Football at the Euros is easily accessible by train. But you need to arm yourself with patience

In a few weeks, Germany will be invaded football fever. Teams from all over Europe will descend on the neighboring country to compete for the legendary trophy. They will of course be accompanied by fans, the arrival of almost three million people is expected, who will not want to miss the continent’s biggest football holiday. This will also put an extreme strain on public transport, especially on the railway, which is not in the best shape and is plagued by long delays.

What is happening in Germany.Source: DiaryLeipzig, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich are very easily accessible from the Czech Republic by rail. But also more distant Cologne, Gelsenkirchen or Dortmund. Tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of fans from abroad will be moving between individual cities, with whom the backbone high-speed railway will have to cope in particular. They are driven by almost 400 sets capable of reaching speeds of more than 300 kilometers per hour, in which there are almost a quarter of a million seats.

Trains are held back by major repairs worth hundreds of billions

At the first sight Germany looks like it’s ready for a big football holiday. However, there are problems with the infrastructure, which has deteriorated significantly in recent years, which brings extensive repairs. Last year alone, Deutsche Bahn spent approximately 300 billion crowns on repairs.

Long-distance trains, including international ones bound for the Czech Republic, run with long delays. For example, during March this year, according to Deutsche Bahn data, only 70 percent of long-distance trains reached their destination on time. And the day after the Berlin soccer final, a major lockout will begin on the line between Frankfurt am Main and Mannheim, with 300 trains a day.

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But football fans heading to games by train should not worry about the strikes that have crippled traffic on the German network many times in recent months. The management of the German railways has agreed with the train drivers’ union on a compromise proposal for a collective agreement. However, it cannot be completely ruled out that other trade unions will not go on strike.

Germany is ideal for Czech football fans

The lot could not have been more favorable for Czech fans traveling to matches by train. The Czech national team will play the opening match against Portugal in Leipzig, the next two matches against Georgia and Turkey will then be hosted by Hamburg in northern Germany. Both cities are very easily accessible from the Czech Republic by direct trains, or with one transfer in Dresden or Berlin. Although until the first Czech match at European Championships more than a month and a half left, the trains are already quite full. Carriers therefore recommend buying a ticket as soon as possible, including a seat.

At neighboursSource: Diary

The Neighbors column

Nowadays, we often know much more about what is happening on the other side of the world than what is happening close to our borders, in the neighboring countries of the Czech Republic. That’s why we decided to bring you in a light form every Sunday news about what’s going on in this place “at neighbours“, i.e. on Slovakiain Poland, Germany and Austria.

You will be informed by people who either live in the given countries, such as Eliška Gáfriková in Slovakia, Martin Kratochvíl in Poland, or work near the borders, such as Alexandr Vanžura in Děčín, or Iva Haghofer near the Austrian border in South Moravia. We thank Mr. Vladimír Majer for the inspiration to create the column. Sometimes I, the European editor Luboš Palata, will contribute a Central European perspective to the column.

We wish you a nice Sunday reading.