London to Berlin (Not my trip)

[caravanman]

I seem to spend a lot of time watching Youtube videos these days, now and again I actually find an entertaining one.

This guy travels from London to Berlin, but it does not go well! DB the German rail company seems to be having a very bad day/week/years... I am surprised by this as I thought Germany was a model of "efficiency and reliability"?

One thing the guy mentions and gets very upset about is that only 58% of DB trains arrive on time. He gets very vocal about the long delays, and it made me smile thinking about Amtrak's long delays. It made me wonder how much Amtrak compares at on time arrivals, is it better or worse than 58% ?

 

[MARC Rider]

Well, they say if you want to experience German efficiency, go to Switzerland.

 

[PaTrainFan]

I seem to spend a lot of time watching Youtube videos these days, now and again I actually find an entertaining one.

This guy travels from London to Berlin, but it does not go well! DB the German rail company seems to be having a very bad day/week/years... I am surprised by this as I thought Germany was a model of "efficiency and reliability"?

One thing the guy mentions and gets very upset about is that only 58% of DB trains arrive on time. He gets very vocal about the long delays, and it made me smile thinking about Amtrak's long delays. It made me wonder how much Amtrak compares at on time arrivals, is it better or worse than 58% ?

I thought Germans had a reputation for precision.

 

[allanorn]

I watched that video a couple of weeks ago. He used Eurostar to Amsterdam and then used the old DB InterCity loco-hauled carriages to Berlin. It was apparently a one-stop itinerary that was cheaper, but there were engine problems along the route. In fact, I think NS pulled an engine early which caused an additional two-hour delay on the German-Dutch border.

I noted he wasn't very aware of alternatives and how CIV works, but he may have been out of luck with that specific itinerary.

The recommended route is Eurostar to Brussels, ICE to Cologne, then another ICE to Berlin. Perhaps a little slower but also more services in those corridors. It involves two quick changes instead of one, so I can see the beauty of having a couple of hours in Amsterdam - but in that case I'd take the ferry from Harwich over Eurostar and have more time in Amsterdam.

 

[caravanman]

I watched that video a couple of weeks ago. He used Eurostar to Amsterdam and then used the old DB InterCity loco-hauled carriages to Berlin. It was apparently a one-stop itinerary that was cheaper, but there were engine problems along the route. In fact, I think NS pulled an engine early which caused an additional two-hour delay on the German-Dutch border.

I noted he wasn't very aware of alternatives and how CIV works, but he may have been out of luck with that specific itinerary.

The recommended route is Eurostar to Brussels, ICE to Cologne, then another ICE to Berlin. Perhaps a little slower but also more services in those corridors. It involves two quick changes instead of one, so I can see the beauty of having a couple of hours in Amsterdam - but in that case I'd take the ferry from Harwich over Eurostar and have more time in Amsterdam.

A lot of "Youtubers" will create artificial challenges in their journeys, to make the video more watchable, and generate more income, so one has to keep this aspect in mind. I felt this video was a fair comment on his experiences, he seemed quite upbeat until the trains started to let him down.

I confess that while I am aware of CIV in cases of disruption, but I have never looked into the details myself.

Like yourself, I have taken the ferry across from Harwich, at one time this even included an onward pass to any Dutch station.

I am still genuinely interested to know Amtrak's on time arrival percentages if anyone knows where to find that info?

 

[BlackDiamond]

I am still genuinely interested to know Amtrak's on time arrival percentages if anyone knows where to find that info?

It might be a bit of an apples-to-oranges comparison given that much of Amtrak outside of the NEC is at the mercy of the freight railroads, whereas in Germany the government controls the infrastructure. Probably comparing the NEC to DB might be a better comparison.

 

[caravanman]

Both aspects would be of interest. I guess the Youtuber getting so irate about several hours delay pressed my buttons, having experienced much longer delays on Amtrak!

 

[allanorn]

I thought Germans had a reputation for precision.

They did, and their regional trains are still quite punctual. Their intercity services are the problem. It's from decades of deferred maintenance of infrastructure plus some potentially questionable decisions around track usage when they developed the ICE 1. Certainly reunification had an impact with infrastructure and rolling stock as well.

I tell people to expect DB ICE trains to be late, except when you need them to be late - that's when they depart on time.

Well, they say if you want to experience German efficiency, go to Switzerland.

No doubt, at least for domestic trips. Even when they have problems or cancelations, the signage will tell you the alternative route. This past December I had a trip from Basel to Zurich on a direct train that had to be truncated before Zurich about ten minutes before departure. There was some track work that mucked up services in and out of Basel, plus perhaps another unplanned event. In any case, SBB had the alternative route displayed on the departure board below the direct train and multiple agents at the original train directing people to the train on the other side of the platform and providing the alternative route. I arrived about 20 minutes behind my original itinerary.

 

[Deni]

German rail infrastructure has suffered from a lot of deferred maintenance over the years. Merkel was great on a lot of things, but she really did not deal with infrastructure much during her tenure. When I was traveling around Germany in 2022 the trains were being very taxed by heavy use (this was the summer of the 9 euro all-country monthly pass) and a lot of structural issues that involved bus substitutions on several routes, including between Munich and Garmisch-Partenkirchen where they had that horrible derailment. Most journeys we took on that vacation ended up with delays and missed connections. But unlike Amtrak, when we missed a connection it just meant waiting an extra 30-60 minutes for a train rather than stuck somewhere for hours on end or overnight.

