As a German - a lot of our neighbours have significantly better rail. For some of them, delayed trains from Germany are a large cause of delay.

I like our train system, and use it a lot, but there is very significant room for improvement. According to the current statistic, 40% of long distance trains are late.

A lot of problems come from the half-aborted privatisation. The railway was turned into a public company, but the stock was never sold, so it's owned by the state, but still a AG (plc?) that tries to run a profit.