Cracked ICE

[allanorn]

Köln Hbf to Liège-Guillemins - ICE 316 09.42-10.44, 30 August 2023

This trip report is for others to learn from my experience.

I was on a three-week European rail trip, some segments I'll share here later. I had arrived into Köln a couple of days earlier to take in the Cathedral, the Rhine River, and the Chocolate Factory. I stayed at the Ibis Köln am Dom for a couple of nights, which is directly attached to Köln's main train station. While expensive and having small rooms, I loved the hotel for its location and breakfast. I was even very surprised at how quiet it was despite being next to a busy train station and the Cathedral!

But all things must come to an end, and I had to leave for Liège in the morning of the 30th to connect to another train the next day. The plan was pretty simple: a one-hour ICE train, followed by a visit to the laundromat before checking in to my hotel next to the train station and spending the afternoon and evening exploring Liége. This would also be my first real high-speed experience, as the ICE train uses two dedicated segments capable of at least 250 km/h (or 150mph). I think one segment is rated for 280 km/h! It would beat my speed record set earlier this year by the Lincoln Service of 110mph. Plus, I get to experience my first ICE train. I wouldn't have a lot of time to go to the cafe car, but I had no need to after breakfast.

So after taking the photo of Köln Hbf, I picked up my bags, checked out of the hotel, stepped through a door in the back and was in the train station. Not often you can say that! Once at the departure board I found the gate and started walking towards it, as I had perhaps ten minutes before departure.

 

[allanorn]

The train is an ICE3, but it arrived as two trains in one. The front half of the train decoupled at Köln Hbf to head to Amsterdam, while the back half carried on to Brussels. It is the later half I needed to find. Fortunately the board noted I was on platform 5A-C and the signage on the platform was up to date with the train composition. For the record, I didn't buy a seat reservation for an hour long train.

The trains arrive on time, we all board, I check in on the Deutsche Bahn (DB) app and note my seat number, doors close, and then we wait... and wait... and wait....

I feel a buzz in my pocket 20 minutes later. We haven't moved an inch. I review the notification to find DB has notified me that "my journey has been canceled". But there hasn't been any indication by the train crew that we need to deboard.

My seatmate is typing away on a computer. I make pleasantries, and show him the notification. He sighs, and says that the DB can do strange things. He notes the DB app can be a little quirky, and that there will be an announcement if we need to deboard. I start thumbing through the DB app when it mentions "delay due to vandalism". Okay....

We get to 30 minutes late and we haven't departed Köln. My seatmate and I start conversing a little more. He's going from Freiburg to Brussels today for an office meeting the next day. This is usually the fastest and most efficient way for him to get there, something like six hours. He starts typing away on Slack to his co-workers that things look delayed. Then we start exchanging chit-chat about Freiburg, as I'll be headed there in a couple of weeks or so.

Finally, we feel the train cars break their inertia and we start moving. I check my watch; we're 40 minutes behind schedule. It is after we depart that the onboard crew says that cables have been stolen from the Köln to Aachen high-speed line. No worries though; we'll be an hour late. I check the app and notice the thing that they haven't said: the train is terminating at Aachen. Time to start researching options, I guess.

For what it's worth, the ICE3 is a nice train. Second class seats are perfectly fine, with power at each seat, good WiFi, a decent tray table, and comfortable-enough seats that won't make you hate sitting for hours while you're gallivanting across the German countryside... or not, as was my experience. We were now forced onto the classic lines, shared with regional trains and providing much lower speed limits. I don't think we went faster than 140km/h (80mph) the entire trip.

My seatmate made a comment that this is unusual but at least I'll see some more interesting things than what's along the high-speed line. That part was true because we did not take a linear path to Aachen. Before too long we start heading north-by-northwest. My neighbor was typing away when he stopped for a couple of minutes, got something out of his bag, and then noticed he had no idea where he was. He mentioned he hadn't seen this part of the route before but he imagined the locals were getting just as good of an experience, because they don't see high-speed trains plying this route very often.

We eventually pulled into Rheydt Hbf, where we sat parked for a significant length of time. And that's when the delays started piling up.



