The Railway Story

I sat through some early morning German news (via N-TV, the commercial network) and this odd piece on railway travel came up.

The EU....always out to 'fix' things....decided that railway travelers are being 'cheated' in some fashion when they buy a ticket, and the train runs late.

So there is this draft proposal going on.  The jest of this?  Starting in 2020....you as a passenger on railways in Europe, would have rights.

The 'pain' put upon rail services?  If you are more than one hour late on arriving where you were destined.....half of the ticket would be reimbursed.  90 minutes late?  Then you'd get three-quarters of the ticket price back.  And if two hours late.....well....you'd get the entire ticket cost back.

The general reaction by railway services across Europe?  Fairl negative.

Right now, if you live in Germany.....if your train dumps you for the night and won't finish the trip, then they have to cover the cost of a hotel room.  This more or less....pushes the Bahn folks into making every single effort to wrap up a planned trip.

Another odd piece to the EU draft legislation.....they want to force the rail services to provide parking on board the trains for bicycles. 

If this all passes?  I would offer these three thoughts on the future of railway service in Europe:

1.  Ticket prices are going to escalate 'big-time' (maybe a 25-percent jump).  In some countries, it might even go fifty-percent.  Once you start to lay out pay-back deals....the companies have no choice but to anticipate problems and make the cost factored into the system. 

2.  How you get the money back for your lateness?  You can anticipate this being a significant mess and likely taking at least three months.

3.  Finally, if you look around most German trains (express lines).....they have the room built into the system for bicycle parking.  The same is true for the Netherlands.  Onboard the ICE (the fast intercity trains) vehicles?  Not so much.  I suspect tickets for the bikes to ride will be increased.

All of this of course, has to take into consideration weather issues.....which are the waiver of the entire legislation.

Being a regular traveler via German rail....I will say that it's amazing that they run on-time at the level that they do.  Out of a hundred trips....they typically arrive within ten minutes of the anticipated time....probably 98-percent of the time.  The times that they run 30 to 60 minutes late?  You can bank on it always being in the midst of a snow-storm or bitter cold weather spell. 

Did the EU really need to get into this?  I have my doubts.  This should have been kept as a national issue and not dumped on the EU's doorstep.