This is why I'm late

An account created to keep a record of my delays while using public transport in Köln

This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-08-12

August 12: with the right side of the Rhein closed for repair and the left side interrupted due to a broken signal, a friend of mine is just stuck. As I went to rescue them my train is 15 minutes late due to another, different broken signal.

Picture showing that a train is late by 15 minutes. A sign next to it tells about delays due to a broken signal.
This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-08-12

In conclusion: the new version of the #VRS app (or at least new to me) is slower, uses more data, shows you *less* travel information but *more* ads for paid services and, since it deleted all my favorites, there's no reason for me not to look for a faster, smaller app.
Thanks to Android being Android there's a good chance I can reinstall the old version, but how long it will work is now anybody's guess. So I guess it's time to look for a new app. (6/6)

This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-08-12

You know which information I desperately need but still don't have? All the stops of a certain line. In theory I should be able to click on (say) Line 4 and see its full route to decide if I should stay and get off at a later stop, or check where it's coming from. If #DBNavigatorApp can do it... (5/)

This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-08-12

I have to give props to the fact that a lot of this extra garbage (maps, on-demand services, tips) can be disabled. But some of it cannot be removed (like ticket prices), and even worse, stuff like the map is loaded and then hidden, meaning my interface flashes badly for a second. Am I paying for that first flash of data? No idea.
And then there's the dark pattern of "you haven't told us where your home is". That's not going to happen, how do I disable it? Oh, wait, I can't.
(4/)

This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-08-12

The data presentation is a lot worse: not only is the app slower and the data density lower (white space everywhere) but the scrolling is also weird: since it takes a second to load all that extra info I don't need, and that info is on top, the results I'm trying to read keep shifting around as the elements appear. In any other app I'd say "whatever", but do you know how often I have to search in a panic due to important missing connections? Sometimes seconds matter! (3/)

This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-08-12

On interface: on my first opening I am assaulted by a dashboard with irrelevant information. There's a map, news, disruption news, on-demand services. The search results page isn't any better: there are tips (no thanks), ticket buying options (don't need it), a map (again) and an army of icons trying to sell me something (216 e-scooters from 4 companies available!). I hope you didn't get too attached to your mobile data cap, because you'll be using a lot more. (2/)

This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-08-12

I screwed up: after months of saying no, I relented and allowed the #VRS app to be updated. So here's a thread on that.
Right from the start, my favorites are gone. Forcing a completely new interface on users with no particular reason to stay is a bold move, particularly when my main reason to prefer the VRS app was how lightweight it was compared to, say, the #KVB app. (1/)

This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-08-06

August 6: trains between Köln and Düsseldorf are in chaos due to a "Polizeieinsatz". The automated voice has apologized as usual, which brings me to my point: a true apology should include, among other things, a list of the steps one will take to avoid the situation from repeating. This one, OTOH, is essentially "sorry not sorry".
Final pro tip: when designing a train line to be used by thousands a day you should make it such that a single person cannot bring everything to a halt.

Picture of an electronic sign announcing that the 16:49 train will arrive 17:16
This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-08-02

August 2: some idiot is allegedly parked on the rails and neither the Tram 5 nor 13 can go on. Why don't the trains just push him out of the way remains a mystery.
It's also worth noticing that the Nußbaumerstraße stop has a mechanism for switching lanes. In theory one of the four Trams stuck here could have transferred its passengers to the other three, switch lanes, and drive back from there to keep at least some service. Just saying.

Picture of an electronic announcer showing that the Tram 5 os late and there's an announcement about someone being parked incorrectly.
This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-07-31

You'd think taking a train with 90 minutes delay is its own worst case, but you would be wrong! Since the train is 100 minutes late it stops halfway in Bonn Hbf, and the next one is already gone.

Picture of an electronic display showing that the 18:55 train is arriving 20:35 and all stops after Bonn Hbf are canceled.
This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-07-31

July 31: according to the announcement there are a "defektes Stellwerk" (signal box) north of me and a "Reparatur an einem Bahnübergang" (railway crossing) south of me. And since this is Mülheim there's also a bridge repair west of me. If you're traveling to Leipzig, though, then you're in luck.
But also the voice just said the delay is due to vandalism, so your guess for why we're 90 minutes late is as good as mine.