I check Google Maps. We're nowhere near where we are supposed to be. Aachen is more or less a straight shot west of Koln and we are headed more north than west. We get a couple of updates that we should be in Aachen just after noon, where the train will now terminate. Lots of groans from all around the train car, but not vocal panicking yet.

Eventually we leave Rheydt and keep moving slowly northwest, before stopping at the far end of a platform of the main train station at Mönchengladbach. We are now directly west of Dusseldorf and not much closer to Aachen than where we started from. We wait there for about ten minutes or so before we start going in the reverse direction. We will go in reverse for more than an hour in spurts.

Eventually we stop for a significant time at Lindern. Rain starts to fall. Our expected arrival time at Aachen breezes past us. There is a regional train parked across the platform. I'm now worried they're going to force a cross-platform transfer to a regional train - would they even dare do that?


An announcement (not in English) that people are free to take a smoke break on the platform. Before too long we're moving again with an updated time of arrival: 12:44pm. Two Englishmen in the back are now in a panic. I think they had a Eurostar to catch tonight and had no idea what to do. Lots of murmurs around the train car as people now have to think about their next steps. My seatmate is not a happy camper because he took the early train to get some time in Brussels tonight.

We end up approaching Aachen from the north, then circle around and approach the train station from the west. One final message from the train crew that an ICE train will be arriving in another hour that should make it to Brussels. Eventually we crawl into Aachen Hbf; the train stops, doors open, and people empty from the train like they're going to a funeral.

I check my watch; it's 12.46. We're two-and-a-half hours behind schedule and without a train to Liége or Brussels.

 

[caravanman]

Sorry to hear about your travel problems, but a very well written item!
I don't know why the German train system is so bad just now, it used to be very reliable.
Maybe too many people trying to use the "discounted travel prices"?
I guess your experience underlines what most of us feel, that communication to passengers of information about delays, alternatives, and support in general are key to resolving issues.

 

[allanorn]

Sorry to hear about your travel problems, but a very well written item!
I don't know why the German train system is so bad just now, it used to be very reliable.
Maybe too many people trying to use the "discounted travel prices"?
I guess your experience underlines what most of us feel, that communication to passengers of information about delays, alternatives, and support in general are key to resolving issues.

I talked to my seatmate about it as we had plenty of time to do so. It seems that Germans actually like rail and there could be a case of more people than train capacity. I think the 9-euro tickets last year proved how popular they can be, and I think people are buying the 49-euro monthly tickets in droves. If nothing else, they save on local transport!

A lot of is also structural from DB. They made decisions in the 80s to allow mixed traffic on high-speed lines instead of leaving them passenger-only like the French TGV system, so that can kill throughput if not designed right. Also during the 1980s they started constructing lots of north-south high-speed lines in West Germany, only for the fall of the Berlin Wall and having to change plans halfway to build lots of east-west high-speed lines to connect Berlin with the Ruhr. That's not an ideal situation.

DB is doing a good job of upgrading lines where they can, but a lot of lines need to be rebuilt which limits train capacity these days.

In this particular case I think DB's rail operations team melted down as this was an emergent event and the onboard staff were passengers in the vehicle much like we were. Onboard staff had every right to believe what they were getting from the operations staff; it just didn't turn out well this time.

Fortunately this story isn't over yet!

 

[allanorn]

This is the part of the trip report where I have to deviate and present the learning portion of the program. Please take notes.

While rail in Europe is robust and fairly resilient west of the former Iron Curtain countries, things do go wrong once in a while. Amtrak fortunately runs most long-distance rail in the US, but the lack of trains running means that we have to ride out delays - either literally on the train or often being delayed a day for long-distance travel. Amtrak can also throw you on a bus, potentially for long distances, if they're really in a bind.

The good news is that European countries run lots of rail so getting to your destination may often be a delay of minutes and not hours or days. The "bad" news is that Europe is a bunch of small countries and a super-national government framework of agreements. Fortunately there are a couple of things that help us here, and for this we consult Mark Smith from Seat 61.

