In a land where even a one-minute train delay is sacrilegious, Germany’s infamously tardy transport provider Deutsche Bahn is bringing chaos across the border to Switzerland, and the Swiss aren’t happy. Eight of the 10 most delayed services in the alpine nation in 2022 started their journeys in German cities.

German trains caused worst Swiss delays in 2022

Outside of Germany, Deutsche Bahn is seen as a feat of efficient modern travel. For those living in Germany, it is a necessary evil, but for the Swiss, it’s a laughing stock. Now, there is more fuel to add to the fire: Swiss publisher CH Media has found that of the 10 trains most frequently delayed in Switzerland during 2022, eight begin their routes in German cities.

While the EC196 service between Munich and Zurich was the least punctual train during the last timetable period, the most delayed in 2022 as a whole was another German long-distance train: the 2.39pm RE7 service from Karlsruhe to Basel. Of the 317 services that ran in 2022, 269 or 84,9 percent of them were delayed for an average of 11,3 minutes.

The aforementioned 8.55am EuroCity service from Munich to Zurich claimed second place with 84,2 percent. Of the 10 most delayed services in Switzerland, four were provided by Deutsche Bahn, four by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and two by the Rhaetian Railway (RhB).

Deutsche Bahn promises Switzerland it will change

Speaking in defence of Deutsche Bahn, a company spokesperson told international news platform Watson that the RE7, also known as Switzerland’s most delayed service of 2022, travels along the valley of the Rhine River, one of Europe’s busiest railway lines. While a variety of factors are to blame for the delays, the spokesperson said the main issue is a lack of capacity, which they hope to solve by adding two new tracks to the line.

The longest average delay, with the exception of night train services, was another EuroCity service from Munich to Zurich. The train, which arrives in Zurich at 6.27pm, was 22,5 minutes late on average in 2022. Deutsche Bahn has blamed these delays on the single-track line that the train uses, which can cause major disruption if the train arrives in St. Gallen late.

But in the year when Deutsche Bahn delays were bad enough to break the company’s own 10-year record, Switzerland’s rail association is not expecting change to come soon. The association, also known as Railvolution, is urging the country’s transport provider SBB to calculate Deutsche Bahn delays into its schedule so that future services do not cause as much disruption to other lines.

This article originally appeared on IamExpat in Switzerland.

Thumb image credit: Y. Pieper / Shutterstock.com