Politicians and so-called climate protectors have high hopes for the rail transport mode, which, according to their statements, should be particularly environmentally friendly. But especially in Germany there is an acute need to catch up, because in many places accessibility is a foreign word and toilets can be real disgusting zones. So it just won't work with the climate change.

Traveling by train used to be easy: buy a ticket for an extra charge before departure or in an emergency from the conductor and off you go. The prices were always the same and with Vorteilscard (ÖBB), Bahncard (DB) or Halbtax (SBB) you paid half. Campaign tickets have always been available, but the prices were transparent and calculable. That changed gradually, because in recent years the railway companies have increasingly switched to the flexible pricing that low-cost airlines have brought into the aviation sector - and which is now standard in the industry. Long-haul routes are primarily affected, but occasionally there can be surprises in regional traffic when a whole host of tariffs are offered for the same train.

Different prices at ÖBB and DB for the same trains

In cross-border long-distance traffic, it can make a hell of a difference which railway company you buy your ticket from and which departure station you choose. For example, ÖBB offers a train-bound rail journey from Salzburg to Stuttgart for around 60 euros. But if you choose Elsbethen, which is located just before the state capital, as the departure point, the price in the sample fell to EUR 26,60. It was even cheaper on the DB homepage: 23,90 euros. Of course, for the same day rail connection.

An even less comprehensible picture emerged in the opposite direction. While the DB offered only 17,90 euros, the ÖBB asked for a proud 70 euros for the same connection. But if you book to Elsbethen, you only pay 29 euros. But the train companies deliver the proverbial bird kill when they reserve seats. Reservations can also be made on German trains via the ÖBB website. With Vorteilscard, it costs just one euro. But if you make a reservation on the DB website, you will be charged an impressive four euros.

If you don't bother to compare the prices on the websites of the various railway companies, in extreme cases you will end up paying unnecessarily large amounts. Both ÖBB and DB have a function that shows the cheapest connections of the day, but you have to find it first. For infrequent drivers who want to change spontaneously from the car to the train, this is not exactly beneficial if you first have to laboriously search for the functions of the homepages.

Flagship ICE4 pleasant and clean

It is well known that apart from the flagship trains, there is a lot of need for modernization at Deutsche Bahn and Austrian Federal Railways. In Austria, the legendary "Gammelzüge" have long since disappeared from the rails and older models are usually at least clean. In Germany we are not that far yet, because many sets are still in use in long-distance transport that are in urgent need of modernization or, better still, a replacement.

Even frequent travelers disagree about which of the many InterCityExpress generations is the best from a passenger perspective. The ICE-4 train set that was used during the test drive behind this report made a good impression. In the second class, the seat spacing was more than satisfactory, sockets and WiFi worked, the overhead bins were high up, but easily accessible. Sure, you could mount the "overhead bins" lower, but then taller people would run the acute risk of banging their heads. So you can turn it around as you want, with public transport everything is always a compromise and if you are looking for it, you will find something to complain about.

On the positive side, it should be emphasized that the toilets on this ICE4 train were perfectly clean. That is by no means a matter of course, as a trip with an InterCity of Deutsche Bahn showed. In any case, the modern ICE4 trains, which are the flagship of the DB, are also characterized by extremely smooth driving behavior. You practically do not notice that you are roaming through Germany in a proverbial hell caracho.

Two minutes late and the connecting train is gone

Unfortunately, the ICE4 was delayed by two minutes. Actually, that shouldn't matter, but if a ticket was sold with only eight minutes of transfer time, it can be problematic with a suitcase, stroller or even in a wheelchair. Especially when the train station has no (working) elevators and the arrival and departure platforms are far apart. An e-mail comes from the DB that the connecting train is ten minutes late, but it was just right. Perfect, Deutsche Bahn just thinks for itself and so it just has to work with the connection.

So let's go to the not exactly descriptive train station in Baden-Württemberg, which is reminiscent of a mixture of totally run-down and an homage to the 1970s. In the absence of elevators, the suitcases dragged up and down and lo and behold: the connecting train is gone. What now? There are no display boards on the platforms showing all connections, but the DB homepage works. There's an InterCity that's 30 minutes late and comes in 15 minutes. Well, just stupid if you have a tied ticket and you missed the train because the transfer time was calculated too short.

Fortunately, there is a ticket counter that Deutsche Bahn has now outsourced to its own GmbH. There they recognized the problem: In six minutes it is simply not possible to walk around a whole ICE with a suitcase, up steep stairs, across the entire station area, down steep stairs and then walk the entire length of a platform until you eventually find yourself next to it Head platform opens. Impossible with luggage and especially if you don't know the place. How can a father or a mother with a stroller or even a wheelchair user manage that? But the very friendly DB employee did not argue for long and said that it couldn't be done and that it happens every day on this connection. With the ballpoint pen, a note that the ticket is now valid in the delayed InterCity, station stamp and signature on it and you can go to platform 1, which was luckily at ground level directly behind the ticket office.

