Germany's train service is one of Europe's worst. How did it get so bad?

Summary

Germany's new Intercity Express train is seen in Berlin prior to its official presentation by railway operator Deutsche Bahn, on Oct. 17. Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images EN ROUTE TO BERLIN — As the 12:06 p.m. Intercity Express train to Berlin leaves the Swiss city of Bern and crosses the border into Germany, passengers reluctantly bid farewell to punctuality — a guarantee in the Alpine republic where trains run like clockwork. Fifty-seven-year-old Elisabeth Eisel regularly takes this seven-hour train journey. "Trains in Switzerland are always on time, unless they're arriving from Germany," she says. "Harsh but true, sadly. It didn't used to be the case." Chronic underinvestment in Germany has derailed yet another myth about Teutonic efficiency. The German railway Deutsche Bahn's long-distance "high-speed" trains are now among the least punctual in Europe. In October, the national rail operator broke its own poor record with roughly only half of all long-distance trains arriving without delay. Waning reliability is but one of many problems for state-owned Deutsche Bahn, which is operating at a loss and regularly subjects its passengers to poor or no Wi-Fi access, seat reservation mix-ups, missing train cars and "technical problems" — a catch-all reason commonly cited by conductors over the train intercom. German Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (second from left) and Evelyn Palla (third from left), CEO of Deutsche Bahn, get off the train at the premiere of the new Intercity Express train at Berlin Ostbahnhof, Oct. 17. Christoph Soeder/picture alliance via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Christoph Soeder/picture alliance via Getty Images After decades of neglect, the government has announced a 100-billion-euro investment in rail infrastructure. But Lukas Iffländer, vice chair of the railway passenger lobby group Pro Bahn, says it will take more than money to get German trains back on trac...