"As the 12:06 p.m. Intercity Express train to Berlin leaves the Swiss city of Bern and crosses the border into Germany, passengers reluctantly bid farewell to punctuality a guarantee in the Alpine republic where trains run like clockwork. Fifty-seven-year-old Elisabeth Eisel regularly takes this seven-hour train journey. "Trains in Switzerland are always on time, unless they're arriving from Germany," she says. "Harsh but true, sadly. It didn't used to be the case.""
"After decades of neglect, the government has announced a 100-billion-euro investment in rail infrastructure. But Lukas Ifflander, vice chair of the railway passenger lobby group Pro Bahn, says it will take more than money to get German trains back on track. "We are now paying the price for years and years of neglect, basically since 1998," Ifflander says. It's not just crumbling tracks and sticky signals that need attention, he explains, but the network operator's overly bureaucratic infrastructure."
Swiss long-distance trains maintain strong punctuality while German long-distance services regularly suffer extensive delays. Deutsche Bahn's long-distance trains became among Europe's least punctual, with roughly half arriving on time in October. The operator runs at a financial loss and frequently provides poor or absent Wi-Fi, seat reservation errors, missing cars, and frequent "technical problems" announcements. The government announced a €100 billion rail infrastructure investment. Decades of underinvestment since 1998 created crumbling tracks, sticky signals, and staffing shortages. Complex, bureaucratic processes and a top-heavy organizational structure further impede timely repairs and operational improvements.
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