Its also worth mentioning that there are express connections between big cities that are relatively close. For example, there is a sprinter connection between Nürnberg and Munich that takes about 90 minutes using a regional train instead of the 60 minutes it would take with an ICE.
Same for Dresden-Leipzig. I usually take the ICE since I have a Bahncard 100. In addition to the real time saved, it also feels a lot faster if you're not stopping every 5 minutes.
And you get a different audience. I'm trying to not go down the Musk road of considering sharing an enclosure with random strangers completely unacceptable (I do actually enjoy that part of public transit, even if individual experiences are hardly ever positives in isolation, the whole, in some ways is so much better than the sum of its parts!), but on trains intended for long distance there's just less of a school bus vibe. I wonder if we might see a return of separate premium fare seating?
Yeah, nothing fancy, just a simple "contribute a little more money to avoid the worst". That would still be far more in touch than hiding behind car doors.
It comes out to around 170 euros per month for me because my employer pays for it in lieu of a company car, and I only have to pay income tax and such on it ("geldwerter Vorteil").
