But will the new trains have dining cars? I remember a public backlash when they last talked about getting rid of them due to being not profitable, and am guessing things haven't changed for the better. Eg you pay 29 EUR minimum for a Hamburg-Berlin ride, compared to 9? for a bus.

>Eg you pay 29 EUR minimum for a Hamburg-Berlin ride, compared to 9? for a bus.

Long distance bus are much cheaper, but also much less comfortable and less reliable. DB gets a lot of flak for one hour delays on the first snow, my bus was delayed 3 hours at the start of winter. In general delays seem much more frequent with the bus. The concept of connecting to a different bus also doesn't exist (probably because of unreliable travel times), meanwhile with the train I can travel from anywhere to anywhere.

I would love cheaper trains, but they are already cheaper than traveling long distance by car and much more enjoyable and reliable than long distance bus. They lose badly to cheap flights though.

> The concept of connecting to a different bus also doesn't exist (probably because of unreliable travel times), meanwhile with the train I can travel from anywhere to anywhere

Flixbus will offer you connections with multiple legs, but the transfer time will always be 3-4 hours minimum. They're well aware that usage of public highway leads to random delays due to congestion.

I frequently commuted on the ICE (on the Netherlands end of the line) for a couple of years. Always rode in the dining car. Many times was quite empty - just me and the 1 or 2 server(s) dedicated to the dining car. I loved it but always wondered how it worked out for them financially. I often had my own 4-person dinner table with breakfast, tea and laptop spread across the table. Made for a luxurious, quiet and productive commute!

I must also say that the service, friendliness and humor of the staff on the ICE was almost always exceptional!

It's clearly not financially efficient.

They still have dining cars. They aren't profitable but seen as a value proposition of trains (no food in the bus). You also don't get randomly seated there, it's where you go to eat.