Berlin.
More and more people are boarding trains to travel abroad. There are good connections, especially to the metropolises in neighboring countries. But after that it quickly becomes cumbersome and expensive. What needs to change.
From Frankfurt to Paris, from Munich to Vienna, from Berlin to Prague or from Hamburg to Copenhagen: It is very easy to travel from Germany to the capitals of many neighboring countries by train. More than 21 million people crossed the border by train last year, as Deutsche Bahn announced on Tuesday – more than ever before.
The share of trips abroad in the Group’s total long-distance transport, measured in terms of passenger numbers, rose by 3 percentage points to 16 percent from 2019 to 2022.
Around 200 destinations can be reached directly from Germany
“International long-distance transport is not only central to Deutsche Bahn, the strong popularity also stands for Europe’s growing together on the rails,” said Deutsche Bahn boss Richard Lutz. Around 200 destinations in other European countries can now be reached directly from Germany. The offer keeps getting better.
Nevertheless, experts continue to give poor marks to trans-European rail traffic. “They get from Germany to Paris very well,” says Karl-Peter Naumann, honorary chairman of the Pro Bahn passenger association. “But if you drive from Germany to Bordeaux, things look very different there. Then it gets expensive because they have to piece together tickets.”
Deutsche Bahn rejects this and points out that tickets to and from France and for connections within France, including Thalys and Eurostar, can now be booked via the railway portals.
Not all tickets can be booked on one portal
But this does not apply to all connections to other countries. “There are international connections where you still have to buy tickets on different platforms for the corresponding sections,” said the Pro-Rail Alliance on request. “Here it is urgently necessary to create a portal on which a ticket can be booked for the entire journey.”
There is also a lot of catching up to do when it comes to rail services across several European national borders. If you want to travel from Germany via France to Spain and Portugal or to Eastern Europe, you have to calculate several travel days and hours of waiting at some train stations. Because the respective national timetables are not coordinated.
“Germany is the only country in the EU without a nationwide authority,” says Matthias Gastel, spokesman for rail policy for the Greens in the House of Representatives. “This could coordinate the better international train offers and, in case of doubt, also help finance them.”
Infrastructure remains an obstacle
The infrastructure remains another obstacle to smooth rail traffic throughout Europe. In Germany, for example, there is a great need for renovation. Numerous construction sites on the network, which is ailing in many places, slow down traffic and ensure a high level of unpunctuality.
In addition, there is a lack of overhead lines at many border crossings. “Currently, only 27 of 56 border crossings in Europe are electrified,” according to the Pro-Rail Alliance. “This means unnecessary restrictions for long-distance trains, which are exclusively electrically powered.”
The experts agree that more night trains could further improve the international rail service. The pioneer here is the Austrian Federal Railway, which travels from Germany with new and comfortable sleeping cars, mainly in the direction of Italy and Switzerland. To the north, two Swedish railways offer night train journeys from Berlin. But expanding the offer is not easy, says the Green MP Gastel. There are currently many problems with the approval of rolling stock.
“That’s why our wish would actually be for the Austrians to become a European night train company,” says Karl-Peter Naumann. They can then coordinate the offers and order uniform new cars.
Much remains to be done with regard to the train offer in Europe. However, the Pro-Rail Alliance is confident that supply will follow suit as demand increases. “Train travel is becoming easier and more comfortable – so it can be expected that the number of users will continue to rise in the future,” the association announced. (dpa)
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