13 hours of train trip: Lets Dance star describes horror home trip

13 hours of train trip: Lets Dance star describes horror home trip

Greifswald, Deutschland - Gabriel Kelly, known from the show "Let's Dance", recently made a trip home from Hamburg to Greifswald, which he described as a real horror trip. Instead of the usual two and a half hours, his ride lasted a whopping 13 hours. The reason? Train failures and a replacement of rails that messed up his plans. Kelly started at 12 p.m. and only landed at his destination at 1 a.m. "This is not delicious," he said about the long travel times and the insufficient accessibility of the Baltic Sea, which often leaves something to be desired, especially in summer. Additional trains on public holidays or long weekends are in short supply, which he also experienced through the problems on the lines RE5 and RE1, where the passengers remained on the platform due to overcrowded trains.

Regular problems on the route

The current real travel experience is symptomatic of the situation in German rail traffic. Current reports on construction sites and delays show that travel is not only unpredictable on public holidays. Information on this can be called up via the DB Timetable. There are always indications of disorders at train stations over loudspeaker announcements and on digital ads.

The state of the German railway infrastructure, which political voices such as that of the Greens' traffic policy spokeswoman in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Jutta Wegner, are questionable. It criticizes the state government for insufficient capacities to maintain a proper timetable. And the numbers speak for themselves: According to the Tagesschau, the number of unusual long-distance trains has quadrupled within five years. The proportion of painted trips in long -distance transport in 2024 is already 4%, even 5%in regional traffic.

an inefficient answer to the increasing demand

The problems are in all likelihood through the dilapidated infrastructure and insufficient maintenance of the trains, which led to more than 13,600 unusual trips last year. Over 60% of these failures were based on external causes such as industrial struggles, of which a large part was due to a collective bargaining conflict with the union of German locomotive leaders (GDL) in January 2024.

In the coming months, it remains to be seen whether and when a real improvement in rail traffic will be felt. A good knack for solutions on the part of those responsible is urgently needed to get the frequent travel attacks under control.