Off and on....I've had about 30 years of use with the Bahn. I've seen the good times, and the harsh realities. So these are my five negatives:
1. The old Bahn (before 2000) had no AC units, and the windows in each cabin went up and down. In July, you'd suffer with 35 C (95 F), with hot air rushing around as the train moved.
Today? The cars have no moveable windows, and there's a massive AC unit in each car. The chief problem is that it marginally works at temperatures above 35 C, and there's always a 20-percent chance the unit is so ineffective....that the car temperature is near 32 C (90 F). So you enter the car, to start counting the minutes that you can survive before being forced to exit (my limit is usually 30 minutes). So you exit the train....sit at a no-name station sipping a beer....waiting to hydrate up and catch the next train.
Around five years ago, they had an episode where a student group (bunch of 15-year old kids) boarded such a car and tried to survive an hour. An emergency was declared as some of the kids passed out from heat exhaustion.
I boarded a train two months ago that still had the 1990s situation with windows that went up and down. They still exist around the country.
2. You want to go from X to Y. You find that via the cost rate system.....there are around three different rates possible. They might differ by as much as 25-percent.
As long as you go local (say no more than 20 km's)....you rarely find this problem.
3. The train bathrooms are dysfunctional now around one-third of the time. Chief reason? A lot of technology built into these, and they simply aren't capable of being fully functional 365 days a year.
I boarded a ICE train around three years ago. Eight car train.....at least three of the cars had no functional toilet.
The older model trains? Their toilets always functioned....but they dumped straight onto the track.....something you can't do today.
4. Lateness. Train X was supposed to leave at noon, but was cancelled. Train Y is scheduled an hour later (for 1 PM), and will have twice the number of riders. It's standing room only.
You get on train X which is a 35-minute ride to Frankfurt (rush-hour)....to discover it will leave 8 minutes later than normal....stop twice during the trip at unremarkable stationary points (6 minutes each stop) and find another 20 minutes added to your commute. You converse with fellow travelers who note that in 1998, this would only occur once a month. They note this typically occurs at least twice a week now, and on some remarkable days....it's a 15-minute pause in the middle of a wheat field.
5. You got really drawn into using your smart-phone to plan trips and buy tickets. You wake up in the middle of a trip on a train to Munich.....to discover the ticket audit underway, and your phone is down to 2-percent power. No, you didn't bring a power cord along to recharge, and you deal with serious anxiety until the audit guy is happy with the barely functional screen.
I tend to always carry the pocket-battery with me now....to avoid a mess like this.
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