If things go wrong in the same same country, it's usually straightforward. If your journey doesn't require a reservation, or you didn't pick tickets for specific trains, you can generally hop on the next train available. This might mean you lose an hour or two, but it's trivial to resolve. If you bought train-specific discount tickets or your trains need reservation, you can either try to resolve it through a smartphone app or head to a service desk that's in most train stations of any size; staff can usually sort it out.

However, we're going international from Germany to Belgium. This is where the International Conditions of Carriage, or CIV, comes into play. If you have "CIV" on your ticket (it might not be obvious), your international through-ticket is covered. Essentially this gives you the same protections as being in one country; you can hop on the next available train. If you miss the last train of the night, you get put up in a hotel.

CIV only applies to each ticket separately for a journey, so if you book DB from Munich to Vienna and then separately book ÖBB from Vienna to Budapest, CIV does not apply if things go pear-shaped and you miss your connecting train in Vienna. However, there are potentially other agreements made that will cover you; Seat 61 covers them in better detail than this discussion.

CIV may also not cover you for private rail operators. This becomes relevant later.

Now back to our regularly scheduled trip report....

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

There's a guy on youtube, a Brit living in Germany, who did a short video about Germans visiting Britain and their reaction to the British railway system...

 

[allanorn]

Let's review our situation.

Original itinerary - Köln Hbf to Liège-Guillemins - ICE 316 09.42 - 10.44
How it's going - Köln Hbf to Aachen - ICE 316 09.42 (+40) -11.16 (+2h30)

I step off the train into a rather busy Aachen Hbf and go outside to collect my thoughts.



I can get on the next available train, but what is the next available train? Also, what documentation do I need to ensure the next rail operator isn't going to issue a fine on the spot? This is my first time dealing with this scenario.

I walk back into the train station and consider my options.

1. I can wait for the next ICE train as the onboard train staff suggested.
2. Thalys also runs Köln to Brussels; in fact there was a train waiting at a platform when I left ICE 316.
3. I can hop on a direct regional train - either from DB, or from the Belgians (SNCB).
4. I've been to Aachen before and know I can get to Maastricht in the Netherlands, either by bus or possibly by rail. Once there I can take a train to Liége. I remember it being inexpensive but that means I could be eating the rest of this ticket if I have to go by bus.

Thalys is out because they are a private rail operator, so CIV won't apply. It's a last resort where I'd have to buy an expensive last-minute ticket. I really don't want to head to Maastricht either; it's out of the way and the connections are probably ugly.

That leaves me with either getting on the next ICE or finding out what regional options are there into Belgium. The problem with the next ICE is two-fold. First, who's to say that the next ICE will be similarly affected and terminates here at Aachen? Second, if the next ICE train is one of the first to make it through the high-speed line after it opens, it's probably going to be heaving with passengers by the time it gets here. And there's plenty of us waiting for the next train.

Regional rail is likely my first and best option. If DB runs it I'm in the clear, but I'm not sure about SNCB and what paperwork I need. And I don't know if DB posts the SNCB schedules on their departure list or the full itinerary to get to Liége.

I head into the train station and make my way to the "Reisezentrum", or service center, to get it sorted out. It's a clean operation - you get a ticket with a number on it from an automated machine. First class and customers with status have a different priority queue from the rest of us. Unsurprisingly it's busier than I believe they're used to. My ticket informs me that I'll have about a 10-20 minute wait.

I've waited about five minutes when something catches my eye: a clean-cut red-haired service agent standing up at his service desk, doing the international sign language of "why is this printer so slow". He then walks with some amount of intent from behind the counter with a stack of about twenty sheets of paper, and heads to a group of people waiting to my right. He starts passing out the paper. When he has distributed what he can, we make eye contact. He asks me if I'm going to Brussels; I reply that I'm going to Liége.

He then hands me the sheet of paper below and says, "The next train leaves from platform nine in five minutes. Go to the platform now."


If that isn't a sign, I don't know what is.

Because platform nine is the furthest away, and I'm hand-carrying luggage (a backpack and a 20-lb suitcase), I have to hustle a bit more than I want to. I take a quick glance around to see if my seatmate is in sight, but no luck. As much as I want to tell him the story, he may have either acquired it on his own or he's off doing something else. Besides, I have a feeling he's used to this by now.

