Strikes annoy frequent and occasional Deutsche Bahn drivers alike. But what do you do with a person who depends on the train day and night? Lasse Stolley is 17 years old, has had a Bahncard 100 for a year and a half and lives on the rails. From there he works part-time as a programmer for a software start-up. The SZ caught him on Friday afternoon in the DB lounge at Frankfurt Central Station. Here he waits for the train service to start again in the evening.
SZ: Hello Mr. Stolley, where did you spend last night?
Lasse Stolley: I slept in the arrivals hall at Frankfurt Airport. I lay down on a bench. It wasn’t really comfortable.
So so.
I looked for a long time to see if any trains were traveling overnight, but I didn’t find anything. So I decided on the airport. That wasn’t the first time either. And luckily I wasn’t alone there, Lufthansa was also on strike. But I wouldn’t recommend it for more than two nights.
For most people, your train life would probably be nothing anyway, dear Mr. Stolley.
Oh, I’m actually still pretty relaxed, although the strikes are of course a big limitation. At the same time, I have great understanding for the strikers, just from what I see every day in customer contact. Above all, I can completely understand the demand for fewer working hours.
But strikes are not the only problem at the railway. Delays, bad WiFi…
Absolutely. The Internet in particular is a big topic for me because of my job. That’s why one of my first investments was an internet contract with unlimited data volume.
Wouldn’t it be easier for your everyday work to use trains in other countries where they run on time and the internet is reliable?
My train life hardly works in other countries. Germany is big enough for me to be on a train all night long. I can’t drive for that long at a time in countries like Switzerland. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few years, it’s that sleep is the most important thing in my everyday life.
And can you really get it on the night trains without any problems?
I learned how it works best in the first few months of life on the train. With my Bahncard 100 I can only use the seats, so I can’t use couchette cars. I have to get pretty creative: I’ve been lying with the air mattress in the luggage rack and in the on-board restaurant or sprawled across the seats. In the beginning, sleep was a big problem, but now not even the announcements on the train wake me up.
Is anything bothering you at all?
Some. In exceptional situations, like the ones I experience almost every day, the lack of communication from the railways annoys me. The biggest point, however, is the lack of privacy. When I wake up in the morning, there are often several people staring at me. I had to learn to deal with the fact that I have no place to retreat most days. Headphones are the ultimate feeling.
Eating, showering and washing may also be difficult.
I regularly go to eat in the DB Lounges, which are located at the seven largest train stations in Germany. Showering usually works well in public swimming pools near train stations. It gets more difficult when washing, I usually have to do it by hand in the sink when I’m on the go. This is often time-consuming, but even this gives me the feeling of freedom that I like so much.
Aha, so that’s what you’re talking about.
You could say so. After graduating from secondary school, I actually secured a training position, which was canceled at short notice. I didn’t want to go to school anymore either. And then it was clear to me: I just have to get out. Also because my youth was often difficult, I just wanted to be free.
But at some point you will have a little longing for a “normal” life.
The desire for freedom has even become stronger. I don’t see that anything in the coming months and years will make me give it up. I really enjoy being able to decide where I want to be every day. And I think that many things could be combined with life on the train. For example, I would like to work with Deutsche Bahn to enable future generations to travel better by train. But nothing has happened so far.
You can find further episodes of the series “A Call to…” here.