BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s transport minister has criticised the national rail operator Deutsche Bahn for its performance during the UEFA European Championship after football fans complained of travel chaos.
“What has happened to some of the fans does not meet Germany’s standards and does not meet the standards I have for our transport infrastructure,” Volker Wissing told Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag in an interview published on Friday.
Fans took to social media to complain about lengthy traveldisruptions and packed trains at some matches during this year’s tournament, which brought millions of people to cities across Germany for the month-long event.
The minister described Deutsche Bahn’s pledge to provide 10,000 additional train seats daily during the tournament as over-ambitious. “Even if the intention behind it was certainly good, the network cannot cope with this additional capacity in its current state,” he said.
The weather also made things difficult, Wissing said, referring to heavy rains and summer storms that forced the temporary closure of some fan zones and a 20-minute pause during a Germany-Denmark match in Dortmund.
“The network is not designed for such extreme weather conditions because the drainage systems cannot absorb these volumes of water,” he said, adding that renovations were beginning on Monday to improve this.
The Euro tournament placed German efficiency under scrutiny internationally, as the country struggles to modernise its ageing rail infrastructure and boost punctuality.
Deutsche Bahn did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment.
In an assessment of its performance during the Euro event, Deutsche Bahn drew a “mixed conclusion” regarding the punctuality of its long-distance trains.
“The most was made out of the rail system, but the possibilities were limited by an antiquated and overwhelmed infrastructure,” the company said in a statement this week.
(Reporting by Rachel More; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
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