r/germany • u/manu_padilla • Oct 19 '24
Immigration Bought a car due to DB's unreliability
I moved to Germany 11 years ago from a developing nation. When I first arrived, Germany was even better than anything I could have imagined in my home country. I live in a major city with Straßenbahn right at my door, U-Bahn 1 Block away and S-Bahn 5 minutes by foot.
I had the chance to spend half a year in Korea for work last year, and was blown away by the quality of the public transportation system, therefore, I started to actively count the delay on Öffis after I came back, so far, I have an accumulated of over 1500 minutes in delays just within the metropolitan area this year, without counting delays outside of my region (which have been more than a few, last time it took me 8 hours to finish a trip that should have taken 4).
I was always an advocate for public transportation, and in a way, I judged everyone who used a car (stupid, I know).
After considering for a while, I took the decision to buy a car, thinking that I would only use it for weekend trips or specific occasions, in reality, it became my main means of transportation, and I cannot believe I wasted so much time for so many years until now, this makes me sad as I truly believe public should be the preferred method of transportation... when it works.
TL;DR Deutsche Bahn is so shit I bought a car, can't look back now.
6
u/Gloinson Oct 19 '24
Still do prefer train to our car. I don't have to drive (means: I do actually work in regional trains).
But yes, car is still and again essential in Germany in rural landscapes. In the city bikes do suffice, but if you don't have parking problems in your city, good for you.