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“We were locked in the train”Train travel becomes a nightmare – 15 hours late and 1,200 euros fine
What should have been a five-hour train journey turns into a 20-hour odyssey for a traveler with massive delays and a high demand for money (symbolic image)
picture alliance / Eibner press photo / Eibner press photo/Ardan Fuessman
He will probably never forget this train ride!
A planned five-hour trip turns into a nerve-wracking 20-hour odyssey at the end of May – including delays, hassles and a hefty demand for money. A young man describes this in a video on Instagram – and sparks a debate about Deutsche Bahn. She's coming forward now and taking a stand!
The train ride turns into a test of nerves
The Instagram user nixon.lgg said he was traveling with a larger travel group on Friday (May 29). They wanted to take an ICE train from Cologne to Berlin in the afternoon. But instead of a relaxed journey with Deutsche Bahn, the journey quickly turned into a nerve-wracking test of patience. “The trip was normally supposed to take five hours and it took a total of 20 hours,” he reports in the clip.
The delay was around 15 hours – an extreme case that made many users on social networks sit up and take notice. The person affected describes the situation during the trip particularly drastically. His description: “We were locked in the train the whole time. We couldn't get out.”
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Control in the replacement train causes trouble
As the journey progressed, the group is said to have separated and continued the journey on another train, the young man says. According to the Instagram video, there was an inspection there – with far-reaching consequences. According to him, the group's tickets were classified as invalid during an inspection. “We all get a reminder sent home that our group leader is no longer traveling with us and our tickets are no longer valid.” Everyone had to hand over their identity cards, it goes on to say, presumably to record their personal details.
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Another statement at the end of the video attracts additional attention: “15 hours late, 1,200 euros fine. That was my trip with Deutsche Bahn,” summarizes the person concerned.
This is what Deutsche Bahn says after the incident
When asked by RTL, a railway spokeswoman made it clear: A storm caused the passengers – including the Instagram user nixon.lgg – to suffer. According to the spokeswoman, an agreement has already been reached with the passenger and the subsequent demands of 1,200 euros will be dropped. He will also receive half of the ticket price refunded – as Deutsche Bahn's passenger rights would provide for such delays.
However, the case sparked a broad discussion on social networks – particularly about delays, replacement services and the rights of passengers in German rail transport.
Sources used: Instagram/nixon.lgg
