In Europe, Trains Are Full, and More Are on the Way

Re:In Europe, Trains Are Full, and More Are on the Way by foofie on Saturday January 06, 2024 @08:22AM (#38891215)

> German trains wishing to enter Switzerland need to wait at the border so the DB’s, err, _erratic_ scheduling doesn’t perturb the much more rigorous Swiss system.

I'm rather skeptic of this take. Railway operators provide services by reserving track sections and train stations in specific time windows which take into account travel speed and scheduling. Rail track capacity is typically reserved for periods of over a year. If german trains run on time in Germany and swiss trains run on time in Switzerland, then it sounds like germany's trains being delayed when entering swiss lines is an impedance problem caused by the way the swiss infrastructure manager is handling german trains.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:In Europe, Trains Are Full, and More Are on the Way by maxwell22 on Saturday January 06, 2024 @08:45AM (#38891355)

70% of German trains that arrive at their destination are “delayed” (30 min or more).

A train that never arrives is not counted as delayed. About 30% of German trains do not arrive at their destination.

In Switzerland, the stats are single low percentage digits.

After multiple ultimatums, Switzerland stopped allowing German trains into Switzerland. The most popular connection between Switzerland and Germany (Zurich-Munich) has been kept but is now operated by Switzerland even though most of the ride is in Germany.

This is shameful and a lose-lose for all parties, but necessary.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:In Europe, Trains Are Full, and More Are on the Way by lolc on Monday January 08, 2024 @12:53PM (#38915562)

I doubt your stats, where'd you get them from? And there are multiple connections per day from Germany to central Switzerland. Take the Hamburg-Interlaken ICE for example.

[ Parent | on HN ]