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I agree.
I still have to rely on my car for basically everything because the same government also fucked up the rail system so severely that it barely works in my region.
When I moved from a small village to the city, I sold my car and wanted to use public transportation for everything.
I'm not fond of driving, especially in cities, so this looked like a no-brainer.
I had my first bad experiences quickly when I learned that public transportation wasn't anywhere as reliable as I previously thought. I had to choose between going to work 45 minutes earlier (of course, unpaid and without the possibility of leaving earlier) or risking being too late half the time.
I had to travel further for my next job, but I thought it would be better because it was another connection.
I was wrong.
It was usually better in the mornings, but my way home usually took between 1,5 and 3 hours instead of the planned 45 minutes. The next job I chose only because there, at least, I could take the S-Bahn instead of the Deutsche Bahn Trains, and it was a direct connection, which was way more reliable.
But it was very loud, very smelly, cold in winter, and very hot in summer (I remember having a working AC twice in the four years that I traveled that line), and there were (not always empty) beer bottles rolling around the floor almost all the time.
I always paid for the entire year in advance, so the 90-minute daily drive did cost a little more than 220 Euros monthly.
Otherwise, it would have been even more expensive.
So, the current ticket would have improved that, at least financially.
Now, I barely take the train anymore. I broke my ankle so badly in my youth that the doctors told me that they had to completely cut it open from both sides to see if they could improve it in any way. They also said that there was a strong possibility that I would wake up with a fused ankle after the operation.
They recommended I only do that when the pain becomes unbearable, which I am now waiting for.
So, I am permanently in pain, and walking is terrible for me.
Still, when I have to go to the nearby city center, I prefer walking for 45 minutes instead of taking the 10-minute trip by train.
That is what relying on German public transportation for more than ten years did to me.
I tried that train connection multiple times before and stopped after it took me over an hour twice (after about five trips total). Disclaimer: It is not that bad everywhere in Germany. That's why I wrote "in my region" in the beginning.
Within Berlin, for example, I had good experiences with public transportation.
Well, at least regarding its availability.
There were still junkies in there.
And homeless people who smelled like they were living on that train for at least a few weeks.
But well, that's another topic. |