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German Rail website showing environmental impact

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A few comments from a native German, still living in Germany. I have my doubts, that anyone makes his decision whether to go by car or train on the basis of the figures stated in this page. I guess it is more a question of convenience and cost. German Autobahns are congested to a degree, where calculating travel time has become a gamble. Although there is still no general speed limit, going much faster than 70 - 80 mph is close to impossible, unless you travel through some of the less populated areas in eastern Germany. Travel time to major cities is much shorter by train than by car, and, in a lot of instances, not longer than air travel, making those ICE trains the best choice of transport. Commuting into our congested cities is a daily gamble. A trip from my place to downtown Hamburg (30 miles) can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours in the morning. Parking cost amount to as much as a season ticket would be and the train takes me in 35 minutes to where I want to go. The Germans of my generation still spend fortunes on their cars. 30 years ago, the top selling car, a VW Golf had a 50 hp engine, now the basic engine has 105 hp. Other than those "shopping charts with a roof" - the Smart, there is hardly a car on the road, which cannot go in excess of 100 mph. The younger generation shows a different attitude. More and more people stay in the cities, use public transport and do not own a car. There is a change coming up, albeit a slow one. At 45 M cars to a population of 82 M, we have reached the max, I guess. At about $ 9 for a gallon of gas, it´s no wonder...
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