Twice InterCity, two disgusting toilets

The InterCity wasn't really comparable to the comfort of the ICE4. Everything looked worn, showing its age, but hey, not stranded. The train attendant then had her problems with the ticket, because her control device said that the ticket was not valid, the note from the station counter was the opposite. The solution? “The colleagues from the train station checked it out and you will get off the next station anyway. Have a nice evening". Do you want to go to the toilet before you get out of the car? Well, not a good idea, because when you got near this it stank undefined after a mixture of various excrement and after opening the door the sheer horror. You just don't want to go in there, especially not in times of Corona.

It may well be that the previous users of the toilet facility were proverbial “pigs”. But this does not seem to be an isolated case, because when driving with the next InterCity, the cleanliness of which generally left a lot to be desired, the toilet system was not really in better condition. It smelled like hell, it hadn't been washed down for a long time and there was toilet paper on the floor, which optically made a damp impression. How do you say about it? Ugh devil. But there is also something positive to note: The train reached its destination, Munich Central Station, three minutes before the schedule, so there was a little more time to transfer to an ÖBB Railjet Xpress. There is still some complaint that the WiFi was not working and the sockets at the seat were also not working.

The standard of the modern ÖBB Railjet sets is of course much higher than that of the outdated InterCity cars. The train was clean, sockets and WiFi worked perfectly. The toilet facilities, which, as is customary in modern ÖBB long-distance trains, were gender-segregated, sparkling clean - as far as you can tell with the eyes. It should be a pleasant train journey without a stopover to Salzburg.

Railjet-Xpress “brakes” itself from Munich to Salzburg

Unfortunately not quite, because after only a few meters the first emergency braking and then the Railjet stood for a few minutes. The Bavarian train manager then explained what was going on: The control car has proven to be defective and the train driver is now trying to "tow" the Railjet into a train station, where you can change the direction of travel and then control it from the locomotive. With regular emergency stops and the honest announcement “I hope we can get this far”, the project also succeeded. But that didn't really solve the problem, because the Railjet made heavy braking every ten to 20 kilometers and had ten “unscheduled stops” during which the train driver performed some masterpiece to get everything running again.

After Salzburg “braked” one was happy to be able to leave this Railjet, because quite a few coffee mugs from passengers learned to fly during this trip. By the way: In front of this Railjet, for whatever reason, a DB diesel locomotive was curled up. It is possible that the ÖBB's Taurus electric locomotive was also defective and that was how it was done. In any case, the control car and the locomotive were replaced in Salzburg, which is why the train extended the delay for technical reasons.

The fact that the passengers stayed calm and didn't piss was probably due to the Bavarian train boss and the conductors, because the information was always open and honest, including the personal opinion that you are dissatisfied with this train journey as an employee and the emergency stops are very uncomfortable.

In Salzburg it went with the Westbahn on to Vienna. As unfamiliar as it may sound, first check whether the toilet can be used without disgust in the worst-case scenario: the all-clear, everything neatly clean and the entire train was clean and smelled fresh of cleaning agent. Likewise, many travelers certainly expect long-distance trains in times of Corona. As a reminder: The not exactly clean InterCity showed on the same day that this is unfortunately not a matter of course.

Conclusion: There is a need to catch up and improve

If you are used to a lot of "surprises" from airports and airlines in aviation, you are in a certain way hardened. The comparison between Austria and Germany clearly shows that the Austrian Federal Railways have invested a lot of money in the train stations and that true "boggy holes" have become very rare. In Germany, apart from the largest train stations, there is a lot of catching up to do. Politicians have ruined the buildings for decades and as much as has to be invested to turn the stations into attractive places, it will probably take a very long time.

German politicians have to act in any case, because at the moment you should always have a plan B ready, because only a few minutes delay can lead to the connection being missed. Especially people with disabilities, elderly people who may not have a smartphone or are no longer so good on foot, or if you simply have suitcases with you, should definitely look for "replacement trains" in advance. There are not ticket counters at all train stations, but these can be of great help, even if it is only the release of a train-bound ticket.

When it comes to cleanliness, there is one thing: The Westbahn is probably a good role model, because it is cleaned regularly and is visible to passengers. The train attendants also constantly collect trash and leftovers from passengers and pass them on in garbage bags for disposal. Perhaps the DB should take a closer look at this model, because it would not have harmed the dirty InterCity trains.

As for the indisputably unclean toilets in the two DB trains: What do passengers think when they put toilet facilities in such a disgusting state? It will certainly not have been the staff, because they have their own toilets on long-distance trains. Anyone who leaves a toilet in such a disgusting state should have to use such a facility themselves or, even better, clean it.

You can tell from all the railway companies that have appeared in this report that they are making an effort. But in order to be able to get more people from cars to trains on a large scale, there is a lot of catching up to do and there is room for improvement. Otherwise nothing will happen with the climate change thanks to the railway. The tariff system has to become simpler and less complicated, the train stations - especially in Germany - have to be nicer, cleaner, more modern and barrier-free - and on top of that, the interior of the wagons has to be perfectly clean. The toilets need to be checked and cleaned regularly. Another recommendation in the direction of the DB: Train-bound tickets should be sold in such a way that the transfer time is sufficient and not just two minutes late can lead to missing the rail connection.