The Germans are known for their punctual time. The
transportation schedule is very reliable with rare delayed up to five minutes.
So when the delayed is longer than ‘normal’ for sure they have mechanism to
cope with it.
It happened to me when I traveled to Frankfurt one day. It
was early December and the snow was pretty thick. My travel to Frankfurt was
still on time but on the way back, the chaos started to happen.
All trains were delayed due to the bad weather. Frankfurt
train station filled with people and their luggage, wandering around to find
their adjusted schedules and trains. At first I could see my train would come
in specific platform, but after waited for almost an hour in cold weather,
there was another train coming. It wasn’t my train…
I tried to look at the big board that said that my train
would come in different platform. But then it happened again, the train that
came wasn’t mine. When I looked again to the big board, my train wasn’t even
there on the list. Of course it made me panic: will my train come?
I then tried to ask the information center, but the queuing
line was so long. I queued there while thinking how if I had to sleepover in
Frankfurt. I prepared for the worst. But while I was queuing, I saw my train
was appeared on the big board again. I ran away directly to the specific
platform and after around 10-15 minutes waiting in uncertainty, my train
finally came!
What a relieved. But it wasn’t over, the trip took longer
than usual. The train had to stop in the middle of nowhere due to the bad
weather and probably for adjusting with other trains. In the end, my plan to
arrive at 7.30 PM in Bremen became 11 PM! I was mentally exhausted…
The good thing is, the German Railway gave the passengers a
refund form. One has to fill in that form and post it to German Railway office
to get compensation money because the train was delayed to more than an hour. The
compensation money is 25% from the ticket price. I got the money three week
after I posted it. Now this is what I called a good service J
 |
| Evidence of paid compensation money |
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