Between Erfurt and Berlin, a Deutsche Bahn employee despaired: “I want to go home”
This trip was quite something: soaking wet carpets, breathing difficulties due to the release of an unknown gas – and then the door to the service compartment was open.
One could probably fill pages with stories of horror journeys on Deutsche Bahn during these summer travel months. But this one is truly something. And actually, it wasn't even supposed to be Deutsche Bahn that I was planning to use to travel from my old hometown to Berlin.
As we know from bitter experience, every change of train means you risk missing your connecting train due to the delay of the previous one. That's why I now like taking the Flixtrain, because it runs continuously from the capital to Heidelberg and back again. Unless something like what happened this Sunday happens. And I'm not talking about the 40-minute delay the train was already experiencing when I boarded it in the south, or the soaked carpet in my carriage, which the conductor explained was due to extreme morning weather in Berlin and which gave off a musty smell as it dried.
The journey ended in Eisenach . We were told there was a technical problem with carriage 200, and it had to be uncoupled from the train. How long that would take was uncertain. So the entire Flixtrain boarded a regional train to Erfurt , where, of course, everyone had to stand, before taking a Deutsche Bahn ICE train to Berlin. It was only five minutes late!
That was soon resolved. We came to a stop, and a friendly border police officer personally informed us over the train loudspeaker that several passengers were struggling with breathing difficulties, and that not only his team had arrived, but an emergency medical team was also expected. The duration of the operation is unknown.
Travel with Deutsche Bahn: Now the main line was also closedI prepared myself for a long night, but the unknown gas that had leaked out of one of the carriages didn't seem to have any serious consequences. In any case, the train eventually started to jolt along. Shortly afterwards, however, groans and loud shouts could be heard from the service compartment, as the railway officials had left the door open. "What, now the main line is closed too?" someone shouted. "Diversion via Delitzsch? I'd like to go home too!" moaned the conductor. Just like me, I thought. Because it's easy to forget that railway employees also suffer from chronic delays. Shortly afterward, the conductor made the appropriate announcement, now completely matter-of-fact again. But I knew what it was like inside.
Shortly before midnight we reached Berlin-Südkreuz, with a total delay of almost three hours.
Berliner-zeitung
