After the Pentecost weekend with the nine-euro ticket, a staff representative from Deutsche Bahn drew a critical interim balance. Every day there were about 400 trains nationwide with too high a load, so that passengers were turned away or bicycles were not taken, reported the Vice-Chairman of the General Works Council DB Regio, Ralf Damde, the editorial network Germany (RND) after talks with railway works councils.
In total, there were around 700 reports of overload, problems with passengers or disruptions to the operations center every day. That is significantly more than on an average weekend and also than on the Pentecost weekend before Corona, said Damde.
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There were no fears of physical assaults against the railway staff, “but verbal abuse,” said Damde. The massive additional personnel requirements made thousands of overtime hours necessary at Pentecost alone. The fact that many travelers without rail experience could not find their way around the stations also contributed to the increased expenditure of personnel and time.
“As expected, the nine-euro campaign triggered a great rush on regional trains, which led to significantly more cases of overload nationwide,” said Damde. The massive additional personnel requirements made thousands of overtime hours necessary at Pentecost alone. Despite the many additional vehicles used, passengers had to be turned away. “Everywhere in Germany the platforms and the trains were full, in several cases overcrowded trains had to be cleared – but fortunately no stations.”
The fact that many travelers without rail experience could not find their way on the platforms or in large stations led to increased personnel and time expenditure, said Damde. “All in all, the passengers needed significantly more help than usual. This also included the fact that many people who had not traveled by train for a long time did not know that masks were still compulsory in public transport.”
