DB dispatchers must ask bus companies
It’s not like a layman might imagine that in the event of a probable closure, buses and drivers are waiting somewhere in the next larger headquarters in Augsburg or Ulm. Instead, so-called dispatchers call local bus companies to see if they have spontaneous drivers and vehicles available that can start immediately and drive to Dinkelscherben. Most of the time, however, these providers are already busy themselves. The spokesman stands himself:
“Not every company has enough buses with drivers available ad hoc. Especially on weekdays and outside of the holidays, a lot of bus capacity is tied up in school and scheduled services in the mornings and afternoons. Also, once buses have been organized, they must first reach a location to pick up replacement service. Unfortunately, despite a great deal of effort, the replacement bus was only able to start its journey in Burgau in the late morning.”
It comes as little surprise that small, independent bus companies rarely leave their vehicles and drivers sitting around unused on a working day waiting for an emergency call from DB. But Deutsche Bahn’s crisis plan assumes that this is exactly the unexpected event.
Incidentally, Fritz Kaindl makes it back home the same day with a stopover in Augsburg. The train from Augsburg to Munich is only half an hour late.
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