 

[allanorn]

We now have a plan!

Köln Hbf to Aachen // ICE 316 09.42 (+40) - 11.16 (+2h30)
Aachen to Welkenraedt // SNCB R 5034 13.04 - 13.19
Welkenraedt to Liège // SNCB IC 536 13.25 - ???

I have just enough time to take a picture of the train before stepping on, finding an open seat, and storing my bags before the doors slam shut and we power up.



This is some old stock, Class 70 EMU or thereabouts. Probably just a little older than I am.

We trundle off towards Belgium and make it across the border in no time. Like a NASCAR pace car we potter from the main line just before it turns into the high-speed line and onto a one-track local line. We make a couple of stops in what I would consider the Belgian frontier before our stop at Welkenraedt. How do I know we're at the right stop? Because the train is on time, and literally everyone is leaving the train.

Our little local will eventually make it to Spa-Geronstere, which looks lovely on Google Maps and sounds great. But that'll have to wait for another time. All of us are instead huddling underneath the platform awning, waiting outside in the damp for our cross-platform connecting train.

IC 536 arrives more or less on time from the yard. It's a beauty - a modern electric loco and a relatively new set of double-decker Intercity carriages. While the legroom isn't fantastic, it's very clean with a good tray table. I didn't check for power, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's not available. The longest trains in Belgium run about three hours!

We depart Welkenraedt a couple of minutes late because everyone has to board the train. It's a nice run through the countryside, with cute little towns dotting the valleys. The train ride is smooth even on the upper level and very quiet, save for a couple of younger passengers behind me talking on speakerphone to another service center. Apparently they're trying to explain their current plight to another company's service agent and it wasn't going very well! I spend most of my time staring out the window and enjoying the fact that I'm not in the rain.

The Belgians never check our train tickets or request any documentation. A couple of conductors were talking to us on the platform at Welkenraedt, and they may have been tipped off by DB or SNCB ops teams that a pile of us were heading in that direction.

It's easy to identify when you're at Liége-Guillemins: They announce it on the train, and in the station there are signs telling you where you are. In all seriousness, Santiago Calatrava designed the station, and it's beautiful. Here's a picture from the next day:



There are better photos online than what my iPhone can take. I question the train station's functionality as it felt more like a monument than a train station, but there are certainly less functional train stations (looking at you, NYP).

I step off the train and check my watch: it's two minutes to two o'clock (or 13.58), right about three-and-one-quarter hours behind schedule. I'm glad to be in Liége and done with this adventure, but not glad to have torched that much time.

Once I figure out how to exit the train station, I walk a few minutes to my hotel, the ibis Styles Liége-Guillemins. It's a nice hotel and definitely value for money. They used comic artists to design each room, which was done rather tastefully. It's a good setup!

From then on the trip mostly gets better, except I have to deal with some sort of crud I picked up somewhere. The train rides are mostly good, save for one trip which will be another report....

 

[Willbridge]

This experience was a reminder that announcements are not always going to be made in English. In my reunion trips back to Europe in the 21st century, I've experienced three disruptions in which the announcements were made in German, which I could handle. An announcement in Czech lost me, but when everyone else waiting for a connection -- other than a Japanese couple -- packed up and changed platforms, I got the hint, as did the Japanese.

Of the three disruptions on one, the DB customer service agent in Erfurt did an excellent job of recovering the fumble, so I had no complaint. In a second case, the ICE train that I was on ran 15 minutes late and the conductor made apologetic announcements after each stop. In the third case, which I wrote up in Amtrak Unlimited, I was caught up in an Amtrak-like fiasco in the last days of DB City Nightline.

 

[bonzoesc]

This experience was a reminder that announcements are not always going to be made in English. In my reunion trips back to Europe in the 21st century, I've experienced three disruptions in which the announcements were made in German, which I could handle. An announcement in Czech lost me, but when everyone else waiting for a connection -- other than a Japanese couple -- packed up and changed platforms, I got the hint, as did the Japanese.

