Complete Failure

This is the first time ever that I photographed a "hotel train" or "Aufenthaltszug" as they are officially known. In this case, it's a first generation ICE train, aka DB class 401, parked at a platform in Kassel Wilhelmshöhe. That is Kassel's actual main station, as the station that is called Kassel Central Station doesn't see any long distance trains. Yeah, it sounds unlogical to me as well.

There was a rather short and severe storm in Germany (and of course Europe) that left several people dead and caused a lot of damage by fallen trees. As usual, the rail network in the northern half of Germany was completely shut down, leaving a very large amount of travelers stranded. In order not to abandon everyone completely, DB used a number of trains in the manner we see here, parked at affected platforms and powered/heated so that passengers can spend the night there, in case they can't find/afford a hotel.

Unfortunately for me, I happened to be at the University of Kassel, attending a workshop. As you can guess, I also had to get home somehow. Ironically, we didn't take a long distance train, as there was no direct connection, and you'd have to change trains several time. Instead, we took a Regional Express line that ran all the way here from Düsseldorf, latter being easily reachable from where we live. However, it was still not smooth sailing. Even though this was the start of the line, we departed with some delay, and not long after leaving Kassel, we just stopped somewhere, due to a signal failure, having to wait for it to be repaired. As we continued, our delay grew steadily, and at one point, we noticed on the handy DB Navigator App that the train wouldn't even make it to Düsseldorf. Due to almost an hour of delay, it would terminate at an earlier station, namely in Duisburg. Having commuted to/from there for years, I knew exactly which train I could take to get home. And I saw that it was going to be a close shave. So close in fact that I could see the train I needed to take while we were pulling up to the platform. Still pulling up to the platform, nice and slow... Aaaand I get to watch the other train depart just before the doors of our train opened. It was almost a déjà-vu of the first years of my studies, before I had a car. I was standing at the exact same platform as I used to, waiting for my train to arrive. At least it was only delayed and didn't stop or break down on the last leg of my journey. I was very pissed to say the least.

And to make it even more annoying, this regional line uses class 425 EMUs, which are completely unfit for longer distances. If you want to use them for commuter trains in cities, sure, that's perfect, but for lines that take several hours to reach their end point, it's not a good fit. When they were introduced, passengers complained so much about them that DB, at times, returned to using classic loco-hauled trains of old n-type cars, which date back to the 1950s. You really messed up when cars that are half a century old are deemed as more comfortable for passengers. The one we rode did at least receive updated seating, as the original seats didn't seem to have any upholstery whatsoever. Still, the characteristic buzzing of the underfloor power electronics was still very much there. In fact, it's what gave these trains their nickname "Quietschie" aka squeaky. And when I say buzzing, I don't mean just audible noises, but vibrations that you can feel. Thanks to the waste bins in the trains having lost the rubber washers in their lids, they rattle very audibly when the train goes through different frequencies while accelerating. And since no two bins are identical, it's like a concert of buzzing, clattering lids from just about every direction. Not that long ago, this line was also serviced by double decker trains, which are among the most comfortable ones we have. An annoying downgrade if you ask me.

And that's story No. n+1 of me being extremely pissed at DB. If I ever have to go to Kassel again, I'll just drive there. Taking the train seems to be a mistake almost every time.