Rail passengers in Germany can't see, when booking, how often a given connection has actually worked.

The problem, broken down

Who it hurts

People booking ICE and Intercity trips with a change of train, especially to catch flights, appointments or the last connection of the day.

The moment

Choosing between a tight 8-minute change and a later, slower option on the booking screen.

What people do today

The booking tool shows planned times and live delays on the day, but not the track record of a train or a change. Passengers guess or add large buffers.

Why it's unsolved

Punctuality is reported as one national figure per year, while the risk a passenger faces depends on the specific train, station and time of day.

What solved looks like

Before booking, a passenger enters a route and sees for each option how often the first train arrived in time for the change over the last 90 days, built from Deutsche Bahn's own timetable and change data.

Builders still need to know

• Do the open APIs keep enough history to measure each change, or does a tool need to record it itself over months?→
• Would passengers pay more or travel longer for a safer connection?→
• How should the tool treat planned construction that changes reliability from one month to the next?→