Heh, I've had a similar experience on the Yamanote Line, everyone gets out and crosses the platform, I should follow!

From then on the trip mostly gets better, except I have to deal with some sort of crud I picked up somewhere. The train rides are mostly good, save for one trip which will be another report....

Sounds like it was quite a bit more frustrating than my travels auf Deutschland this summer, but glad to see it got better!

 

[cirdan]

This experience was a reminder that announcements are not always going to be made in English. In my reunion trips back to Europe in the 21st century, I've experienced three disruptions in which the announcements were made in German, which I could handle. An announcement in Czech lost me, but when everyone else waiting for a connection -- other than a Japanese couple -- packed up and changed platforms, I got the hint, as did the Japanese.

I believe many of the station staff do not speak very good English. Recruiting for such jobs is difficult as it is, and adding even more requirements would just make things worse.

Standard style announcements can be pre-scripted and learnt off by heart. Most staff can handle minor variations to that and create their own announcements accordingly.

But when they need to go totally off script and create totally new announcement from scratch, this can be beyond the ability of many staff.

 

[allanorn]

Sounds like it was quite a bit more frustrating than my travels auf Deutschland this summer, but glad to see it got better!

Ironically DB regional services were punctual and great, if standing-room-only on occasion. The long-distance trains were the problem this trip and appear to be a known issue.

 

[allanorn]

I believe many of the station staff do not speak very good English. Recruiting for such jobs is difficult as it is, and adding even more requirements would just make things worse.

Standard style announcements can be pre-scripted and learnt off by heart. Most staff can handle minor variations to that and create their own announcements accordingly.

But when they need to go totally off script and create totally new announcement from scratch, this can be beyond the ability of many staff.

That's true, especially for onboard staff. Most of the time in Europe they're good enough at English, as long as they aren't rushed or talking too fast (such as saying city names in their language).

In large and capital cities staff are generally multilingual, but I wouldn't expect the average rural station (if staffed) or automated announcements to be in more than one language.

 

[Willbridge]

That's true, especially for onboard staff. Most of the time in Europe they're good enough at English, as long as they aren't rushed or talking too fast (such as saying city names in their language).

In large and capital cities staff are generally multilingual, but I wouldn't expect the average rural station (if staffed) or automated announcements to be in more than one language.

In two of the three German experiences I've had with service disruptions, I've been able to help Chinese travelers whose English was good. On the other hand, on the Berlin S-Bahn I was helping a couple of Arabs in English who were on the wrong train due to a misleading rollsign and a young Chinese woman interrupted in English, stating that she would help them because Americans were "stupid' (her word). And then there was the guy in Hamburg Hbf who shouted that I was a Russian spy. That was odd, because Germans usually thought that I was British.

Unexpected travel disruptions are a nuisance or a pain while they are happening but are interesting in hindsight.

 

[slasher-fun]

A few corrections and additions if you don't mind

I think one segment is rated for 280 km/h!

Rated for 330 km/h, but only gets to run up to 300 km/h.

I don't know why the German train system is so bad just now, it used to be very reliable.
Maybe too many people trying to use the "discounted travel prices"?

The main reason is that they have lots of trains running, with lots of nodes where traffic meet.
So sure, SNCF in France for example has better punctuality, but that's easy if you only have a train every couple hours on most lines...

A lot of is also structural from DB. They made decisions in the 80s to allow mixed traffic on high-speed lines instead of leaving them passenger-only like the French TGV system, so that can kill throughput if not designed right.

Actually they only have few non-high speed trains running on high-speed lines, mainly RE1 between München and Nürnberg, IRE 200 between Wendlingen and Ulm, and S5/S5X between Leipzig and Halle. The problem is where the HSL joins the regular line to reach the train station.

Thalys is out because they are a private rail operator, so CIV won't apply. It's a last resort where I'd have to buy an expensive last-minute ticket.

Thalys (now Eurostar) is a public rail operator, *and* another member of Railteam, so HOTNAT (Hop On The Next Available Train) would apply (albeit with a tricky prerequisite, and the possibility of not being allowed on board if the train is already too full)