Public Transportation

While I have to admit that I can basically get everywhere in Germany via public transportation it is not a great experience. (And I don't come from a point of I was on holidays and look what they have.)

The Time Commitment

I have two main routes that I have to drive, to work and to uni. On both routes I am faster if I take the car. And I don't mean like a few minutes. On both routes it is about an hour faster.

In both cases I don't start or end how the German saying goes "irgendwo im nirgendwo" (somewhere where nothing is). It is the biggest campus in the capital city of my state and the industry complex of the city where I work, as well as a city with more then 35.000 souls.

In both cases a trip of around 2 hours. If you don't count delays. Counting delays even a five minute bus delay can extend the trip around half an hour. Or a five minute train delay forces you to walk 3 km or wait 30 minutes. And delays are something happening often. (Even following the definition of the Deutsche Bahn that says a train is only delayed after 6 minutes.)

On top of the regulare delays the track often gets repaired meening a trip of 15 minutes with train gets replaced by a crowded bus and 50 minutes drive.

Cost

While the cost for using regional trains is ok at around 60€. The cost for using everything else is to high compared to taking the car if you are more then one person traveling.

At that point there is no reason to travel by train because you are most of the time as fast or faster by cat then by train. You travel cheaper by car and you are more flexible when you travel (especially in remote regions).

The only upside for travel by train is the fact that every person can do what they want and nobody has to drive. And if you are lucky and the train is not crowded you have more space then in the car.

The people traveling with you

While the following does not apply to every person using german public transportation you have a lot of people who dont know how to behave and in my expierince most of the time they are german people and not foreigners.

To list some expamples: From the people listening to loud music over the ones obviously beeing drunk. You have the idiots who think they are in there living room and put there feet (with or without shoes) on the seats. The homeless people begging or trying to sell some newspapers. The homeless people sleeping there or using it as a toilet (not the actual toilet).

Add to that the overcrowded trains at peak hours where you can be lucky if you can turn around yourself or even can get on the train. If you manage to get on there is a 50% chance that the airconditioning is broken and you can be sure that the weather is at 30°C. And lets not even talk about the toilets on the trains. They are ether broken or just plain dirty to a level nobody can understand.

Conclusion

With the german train you travel slower. Most of the time in more discomfort then by car. And that at a higher price then with car. And if the train is actualy significantly cheaper the time you spend is to high to use the train.