Weindorf was a transport disaster

What a night.

I don't often post about personal experiences and don't consider this site a venting outlet but I have to get this one off my chest.

Now I'm normally very positive about the transport system here in Germany but tonight has been one of the worst experiences I've had in the 10 years I've lived here.

We (my lovely other half and I) went out into Stuttgart tonight for the Weindorf (wine village) and had a cool evening of eating Flammkuchen and drinking wine. Just after 10pm we were in the process of moving from one wine tent to the next when we noticed the sky had gone very dark and the wind had picked up quite a bit. We made a snap decision to end the night early and go home before the storm kicked in. As we were walking out of the Weindorf area the wind really hit in; tablecloths were blowing away, glasses were being knocked over and the staff were trying hard to tie things down or pack things away quickly. Progressing through Schlossplatz to the U-Bahn station we also saw plastic chairs blowing across the square and the amount of dust and muck being whisked around was blinding.

We fought our way down the the U-Bahn station, took the U-Bahn from Schlossplatz to Hauptbahnhof, got there around 10.15pm and expected to get the 10.35pm S-Bahn to Boeblingen. Fortunately there was a train just pulling in that was going as far as Vaihingen (on the way home for us) so we decided that instead of hanging around the hot and crowded main station, we'd get on this train and wait in Vaihingen.

We got off at Vaihingen (platform 2) at 10.30pm and made our way across to platform 1 to hang around. By this time the storm had whipped up a bit and we spent the 20 minutes until the next train watching the lightning overhead. After 15 minutes there was an announcement that the incoming train from Herrenberg to Plochingen (the other way) was not going to show up due to the storm, and that all passengers waiting for that train should take an alternative one to Stuttgart where the service would resume.

5 minutes later our train arrived on the wrong platform, and everyone ran from platform 1 across to platform 2 to meet it. The driver informed us that he was going no further, and that there was no power to the lines further down so we should wait for an announcement from the station master.

Back to platform 1 and a 30 minute wait for the next train. There was no announcement made and everyone was getting iritated. The next train also came in on platform 2 (despite the boards still advertising Herrenberg trains on platform 1), and we all dashed across in hope. Alas, once everyone had got on the train the driver announced that he was also going no further, and that there would be no more trains that evening in that direction. He said there would be a bus service put on to get people to Boeblingen where you could go further on the trains again.

Another 30 minutes passed at the bus stop, and about half the people waiting gave up and called taxis to get home. We stuck it out and were about to do the same when a bus finally arrived. It was full (not even standing room) and we wondered about whether we'd be able to board, but happily they all got off and we were the lucky ones who managed to get on board and get a seat. When we pulled away there were still at least 2 more bus-loads of people still waiting. It took us another 30 minutes to get back to Boeblingen where we took a taxi home from the station. Alas, to top it all off we couldn't even get to our front door as the street was blocked off due to building work, so we still got drenched in the last 100 metres. :(

VVS did a shockingly bad job of dealing with the situation, but afterwards we both wondered how this would have gone if we were in England. Would we even have got home in 2 hours? I doubt it...