Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn

Overall view of Deutsche Bahn (DB) reliability

• Many commenters report DB as one of their worst rail experiences in Europe: frequent long delays, skipped stops, sudden terminations in small towns, and missed connections.
• Others say the system “mostly works” if you build in large buffers (often 1–3 hours) and accept delays as normal, especially on long‑distance ICE/IC; regional/local trains are widely seen as more reliable.
• Several note DB’s punctuality statistics are flattering: “on time” means <6 minutes late and cancelled trains don’t count. Shared links put German on‑time performance around the bottom of major European systems.
• A recurring pattern: people travel for hours only to be dumped in a village, with little guidance, or carried far past their stop because the train cannot or will not stop.

Comparisons with other countries

• UK: widely criticized for cost, complex pricing, cancellations and crowding; some defend service quality and compensation (“Delay Repay”) and say it’s at least as good as DB, sometimes better.
• Switzerland and the Netherlands are held up as models: very high punctuality, dense synchronized networks, but also high costs and capacity issues on popular routes.
• Italy, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden: mixed reports. High‑speed lines often good; regional services can be unreliable. Several say “if you’re worse than Italy, you have a real problem.”
• Neighboring networks now actively limit DB’s impact: Switzerland reportedly blocks late German trains to protect its own timetable.

Ownership, funding, and structure

• DB is legally a private corporation fully owned by the state. Critics describe it as “privatize profits, socialize losses”: management chases profit and bonuses while taxpayers cover deficits.
• Multiple commenters trace decline to 1990s “market‑oriented” reforms: underinvestment in track, closed lines and yards, loss of redundancy, and a massively fragmented internal structure with hundreds of subsidiaries billing each other.
• Broad agreement that rail quality correlates mainly with sustained infrastructure investment and capacity, not simply public vs private ownership.

Language, communication, and bureaucracy

• Repeated complaints about opaque announcements (“technical problems,” “issues around X”) and German‑only communication during disruptions, leaving tourists and non‑fluent residents stranded or confused.
• Strong cultural critique of German rule‑following and bureaucratic rigidity: staff often refuse obvious, humane fixes (“not allowed,” “not registered”), even when the result is absurd detours.
• Others defend staff, pointing to safety constraints (wrong track, no platform, dense traffic) and note many employees are helpful within the rules.

“Kidnapped” framing and responses

• Some find the “kidnapped” metaphor offensive and melodramatic; argue this is a rerouting inconvenience, comparable to diverted flights or buses that skip stops.
• Others say being carried far past your destination with no option to leave or re‑route does feel like a loss of agency, especially when caused by avoidable procedural or infrastructural failures.
• A minority suggest extreme responses (e.g. faking medical emergencies or pulling the emergency brake); most condemn this as immoral, dangerous, and an abuse of emergency services.

Cars, climate, and modal choice

• Multiple commenters say these kinds of failures push them back to cars or planes despite wanting to travel by train for environmental or comfort reasons.
• Some argue Germany’s car lobby, political neglect, and austerity‑style funding choices have deliberately or negligently “enshitified” the rail network, undermining climate goals.