this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2025
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[–] [email protected] 84 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (4 children)

He is now being investigated for his failure to purchase a ticket. He also faces proceedings for "disruptive behaviour" - which, however, is only considered a misdemeanour.

Fun fact: In Germany, failure to buy a train ticket is a felony (called "fraudulent acquiring of service") which can lead to prison time. The law was introduced by the Nazis.

Quote by Lenin: "Germans are incapable of revolution. When they occupy a train station, they first buy a ticket."

[–] [email protected] 38 points 4 days ago

Not buying a ticket ("Erschleichen von Leistungen") is a crime, but it's not a felony ("Verbrechen").

[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

that last quote really hits home. germans are so focused on rules, they forget that sometimes people don't follow them...

last year i travelled by train from austria to sweden on the cheapest possible tickets, and when i went to board the ICE in mΓΌnchen at 02:00 there were no free second-class seats. people were sleeping in the vestibules. so i went to the DB site, noticed that seat reservations were independent of ticket purchases, found a free first-class seat, and booked it. the conductor was incredibly mad at me, because "you can't do that! you have a second-class ticket!". there wasn't even a notice about it on the DB site, it just lets you do it. but you're not supposed to.

Edit: they let me stay in the seat but they were really annoyed about it.

but like, if the difference between first and second class isn't the seat, in has to be in service. just not giving me first class service solves the problem.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 days ago (1 children)

So you booked a seat in first class with a second class ticket?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 days ago (6 children)

yes. you could even book a seat without having a ticket. it was completely separate flows.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (20 children)

So what was the outcome? Did they let you stay in the seat? Or if not did you get a refund for the seat?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 days ago

they said "i guess you can sit there, until someone who reserved the seat comes along"

which was weird because i reserved the seat for the whole trip

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

Yes because a seat reservation doesn't free you from the requirement of having a valid ticket for the desired class.

It's the same in nearly every European Country on trains without mandatory reservations

I would say this is not about Germans being rule focused but you being just used how things work in Air travel

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (7 children)

Their point is that any ticketing website in any other country would have the checks built in to not allow it. It's like an airline showing the first class seats as avaient in the seating chart when you bought an economy ticket.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

You can have a weekly/monthly/whatever ticket that lets you ride any train inside the area of validity. The seat reservation system doesn't have a way to 'check' those types of tickets.

You can also book a 'rail and fly' ticket on DB that lets you take the ICE /anywhere/ in Germany 24h before/after your international flight, but doesn't check your airline ticket because it can't - you need to show the ticket inspector your confirmed booking (paper or phone) when they check your ticket.

If you don't have a valid booking to show, they will charge you a full fare ticket, or call the cops to remove you and fine you.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (14 children)

i basically never fly these days. i am just confused why i could even buy a reservation for a different class to begin with.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago (2 children)

And those trains will be late. Every time.

Why? Why are they so terrible at having on time trains? Out of everything they do well, why is this seemingly simple thing so terrible?

[–] [email protected] 37 points 4 days ago

Because the ministry of transportation has bled the train system dry in favor of building Autobahns for the past 25 years.

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 4 days ago

You know when you click on the goofiest shit ever that happens in europe its gonna be a polish or a hungarian. Very proud of my country for its contributions to the world.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 4 days ago (1 children)

That's one hell of a windchill factor - particularly in Germany in the winter. I'm surprised he didn't lose a few fingers to frostbite.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Heβ€˜s an experienced Porsche cabrio driver in wintertime

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Picture looks like 2 mechanical Xenomorphs French kissing

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

H. R. Giger likes this post

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 23 points 4 days ago (1 children)

A man travelling on a high-speed train in Germany clung on to the outside of the carriages after failing to get back on after a smoke break, miraculously surviving speeds of up to 282 km/h, police said on Friday.

The man, a 40-year-old Hungarian national, boarded the train bound for the northern coastal city of LΓΌbeck in Munich on Thursday without a ticket.

Yet, that was not the reason for the risky stunt, according to police. When the train stopped at the Ingolstadt station, some 70 kilometres north of Munich, the passenger stepped outside to smoke.

When he realized the doors had closed and the train had begun moving again, he jumped on the fixture between two carriages and held on to cable harnesses while the train accelerated to speeds of up to 282 km/h, police said.

Onlookers on the platform notified the police at around 3 pm. The driver stopped the train at the small town of Kinding, some 30 kilometres north of Ingolstadt, where the man was arrested.

When questioned by police, the man said he jumped on the outside of the train because his luggage was still inside.

The man "surprisingly" wasn't harmed in the life-threatening incident, said a spokesman for the federal police.

He is now being investigated for his failure to purchase a ticket. He also faces proceedings for "disruptive behaviour" - which, however, is only considered a misdemeanour.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 days ago

i mean deutsche bahn.... understandable he didnt wanne miss that train. who knows if the next train would even come.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

Hilariously deadpan article and incident.

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