At Pentecost, the 9-euro ticket causes 400 overloaded trains a day

BERLIN 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 Central Works Council DB Regio, Ralf Damde, the editorial network Germany. 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.

Deutsche Bahn: Thousands of overtime hours at Whitsun because of the 9-euro ticket

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.

According to the union, the 9-euro ticket is putting increasing pressure on Deutsche Bahn employees. “The 9-euro ticket over Pentecost brought the employees to their breaking point,” said Martin Burkert, Vice-Chairman of the Railway and Transport Union on Tuesday. “The biggest problems at the weekend were, as expected, overcrowded trains, taking bicycles and enforcing the mask requirement.” However, many travelers had shown solidarity with employees.

The union called for sustained investment in buses and trains. “The 9-euro ticket must not remain a flash in the pan,” Burkert demanded. “Pentecost has already shown that local rail passenger transport is accepted by the people.”

9-euro ticket: Verkehrsverband VDV draws a positive balance

Despite overcrowded trains, mainly tourist connections Pentecost the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) rates the start of the 9-euro ticket as a success. “We expected very full vehicles and platforms for the Pentecost weekend, and that was confirmed,” said association president Ingo Wortmann on Tuesday. The transport companies and the passengers were very well prepared. The companies had mastered the high demand.
Nevertheless, many trains were overloaded on tourist routes, the VDV announced. “At times, platforms had to be closed at the major railway junctions such as in Cologne, Hamburg or Berlin because of the large crowds.” Clearing or partial clearing of vehicles therefore remained “the absolute exception”.

9-euro ticket: ten percent more passengers since the start

The significantly increased number of passengers Pentecost make it clear “that we urgently need the necessary investments in the expansion, modernization and capacity expansion of our offers”.
The VDV, on the other hand, sees the big cities as well positioned. At the start of the 9-euro ticket on June 1, the number of passengers increased by around ten percent compared to the days before. “But the available offer was sufficient to ensure smooth operation.”

More: This is how you get the most out of the 9-euro ticket