Well....to lay it out (note, off/on, I've been here for 30-odd years....so I can talk from a historical standpoint).
First, some effort in the 1990s started up this 'technical-marvel' spiral....where they wanted a ultra-modern railway system, and it meant more things which could fail/go-wrong.
Putting AC into all carriages was great....except you bought into a system that probably maxes out at 32 C (90 F). By 1 PM...with temperatures around 36 C....my advice is to leave the train....sip beer at some pub until 7 PM, and try to wrap up your trip then.
The toilets? Well....if you board four trains in one day....pretty good odds of at least one toilet 'broke' onboard.
The German expectation of things 'working'? They gaze across at broke-bridges....crappy roads in need of repair.....schools that need drastic renovation, and they realize the country is geared to be half-ass.
Train stations now a magnet for drug-gangs, irrational nutcases, and charged-up boozers? Between 2000 and 2010....there were minor examples out there and you kept thinking....well.....things will correct themselves. No....they just doubled-up, and tripled-up.
I'm not anti-Bahn.....I still use it occasionally. But I'm realistic....I always have a plan 'B', act vigilant in train stations, and generally expect something to go wrong.
Footnote: Two days ago....about a block outside of the Frankfurt train-station....cops got called. Irrational guy....with a knife....acting crazy (drugged-up probably). They arrive...issue orders to drop the knife. Guy refuses.....cops fires two rounds into him...for a good wound-situation (he's still alive). Oddly....group of folks watch from a distance and applaud the cop shooting the guy. They weren't chanting or nothing....just that it seemed the best way to demonstrate to the guy....be civil.
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