Trains, trains...

 We have been riding mostly the S-Bahns, which are above-ground regional rails.  (The U-Bahns are subways, the trams are local street-level, the Deutsche Bahn are nationwide.).  The S-Bahns cars have a  small gap between the car and the platform, reasonably easily handled by my scooter, so they don't require any special effort to ride.  The trains are long, with cars at both ends marked with wheelchair symbols.  Coming home from the zoo yesterday we were right in the middle of the train when it stopped, and it looked do-able, so we just got on.  The car was similar to the wheelchair ones -- no folding seats to make a wheelchair space, but I hadn't been using those anyhow.  Fine.

Then we got to our stop, and the gap to the platform was much wider; wide enough that I thought my front wheel could get caught.  So I got off, and Dave, Isaac and a helpful passenger got the scooter off.

Back  on the platform, I noticed that our station is  slightly curved!  At the ends of the train, which is straight, the cars are very close to the platform.  In the middle they aren't.  So lesson learned, and explanation for why all the wheelchair cars are at the ends.

The DB train that we ended up taking Saturday required the conductor to put down a ramp to get on and off.  We haven't tried a tram yet, but we did talk to a conductor; there is a ramp that can be extended automatically; you have to wave at the conductor to be sure he/she sees you.  We haven't tried the buses yet.

Always an adventure.

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