DB is still 100% owned by the federation, it’s only organised privately. Trouble is they expected it to turn a profit, to do that DB had to run its infrastructure into the ground, invest abroad, get into fucking trucking, you name it. Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing wrong with operating rail/road interface warehouses, but when a rail company is building a logistics warehouse without rail connection you know something’s deeply fishy. Meanwhile, the Autobahn network got plenty of tax money pumped into it. And those DB profits.
The failure is 110% political, decades of car-brained infrastructure ministers, “but won’t someone think about the car producers and their workers”. Bipartisan issue. In US terms: UAW and Blackrock vs. Amtrack. Guess who’s winning the lobby battle, difference being in Germany people actually like trains.
I’m considering it should be a private company where the state/city is the majority owner.
Also i’m guessing that the public transport only makes sense in cities, and inter-city. Not so much on the countryside in small villages. There cars are more efficient.
Agree 100%. But where I live politicians always seem to focus more on giving tax cuts than maintenance and improving trains. The people should not accept it, but… Tax cuts!
Trains need to be public or you are gonna get a second DB (it enshittifies for some time now ;.;)
DB is still 100% owned by the federation, it’s only organised privately. Trouble is they expected it to turn a profit, to do that DB had to run its infrastructure into the ground, invest abroad, get into fucking trucking, you name it. Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing wrong with operating rail/road interface warehouses, but when a rail company is building a logistics warehouse without rail connection you know something’s deeply fishy. Meanwhile, the Autobahn network got plenty of tax money pumped into it. And those DB profits.
The failure is 110% political, decades of car-brained infrastructure ministers, “but won’t someone think about the car producers and their workers”. Bipartisan issue. In US terms: UAW and Blackrock vs. Amtrack. Guess who’s winning the lobby battle, difference being in Germany people actually like trains.
I’m considering it should be a private company where the state/city is the majority owner.
Also i’m guessing that the public transport only makes sense in cities, and inter-city. Not so much on the countryside in small villages. There cars are more efficient.
Agree 100%. But where I live politicians always seem to focus more on giving tax cuts than maintenance and improving trains. The people should not accept it, but… Tax cuts!