Day 6 – Nuernberg, a broken down train, and no “Liebesverbot” for me today
My early morning transfer from Leipzig to Nuernberg is uneventful. I am getting a lot of work done during the 2 hour commute before meetings during the day. My return train leaves on time at 2:04pm.
Things go sideways when the train abruptly stops at 2:29 pm. The blow-by-blow is below, but the train indeed made the news that day, too,At 2:33 we get the information that the power line has come down. At 2:38 we are told that there is high-voltage outside and any attempts to open the doors are not a good idea 😉 At 2:47 we hear that this train definitely will not continue its route today and options are considered to either board another train or to find a way to give this one a lift.
2:55 Help has arrived, allegedly. And we getting free waters as we are fast turning into a mobile sauna. No power to the doors and anywhere else but the train’s internet still works. Priorities. I am pretty impressed by the “train chief” – or is he to be called conductor ? – as he is really keeping us informed every couple of minutes. Somebody paid attention during stress training!
3:13 Fire trucks and a crisis manager of the Deutsche Bahn have arrived, but are stuck behind the noise-reduction wall. They are looking for an entry. Plan is to ground the power line and then to have a diesel engine give us a lift to Bamberg, where we will get onto another train.
3:38 Diesel engine to arrive soon. Change of plan, we a will get a lift to Forchheim, busses will get us to Bamberg, a replacement train then will get us from there to the rest of the destinations, including Leipzig.
4:42 We are starting to get towed into Forchheim.
5:07 Because the train is longer than the train station, only carriages 1 to 6 can exit. I am in carriage 14, farthest away, it sucks to be in 1st class today. When exiting, the good communication breaks down. They had announced that two tracks over, an S-Bahn will bring us back to Nuernberg. Most people go four tracks over and there is another ICE pulling up, but it is unclear where it goes. I am betting on the S-Bahn, after checking with two employees of the Deutsche Bahn, that are on this train, too.
5:23 I made a backup reservation for a train from Nuernberg at 8:04, allegedly getting me into Leipzig by 10:10. All trains that were behind us, are delayed about 2 hours or more. There don’t seem to be sufficient detours. So now I have two hours to get back into Nuernberg. Should I consider a taxi? Unclear. The S-Bahn is filling up.
5:33 The S-Bahn takes off and per announcement is an in-scheduled train and will only stop twice between Forchheim and Nuernberg.
6:19 I had stopped counting after 5 stops, LOL, somewhere in Fürth an announcer tells us about a 10 minute delay due to an oncoming train.
6:34 I am back in Nuernberg. I talk to the lady at the information counter and there is (a) no “special” train for the people from the train I was on and (b) an earlier than my 8:04 self arranged option.
Time for a reset. In style. At the Grand Hotel across the street (Meridian, Marriott, who knows).
8:04 Deja Vu – Let‘s try this again! A very nice DB employee redeems his employer and explains that I can use the original ticket and just need to make a new seat reservation. He also explained some of the reasoning behind how the DB handled this.
So much about redemption. We leave Erfurt 19 minutes late, a delay that carries through to Leipzig. The Marriott hotel bar is out of Macallan 12. It must be one of those days. Jameson will do. Thinking back, I am grateful that nothing more serious happened. Given the high voltage these trains use, this could have ended much worse. I missed „Das Liebesverbot“ at the opera, but I am safe.
As to “Das Liebesverbot,” I heard great things about it from friends who saw it. A fun opera and comedy, well sung. I’ll have to find a recording somewhere.
StageAficionado 