They're replacing the unionised jobs of the national rail way companies with underpayed, overworked workers without any form of security, and are still abel to make a profit because they simply fuck over the people who use their service.
If you understand why it's worse to drive an uber compared to driving a yellow taxi, you understand why flixtrains are bad.
They're generally overfilled to standing, have not enough luggage space, a "flexible" schedule, variable sanitation, and are generally much much much worse than the trains even if they're a bit cheaper when travelling at short notice. They are probably better than a North American bus, but by European standards they defy horror.
The trains, by contrast, are really quite fun and aside from a few tweaks and the rail companies paying the workers properly so they don't strike every 6 weeks are really good, though Germans seem to think they've gotten worse since DB started franchising things off.
It's a business strategy. Sell tickets super cheap to take away customers from DB on their most profitable routes. Then once you have enough market share you hike up the prices
I believe the infrastructure is already in Germanys hands and they have a majority stake in DB, but are forced to lease it to flixbus due to free market™️ rules.
This seems like a good thing.
It is not. Think of the worst bus trip you've ever had. Now imagine its a 10 hour train journey.
What's wrong with 'em, specifically? I've ridden cross-country buses in Colombia. So my standard for "worst bus trip" is incredibly bad.
They're replacing the unionised jobs of the national rail way companies with underpayed, overworked workers without any form of security, and are still abel to make a profit because they simply fuck over the people who use their service.
If you understand why it's worse to drive an uber compared to driving a yellow taxi, you understand why flixtrains are bad.
They're generally overfilled to standing, have not enough luggage space, a "flexible" schedule, variable sanitation, and are generally much much much worse than the trains even if they're a bit cheaper when travelling at short notice. They are probably better than a North American bus, but by European standards they defy horror.
The trains, by contrast, are really quite fun and aside from a few tweaks and the rail companies paying the workers properly so they don't strike every 6 weeks are really good, though Germans seem to think they've gotten worse since DB started franchising things off.
social democracy has made Europe soft
Maybe franchising things off even more would fix it!
It's a business strategy. Sell tickets super cheap to take away customers from DB on their most profitable routes. Then once you have enough market share you hike up the prices
I would simply seize the infrastructure and run it for the public good.
I believe the infrastructure is already in Germanys hands and they have a majority stake in DB, but are forced to lease it to flixbus due to free market™️ rules.
I wish it were more like China :train-shining:
I think the company hosting the service has a bad reputation