Picture of an electronic announcer showing one delay from 18:20 to 19:58, one from 20:02 to 21:02, and one cancellation of the 20:20 train.
This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-07-29

Worth pointing out that the 5 being in chaos mode isn't helping with my delay. The one I end up taking is 10 minutes late.

Picture of an electronic announcer showing that the next two Trams in line 5 are coming in 5 and 7 minutes respectively even though the frequency should be 10 minutes. An announcement at the bottom (seen only partially) warns of delays in the line due to too much traffic.
This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-07-29

I'll be late today (my own fault) for taking the 18 in Slabystraße instead of the 13. It's been so long since they disconnected the Mülheimer Brücke connection that I just forgot the 13 even existed. I simply saw a Tram and got in asking no further questions.
Do you think the bridge will be back before November? Or should we start planning the "One year delay" party?
(Adding a previously-unreported 12 minutes delay from yesterday because them's the rules)

Picture of an electronic announcer showing that a regional train is delayed by 12 minutes
This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-07-23

July 24: the tracks between Frankfurt and Köln are f***ed up, as always, and only one ICE out of 5 is coming through. It's also arriving one hour late at 3am, at which point there's no public transport left from Hbf.
But hey, it's not like people need sleep to perform their work tomorrow.

Picture of an electronic announcer showing that the picture was taken 1:51 and the next ICE will arrive 3:05 instead of 2:09.
This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-07-19

July 19: 14 minutes delay in the RE5 because we had to let other trains go ahead of us twice. On the plus side, that gave us passengers enough time to realize that the landscape where we had to wait is very similar to the flag of Belchatów, Poland.

Picture of a landscape showing light blue sky, yellow plants and green grass at the bottom.
This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-07-18

The "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" reports (in German) that the #Bahnchaos projected for 2028 is caused (partially) by the idea of rising all four bridges near Köln Süd to 4.5m so that "trucks can pass them unhindered and more space is created for pedestrians".
I have a suggestion: after making sure they won't collapse, leave the bridges at their current height. The repairs will be faster, we don't need more trucks in the inner city, and there's barely any three-meters-tall pedestrians anyway.

This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-07-15

Although based on an actual announcement heard yesterday on an actual train, I think the better new slogan for #DeutscheBahn should be "Deutsche Bahn: es wird im weiteren Fahrtverlauf zu erheblichen Verspätungen kommen".

This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-07-15

July 15: I have to go from my place to Hbf, and from there to work. The Tram 14 vanishes into thin air, the 18 from Hbf is nowhere to be seen, and the RE22 to Köln Süd switches from "on time, don't worry" to "late enough for you to miss your connection".
I've already lost half an hour for a trip that used to require a single Tram. Luckily I budgeted an extra hour for the trip, which perhaps should be the new slogan of the Deutsche Bahn.
Come back, Tram 18, we miss you.

Picture showing that the RE22 is announced to depart 15:21 even though it's already 15:29.
This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-07-14

July 14: trying to leave Köln Hbf. The app suggests I take a train that's more than three hours late or, alternatively, one of the same line that's only 22 minutes late. The first one is nowhere to be seen while the second one is bumped out to make room for a third train.
Counting this as only 15 minutes delay because the train that blocked the platform also takes me where I wanted to go.

Left picture: screenshot from the DB App showing a train with three hours and 14 minutes delay.
Right picture: photo of an electronic announcer showing a train of the same line with twenty-two-minutes delay.
This is why I'm latethisiswhyimlate@social.cologne
2025-07-14

A friend of mine who regularly uses the ICE 928 sent me this screenshot. Moving the WWII-bomb outlier to the "cancelled" column, the train has a 40% chance of not reaching its destination and, if it does, it will arrive 50 minutes late on average.
Said friend is currently waiting for this train, which at this time has 3 hours delay pushing the average lateness to 56 minutes which, coincidentally, is not quite enough for a refund.
🎶 Thank you for getting stranded with #DeutscheBahn

Picture of the Zugfinder app showing day by day that the ICE 928 has been consistently late (or cancelled) for at least a month.

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