"Never travel by train in Germany, walk if you have to"

At first glance, the picture in the Instagram post looks harmless: you can see an ad on the ICE 690 from Munich to Berlin. The words underneath are rather uncomfortable. Written by French actress Julie Delpy, who is annoyed at having boarded a Deutsche Bahn train again.

Delpy writes that she made the "big mistake" of taking the train again in Germany. Deutsche Bahn employees assured her that there would be "no problems". "Of course, as always, there are tons of issues," the actress posts. No train is running, every single train is late, every single connection is missed. The post ends with: "Never travel by train in Germany, walk if you have to".

This isn't Delpy's first unpleasant ICE experience. Last year, the 53-year-old wrote on her Instagram account: "Worst train system on the planet (that is, from the ones I've already driven)." She also posted a photo from an ICE from Paris to Stuttgart.

Delpy's latest post already has thousands of likes. “I come from Germany and have given up. I ride my bike or take the car if I have to," commented one user below.

According to a report, only around 65 percent of long-distance trains in Germany were on time in 2022. A train is considered punctual if it is less than six minutes late. Deutsche Bahn is notorious for its delays in Germany - but international travelers are often surprised, as Germany is known abroad for its punctuality ("German punctuality").

Actress, director and producer Julie Delpy landed her first major role in 1987's The Passion of Beatrice and quickly became known to an international audience. In 2017, Delpy received the European Film Prize in the category "Best European Achievement in World Cinema".