Crazy announcement in the train app: "Go on foot"

Created: 12/27/2022, 4:19 p.m

By: Dennis Pfeiffer-Goldmann

Please do not get on the next S-Bahn at the Hauptwache, but leave the station and walk 39 minutes to Bornheim - the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund recommends this in its "RMVgo" app.

© Pfeiffer-Goldmann, Dennis

Some passengers who use the new "RMVgo" app are surprised: In the middle of Frankfurt, RMV recommends long walks instead of short train journeys.

Frankfurt - Walk, don't use the bus or train!

This recommendation is not given by a health apostle, but by the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) in Frankfurt.

The reason for this is a malfunction in the new "RMVgo" app.

From the turn of the year, however, this should be the central information and only digital ticket sales point.

Curious: I opened the “RMVgo” app on the platform of the Hauptwache S-Bahn station and looked for the next option to take me to Bornheim Mitte.

The RMV provides information: Leave the station immediately and walk 2.7 kilometers in 39 minutes to your destination.

An S1 will soon be arriving at the Konstablerwache, from where a U4 to Bornheim will be leaving after three minutes.

If the customer follows the recommendation of the RMV, he will be on the road significantly longer - he would only arrive at 2.46 p.m., but with the trains at 2.18 p.m.

In addition, the RMV is also killing the ticket sale with the recommendation, reports fnp.de.

RMV: Problems with the new app "only in individual cases"

The association is surprised at the malfunction in the app, which was launched two months ago with a lot of fanfare.

"The start of 'RMVgo' ran without any technical problems worth mentioning," explains spokeswoman Vanessa Rehermann.

"This is not a matter of course when a completely new app is introduced."

Otherwise, there is almost only feedback about desired extensions, such as a way to configure the font size, additional payment options or a dark mode.

Connection information is also less compact than shown in the previous app, where you could still take a picture with a single screenshot and simply send it via Whatsapp, for example.

The RMV, on the other hand, only wanted to hear about the problem with the strange information when this newspaper asked.

The reason for the incorrect information: The standard settings of the route options provide for up to two kilometers of footpaths to the first and from the last stop and up to three kilometers of footpath in total.

The settings can be adjusted individually, but the app forgets this adjustment as soon as it is closed.

Setting is based on rural population - not on the largest city of Frankfurt

The RMV spokeswoman defends the basic attitude of very long footpaths: That could “be interesting for some passengers”, which was shown by a presentation of “RMVgo” in the passenger advisory board.

Among other things, it was argued that "in the Odenwald, for example, there is a need to provide information on a bus route that is several kilometers away".

But why is the RMV orienting its app towards a minority, namely the few passengers in the country, instead of the much larger number of customers in cities?

"The RMV is not only a mobility provider for passengers in the cities, but also for everyone in rural areas," says Vanessa Rehermann.

If the nearest stop is outside the preset walking distance, the app doesn't show any connections at all - "and that shouldn't happen with the basic settings, no matter where someone wants to use the RMV bus and train," explains the spokeswoman.

If, on the other hand, the nearest stop is much closer, "the app does not use the maximum walking distance set and shows shorter walking distances," claims Rehermann.

Which, see example Hauptwache, is not the case.

Tickets: From January they will only be available via the new “RMVgo” app

But there are "even people in the city who, for example, prefer to walk a little further than get on at the nearest stop, for example in favor of a connection with fewer changes," says the spokeswoman.

"A significantly shorter preset would not meet these needs either."

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The doubly curious thing about the malfunction: it already existed in the previous app at the beginning of 2021.

There, too, customers were recommended to walk, even though they were already standing at a stop and the next train to their destination was about to leave.

Why does the error appear again?

He was not noticed in internal tests and a test run with 1000 customers, the spokeswoman said:

New RMV app already downloaded by 200,000 users

In the new app, the incorrect information occurs at least on smartphones with the most common operating system, Android.

24 hours after the request from this newspaper, Rehermann reported that the app developers had found the error and that it would be removed with the next release before the end of the year.

From the turn of the year, “RMVgo” will become compulsory anyway: From then on, tickets can only be bought via the new app.

However, many passengers still have to adjust to this.

The RMV spokeswoman explains that 200,000 people had downloaded the new app by December 7th.

However, this corresponds to only a third of the users of the old app, which was around for twelve years.

(Dennis Pfeiffer-Goldmann)

Due to personnel problems, some trains in the RMV will be limited until January.