Fed up with delays, Schaffhausen demands that Deutsche Bahn trains stop at border

After months of promises that things would improve soon, it seems the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen has had enough of delayed Deutsche Bahn trains causing problems with its transportation: in an open letter to SBB, the canton has demanded that the Stuttgart-Zurich connection be split into two parts, so that Deutsche Bahn trains don’t serve the route within Switzerland. 

Schaffhausen demands solution to frequent Deutsche Bahn delays

In an open letter to SBB CEO Vincent Ducrot, the canton and city of Schaffhausen, as well as members of parliament, called for “immediate action” on the problem posed by Deutsche Bahn’s frequent delays and cancellations, SRF reports.

Specifically, it has demanded that SBB split the connection between Zurich and Stuttgart into two parts: one route from Stuttgart to Singen, and another from Singen to Zurich via Schaffhausen. That way, the canton writes, Schaffhausen residents can be assured of having a reliable, punctual connection to Zurich, without having to rely on Deutsche Bahn’s notoriously unreliable service. 

In the letter, Schaffhausen said that the situation had not improved despite repeated requests and commitments from SBB. “The canton of Schaffhausen is no longer willing to be fobbed off with promises of future improvements," it wrote. 

SBB has already forced some DB services to terminate in Basel

Schaffhausen is not the first Swiss canton to make such a demand. SBB has already cut two Deutsche Bahn connections through Switzerland: since April this year, connections from Hamburg and Dortmund have been terminating in Basel; anyone who wishes to continue their journey from Germany to Zurich or Interlaken must change to an SBB train. 

So far this year, approximately 60 percent of Deutsche Bahn trains have reached their destination on time, SRF reports. Deutsche Bahn defines “on time” as arriving within six minutes of the scheduled arrival time. Compare that to SBB’s punctuality record of 94 percent (and, for SBB, a train is counted as delayed if it arrives three or more minutes late).

Indeed, the situation at Deutsche Bahn recently deteriorated to such a point that its CEO, Richard Lutz, was fired in August this year. In September, German Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder unveiled a plan to improve Deutsche Bahn punctuality to 70 percent by 2029. 

SBB has yet to respond to Schaffhausen’s demands.