Being here in Germany in 1978/1979....I had a chance to see the old Bahn system....without all the technology. So I will offer some observations:
1. Old Bahn had a paper schedule, and once the 'route' started (say at 9:30 AM)....it ran, until done. Today....any one of forty things could trigger the modern Bahn to cancel the 'run'.
2. Old Bahn lacked air conditioning, modern WC's (toilets were pretty simple), and windows were the only way to cool things. Ticket prices were set to one single standard.
Modern Bahn has a ultra modern WC....decent air conditioning, and windows which cannot open. Ticket prices? There are a dozen ways you can calculate a price between X and Y locations.
3. Did anyone in 1978 collect statistics? I doubt it. Today.....every single train, with every single 'failure'....is collected.
4. The daily-use crowd of Bahn? 7.3-million of the 84-million....use it daily. There's no statistical numbers for the 1970s Bahn....but I would imagine in the past twenty years....passenger traffic has doubled in nature.
5. Germans adaptable to a plan 'B' situation? I hate to say it....but I suspect that half the Bahn travelers of today....aren't able to handle a stressful mess....where you dump 300 folks at some station in the middle of nowhere, and told the rest of the trip is cancelled. The 1978 Germans would have gathered around a schedule, and come to a rational plan in 4 minutes.
6. Finally, Germans of 2025....have this vision that 'IT ALL WORKS'. I'm not saying this is a bad thing....but adapting to a mess used to be a major part of German culture.
Note: When I buy a 'Bahn-ticket'.....I tend to have a plan 'B' in mind.....knowing that the Bahn can (and will) fail.
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