The change to winter time causes many people a mini jet lag and sleep problems. At Munich central station, she also caused a great deal of confusion on Sunday: the Deutsche Bahn had a breakdown, not all clocks jumped.
Some trains in Munich had the clocks on the track, an hour late, as mobile phone photos of travelers show. In truth, they left on time. A spokesman confirmed the incident on Monday. Also in the Allgäu railway passengers had reported that the wrong time will be displayed.
The railway is currently looking for the causes of the breakdown. "Normally this is done via a mother clock, with some watches the transmission did not work." According to the railway, technicians have corrected the malfunctions on Sunday mornings. It had not come to delays. There were no operational problems.
The railways in Germany have to convert about 120,000 clocks - this does not happen manually, but via a radio link. Only when there are problems such as on Sunday are technicians on duty to put the clocks back and forth, the spokesman said.
Discussion about the meaning of the time change
Since Sunday, in Germany and in most European countries, the normal time is again - often called winter time. The gained hour at night simply means a little more sleep for many people. But the meaning and purpose of the time change has long been disputed.
It is questionable whether this actually saves energy. With this goal she was reintroduced in 1980 in Germany. Always on the last Sunday in March and on the last Sunday in October is always turned on the pointer.
After a Europe-wide survey, in which the clear majority of the participants spoke in favor of a reform, the European Union wants to implement this too. The position of the EU Commission is clear, and the European Parliament is also under pressure. MEPs voted by a clear majority to abolish the time change in 2021. The problem: It would also need a majority of EU countries - and that is not in sight.
Also from Berlin it was said recently that the federal government has not yet decided whether it is at an end of the time change for a permanent winter or summer time.
