re: #269 bratwurst

The name changed 26 years ago. And as someone who lived there for many years, let me assure you your romanticization of the transport infrastructure there bears little relationship to the 21st century reality.

The fact it is way WAY better than in the US is the very definition of faint praise.

Why did it go so far downhill since going back to Deutsche Bahn anyway?

It’s not like both sides of the merger weren’t government-run beforehand, although Deutsche Reichsbahn was apparently not nearly so good as the West Germans’ trains were (partly because it was designed to make it inconvenient for any but the Vanguard members to travel)…