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Jan (DL1JPH)

@RaffKarva
While I agree with the sentiment, it's important to note that DB is *not* a public entity but a publicly traded company with a controlling stake held by the state. The difference is that it, too, operates on a for profit model (and is failing miserably, given that they started debt free and now owe staggering sums to various banks).
@miki @albertcardona

9 May at 11:59 | Wall-to-wall | Open on sueden.social
7 comments
Raff Karva

@DL1JPH @miki @albertcardona

Thank you, I was under the impression that DB operated just like ScotRail.

9 May at 12:12 | Open on photog.social
Raff Karva

@DL1JPH @miki @albertcardona

According to the Wikipedia Deutsche Bahn is 100% state owned enterprise:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche

It is therefore considered a public entity operating within the private sector. Banks lending money to DB consider state taxes as security against the loan.

The difference between a SEO and a Statutory Corporation such as Scottish Water is that SEO can invest in private companies such as four British train lines.

1/2

9 May at 13:05 | Open on photog.social
Raff Karva

@DL1JPH @miki @albertcardona

This means that each time you buy a train ticket in England, you’re defacto paying for Germany to implement Deutschland-Ticket, which gives the ticket holder unlimited Germany-wide travel for €49 per month.

If you need to commute for work from Manchester to London on Monday, expect to pay £114 one way.
_

Publicly owned DB: €49 per month unlimited travel

Private English company (owned by DB): £114 single ticket. 🤯
9 May at 13:14 | Open on photog.social
Raff Karva
Jan (DL1JPH)

@RaffKarva
Yes, the ownership structure of DB is a bit strange... It gets even stranger once you look into the entire structure. There are parts that are, as you said, 100% state owned and parts that aren't. The Deutschlandticket is a bit of a misleading example here, though, as it is indeed state funded - *all* local rail companies have to sell and accept it, then they can claim state reimbursement according to the number of tickets sold. This isn't unique to DB Regio. @miki @albertcardona

9 May at 14:50 | Open on sueden.social
Raff Karva

@DL1JPH @miki @albertcardona

I went down the rabbit hole of reading DB latest report.

Very interesting read:

ir.deutschebahn.com/fileadmin/

What stood out to me was this:

“More than 1.8 billion passengers took our trains in 2023, a year-on-year increase of more than 5%. By taking the train instead of driving, they traveled the climate-friendly way: our long-distance passengers reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 7.5 million tons.”

9 May at 15:13 | Open on photog.social
Jan (DL1JPH)

@RaffKarva
That's quite a rabbit to chase indeed...

Yes, there are plenty of reasons to use rail over driving here, the Deutschlandticket being among them. The numbers look similar for the other public transport companies/agencies (there's another rabbit). Of course, there's plenty to complain about as well - you're likely to hear too much of it if you ever ask a German person about those.
@miki @albertcardona

10 May at 5:54 | Open on sueden.social
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