Germany’s national rail operator DB can’t seem to get its long-distance trains to run on time, but it’s ready to provide a more private place to wait out the delays.
DB recently unveiled designs for its newest ICE high-speed trains, which include small compartments that the railroad says are aimed at business travelers, saying “These enable private and confidential conversations in a protected environment.”
The two-person spaces come with a glass wall that can turn frosted at the touch of a switch, an arrangement that immediately set tongues wagging, with the newspaper Bild dubbing them ‘smooch cabins’ for couples whose conversation may be about matters not usually thought of as business.
No timetable as yet for when the cars with the new features will arrive, but that’s not a surprise for German rail travelers: for the past several years, a third of DB’s long-distance trains have been arriving late.
