The aim of the 9-euro ticket is to relieve the financial burden on citizens and make rail travel more attractive for everyone. But what about the people who are already loyal Deutsche Bahn customers and use public transport every day?
They now have to put up with boarding crowded trains where they have no space and sometimes even asked to get off to wait for a new train where the problem is the same.
Catastrophic conditions on the train – student suffers panic attack
The student Ramona Zeller, who has been using the train for years, reported to FOCUS Online about catastrophic conditions on her last trip from Geislingen an der Steige to Stuttgart. As soon as you get on the regional train, a crowd of people awaits you in a carriage. She suspects new commuters behind many passengers because of the 9-euro ticket. There is hardly any space left, but she has to make the trip to the university.
“For the first time, I felt trapped on the train. It was warm and stuffy inside,” she says later. She often had to stand, especially when driving home. “But not being able to take a single step in any direction was something new.”
During the drive, the 21-year-old is pushed to the door and has barely an inch to herself. After only a few stations, nothing works for her personally. Accompanied by shortness of breath, panic and physical exertion, she is forced to leave the train early at Göppingen. Physically and mentally she has to find an alternative solution because continuing by train is out of the question for the young woman.
“I’ve often had problems with claustrophobia, but I wouldn’t have thought that it would turn into a panic attack after getting off,” she tells FOCUS Online I have to get out of the train, which was ultimately the best decision.”
Because of the traumatic experience, she is now considering getting around by car, even if it is more expensive and time-consuming.