Train crowded - Passengers without a reservation need to get out
I experienced that. A Brückentag and autumn holidays and many, many people with the Aldi-Sparticket for the Deutsche Bahn. The train from Kassel to the south was full, fuller at its fullest. I stood squeezed in the corridor and cursed this stupid idea to travel by train that day.
Next to me was a train attendant, who did not get any further. In Fulda the train stopped. The announcement came: "The train is overcrowded. For safety reasons, we ask that passengers without seat reservation leave the train. No one left the train. Many typed on her smartphone. Did you not understand the announcement? The announcement came several times, later with the note that the train in Fulda is turned off.
The train attendant was pretty nervous. Either the train is parked or the federal police comes and brings people without seat reservation out, she said. Federal police? I was curious. Yes, that happens when there is a real danger, e.g. in a train failure in the long tunnels that are traversed in southern Germany. Then when all the exits and corridors are full of people, then it will be dramatic at a stop. I became very dizzy. I left the train immediately and landed after changing trains and 2 hours late in Munich. So more than 1 hour late. There was compensation at the station.
When will be vacated?
A train is evicted if it is overcrowded. The IC has about 350 seats and can carry a maximum of 700 passengers. In Germany you do not have to reserve a seat. Therefore, overcrowding can only be determined when the train has left. And that is why partial evacuation occurs when the safety regulations can no longer be met. Safety on the train means escape routes in the corridors and access areas are free. That's logical.
But man first thinks of other things. For example, remember that he has an Aldi-Spar ticket. And that binds you to a train. And if you leave the train then you might have to buy a new ticket ... That's how the human thinks. And prefers to sit next to the train door on the floor. Danger in the tunnel? Totally unknown. That's how the human thinks. Or so: I can not get my connecting train anymore, I want to be at home at 8 pm, I want to have a nice meal and have reserved a table for 20:30. Man does not think that he can not eat a nice meal as a dead man ...
I was really shocked when I saw that almost no one left the train voluntarily. The train was then not turned off and drove on with great delay. With the crowds. I would freak out in the long tunnels. But others are probably not afraid. Or you can not imagine the danger? In any case, I was not stressed when I was sitting in the other train. By the way: if you have a spare ticket with a train tie, you can use another train without any problem when you request to clear the train.