 

[allanorn]

A lot of "Youtubers" will create artificial challenges in their journeys, to make the video more watchable, and generate more income, so one has to keep this aspect in mind. I felt this video was a fair comment on his experiences, he seemed quite upbeat until the trains started to let him down.

I agree this video was legitimate except for the plane ride home. My opinion is that he booked his flight back to London well in advance, but used his train delays to his advantage for clicks.

I confess that while I am aware of CIV in cases of disruption, but I have never looked into the details myself.

International CIV is pretty straightforward for canceled trains or delays in transit. You are allowed to board the next available train or take any reasonable re-route in order to get to your destination. You may need to stop in the station and get a ticket endorsed.

Someone in the video comments noted that he could have avoided a chunk of his delay in the Netherlands by boarding a cross-border local/regional train and then switching to an ICE train. That's legal under international CIV protection, and something I had to do when my train from Cologne to Liège was terminated short and 2-1/2 hours behind schedule.

Note that CIV may not work for entirely private operators like Flixtrain. Eurostar is under a separate agreement called Railteam where you can hop on the next available train but you need your ticket endorsed, especially for trains with reserved seats like Eurostar.

Entirely domestic trips are covered by the operator. DB allows you to hop on the next available train if the delay exceeds 20 minutes. SBB doesn't seem to care unless you bought a train-specific ticket, and even then they'll see it pop up on their screen when they scan the ticket.

Like yourself, I have taken the ferry across from Harwich, at one time this even included an onward pass to any Dutch station.

I haven't taken the ferry from Harwich but it's on the list!

 

[Deni]

I watched that video a couple of weeks ago. He used Eurostar to Amsterdam and then used the old DB InterCity loco-hauled carriages to Berlin. It was apparently a one-stop itinerary that was cheaper, but there were engine problems along the route. In fact, I think NS pulled an engine early which caused an additional two-hour delay on the German-Dutch border.

I noted he wasn't very aware of alternatives and how CIV works, but he may have been out of luck with that specific itinerary.

The recommended route is Eurostar to Brussels, ICE to Cologne, then another ICE to Berlin. Perhaps a little slower but also more services in those corridors. It involves two quick changes instead of one, so I can see the beauty of having a couple of hours in Amsterdam - but in that case I'd take the ferry from Harwich over Eurostar and have more time in Amsterdam.

Yeah, I find the problem with some of these travel videos (full disclosure - I'm a travel advisor, so I work in the industry) is they are made by people or "influencers" who are not that well versed in train travel. And then he decides it is better to fly based on one bad experience (which happened, as you point out, in no small part because he did not choose the correct routing for the trip) on a train. For some reason flying is never held to the same standard. I've been in some extreme delays, cancellations and missed connections with flying, as has just about everyone who flies more than just occasionally. Even when flying goes the way it is supposed to it is still the most unpleasant part of travel.

 

[allanorn]

Yeah, I find the problem with some of these travel videos (full disclosure - I'm a travel advisor, so I work in the industry) is they are made by people or "influencers" who are not that well versed in train travel. And then he decides it is better to fly based on one bad experience (which happened, as you point out, in no small part because he did not choose the correct routing for the trip) on a train. For some reason flying is never held to the same standard. I've been in some extreme delays, cancellations and missed connections with flying, as has just about everyone who flies more than just occasionally. Even when flying goes the way it is supposed to it is still the most unpleasant part of travel.

In the comments he mentioned that he bought that itinerary on price. My suspicion is he bought separate Eurostar and DB tickets, but I can't prove that. I can't complain about his routing though; you only have to make one relatively easy transfer plus you have time to get a meal. If you have kids, a lot of luggage, or want an afternoon in Amsterdam it totally makes sense.

I think handling irregular operations is one of those things most people have to experience first, such as I did. Canceled/delayed international trains definitely work differently than airlines. He's also American, so his concept of what to do in these situations may be colored by Amtrak (and airline) experience. I agree that I've had worse handling of plane problems by airlines than train companies, and I think people just accept airline delays and cancels because there often isn't a good alternative.

 

[Deni]

What a horrible overall attitude this guy has as well. When you travel for leisure (or for profit as I presume he does) you should just roll with the problems that arise. As I tell my clients when they are departing, "Pack your patience." Delays and other issues will come up, getting angry and frustrated only ruins your vacation and doesn't help solve the problem. Finding yourself in a an unknown town for an unexpected layover could have been a delightful exploration rather than a rant about there being no one around.

Maybe negative crap is what gets clicks in the influencer world.

I spent some time around some of these guys after a conference in Japan in October. The conference had a "media" contingent among the attendees. I discovered that most of the media attendees were "influencers" and not actual media. Guys who get brand to give them free stuff like hotel stays or flights because they have a certain number of followers. I ended up on a three day tour with about 5 of them. Granted it is a small sample size but I found most of them to be intolerable to be around. For people who get paid to travel they seemed to have no real interest in the culture of where they were, mostly interested in making a video of themselves in front of something and then moving on. Three of them refused to eat the Japanese breakfast, demanding they get like egg sandwiches or some baked goods, on a trip that was completely free for them. They just seemed genuinely unhappy.

 

[caravanman]

Once folk making Youtube videos get past a certain number of channel views, they get income from all the adverts shown while people are viewing. That's why they want you to comment, or subscribe, etc.
Having some "incredible / worst / amazing / unbelievable" type word in the video title will generate more attention and income.
I enjoy the travel videos, but it is amusing to see channels that started with all economy type fares suddenly seem to just show first class, once they become better off...