Enlarge image
ICE train (archive image)
Photo: Carsten Koall / dpa
In view of the pandemic, Deutsche Bahn is increasing its range of trains at Christmas time.
"Around Christmas, from December 22nd to January 2nd, we are also running around 100 special trains, especially on the connections that are in high demand," said DB Fernverkehr CEO Michael Peterson to the newspapers that belong to the Funke media group .
"This means that by the end of this year we will have more long-distance trains on the rails than ever before."
The railway expects the main traffic this year on the days "directly before and after the two Christmas holidays, ie on December 23rd as well as on December 27th and 28th," the company announced.
The special trains would be used on busy routes such as Berlin-Stuttgart, Berlin-Munich, from NRW to Berlin or Hamburg-Karlsruhe or Essen-Berlin.
"If you have to travel during the days, you should be able to do it safely and with confidence," said Peterson.
In addition, other measures such as the mask and 3G obligation, increased cleaning in the trains, but also random checks of the 3G obligation apply.
More and longer trains will allow passengers more space and distance on the trains, Peterson said.
What if the train stations are crowded?
The long-distance trains were already booked quite well for Christmas: "The booking numbers for Christmas are above the figures of the previous year, but at 35 to 40 percent still well below the level of the pre-Corona year 2019," said Peterson. Last year, bookings were more than 60 percent below the 2019 level.
Despite the additional trains, the Pro Bahn passenger association expects delays: "The railroad throws everything it has on the rails, nothing more is possible," said the association's honorary chairman Karl-Peter Naumann. The problem from his point of view: There is no capacity on the routes and in the stations for even more trains. “We tend to have the bottlenecks there. Not necessarily in Berlin, but around Cologne, Hamburg and also Frankfurt, «said Naumann. "When the stations are full, the additional trains have to wait too."
He therefore asked the railway to calculate the timetables of the extra trains generously.
"It is better if the trains arrive three minutes early than three minutes late." The trains should also be reasonably waited for their journey and be provided with sufficient soap, water and disinfectant.
"That is only the case with 80 to 85 percent of the trains."
beb / dpa
