By definition, chaos is the dissolution of all order or complete confusion. In terms of educational language, one of the Duden reports that one could also say witches’ Sabbath. Well: What has been happening in the customer centers of the Munich Transport Company (MVG) since April 3rd, the start of sales of the Deutschlandticket, is not really anarchy. And it would not have been rocket science to get the Germany ticket, which has been valid since May 1st, in good time. Nevertheless, the queues in front of the customer centers at the main train station and at Marienplatz are as long as ever.
When you wait, you can see who is staying true to the line – or who prefers to stand a little apart.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
MVG has sold more than 180,000 tickets so far. All those who want to take out a subscription to the Deutschlandticket for May now have to wait two to three hours. And that’s where the word chaos comes easily off the tongue, even if the customers are generally patient and calm and there is no known history of ticket machines being smashed out of frustration. Waiting to get on should not be alien to train drivers.
Until April 30th, the ticket could still be bought online for the month of May, now MVG customers have to queue up to order a chip card on which the ticket is saved. Because this card will not be available until the summer, the MVG employees print out a paper ticket with a QR code for customers. The days already elapsed are credited to you. MVG spokesman Maximilian Kaltner expects that things will continue for a while, but hardly anyone will buy a ticket for the current month at the end of May. But as is well known, nothing can be ruled out in Munich.
Deutsche Bahn (DB) also continues to sell the 49-euro ticket for the current month in its customer centers. Anyone who wanted to secure a subscription to DB online from home these days sometimes had to wait just as long as the people in the analogue queue because of the overloaded server.