Crowded platform at Charlottenburg station. The RE1 from Frankfurt (O.) to Magdeburg is well filled Photo: DAVIDS/Sven Darmer
By Johannes Malinowski and Sabine Klier
The capital region only passed the first 9-euro ticket endurance test with limited success.
Thousands of Berliners wanted to use the beautiful Whitsun weather for an excursion. But at the train stations in our city – at least in regional traffic – nothing worked at times.
The trains to Rostock via Stralsund in particular were so full that travelers with bicycles were left behind. And that despite additional capacities that the railways had announced in advance. The situation was similar on the connection between Cottbus and Magdeburg (via Berlin and Potsdam).
“On Saturday morning we didn’t get on the train at 8.42 a.m. with our bikes. So we went to Wittstock. Then by bike to Langenhagen and from there by train to Güstrow. From there continue by bike to Rostock. It was so crowded in the aisles. Most of the people stood on the journey,” report Kathi (29), a lawyer from Tempelhof, and Lana (30), a teacher from Charlottenburg Photo: Ralf Gunther
On Saturday, hundreds of travelers had to Regional Express in Kirchmöser (Brandenburg/Havel) leaving. The reason was a technical defect.
According to Bahn, the passenger numbers from the weekend will be published in the next few days.
“We didn’t lose any time, but we had to pay extra. Because we couldn’t get on the regional train from Angermünde. Since we had to catch our connecting train in Berlin, I paid an extra 20 euros for an ICE ticket,” says Christian (39), sales representative from Freiburg with Aaron (13) and Kiira (11). Photo: Ralf Gunther
For the passenger association IGEB, the Whitsun chaos at the train stations is no surprise. “There have always been problems about Pentecost,” says spokesman Jens Wieseke (57). The regional express basically passed its test, “even if there were overcrowdings in individual cases.”
“I come from Stralsund. I went there at 4 a.m. on Friday. That was no problem. Today I left at 10:40 a.m. on the regional train. I was lucky. Many did not get on the train in Anklam. The people who came from Usedom and wanted to change trains couldn’t keep up,” says Kerstin (59), an employee from Marzahn Photo: Ralf Gunther
According to Wieseke, excursion traffic should be separated from holiday traffic. “It makes a difference whether the family wants to cycle to Binz for a few days or whether you go on a day trip to the Oderbruch.”
“We drove to Wismar on Friday. We came back from Rostock. And extra with an early train because we were afraid we wouldn’t get on. We stood for three hours. It was so crowded that you couldn’t sit on the floor anymore,” say the students Lisa (29) from Kreuzberg and Dennis (27) from Tempelhof Photo: Ralf Gunther
There, an Interregio could sensibly close the gap between regional and long-distance transport.