European Championship 2024
The railway wanted to make the European Championship a sustainable tournament – and failed miserably
German and international fans complain about problems with Deutsche Bahn during the European Championship
© Andreas Arnold / DPA
Players, officials and fans are equally annoyed. The train was supposed to be the mode of transport of choice at this European Championship, but it turned out to be a weak point.
Oranje actually wanted to travel the distance between the match venue in Berlin and Wolfsburg, where the national team has set up its European Championship quarters, by train. That worked on the outward journey, but after the match on Tuesday evening there were no more trains from the capital to Wolfsburg. The last ICE connection left at 9:26 p.m. “Germany is promoting itself as hosting a sustainable European Championship. But they are not managing it,” Koeman said angrily. The Dutch ultimately had to travel by bus for three hours instead of 90 minutes by train.
EM 2024: Deutsche Bahn admits problems
The national coach is not the only one to suffer from Deutsche Bahn during the European Championships. The European Championships were supposed to be as sustainable as ever in terms of transport. There were reduced tickets for ticket holders, and 10,000 additional seats were to be offered per day. But the high expectations were not met. Instead, the railways – as so often in everyday life – are causing frustration during the European Championships: delays, overcrowded trains or even cancelled connections.
“We understand the discontent and criticism of fans. The railway is currently not offering the quality that everyone deserves. At the same time, we are currently doing everything we can to get travelers to their destinations reliably,” said Deutsche Bahn board member and long-distance traffic manager Michael Peterson to “Bild”.
In fact, the chaos on the tracks is a constant source of discontent, which dampens the party mood during the European Championships in Germany. This applies to professionals and officials as well as to normal fans. Supporters from Austria went viral on social media with a video in which they vented their anger: “The Deutsche Bahn is so fucked up,” they sang on the way to the group match against the Netherlands, because this journey was not without problems either.
Philipp Lahm also arrived too late
And tournament organizer Philipp Lahm is not spared from the vagaries of long-distance public transport either. The former Bayern professional takes a completely different approach than Franz Beckenbauer did in 2006: instead of flying around the country in a helicopter and from game to game like the Kaiser, he travels by train. It was also Lahm who decisively pushed forward the idea of a sustainable tournament.
During the Slovakia vs. Ukraine match, he was stuck on the train and missed a television interview in the Düsseldorf stadium. “We are in contact with Deutsche Bahn, they will continue to do everything they can to ensure that people get from A to B on time,” said Lahm, commenting on his delay. “But this is not a problem that is occurring now, during the tournament. They should have worked on it long before.” The problems are “annoying, especially for fans who undertake long journeys and who spend money, a lot of money on it.” But Lahm made it clear on X that he would remain a “loyal Bahn customer.”
Others are less confident. The Turkish national team decided against taking the train from their base in Hanover to Hamburg for their last group match against the Czech Republic. Instead, the Turks are taking the plane for the 150-kilometer journey.
Sources: “Picture” / Deutsche Bahn / DPA