DB ICE delays expected this summer
I'm a relative newbie here so I'm not sure of the etiquette of linking to other forums. So I won't link, just summarize: a German recently reported on Rick Steves (don't yawn disparagingly just yet!) that German trains are attempting to privatize and are therefore stretching out maintenance schedules to save money. The German government, rightly unimpressed, is beefing up inspections and sidelining lots of rail cars. The scuttlebutt is that this is causing lots of delays. Copied from that post:
"Now we're experiencing the same with ICE bullet trains. At the moment only 50% of ICE trains operate at all and on most lines trains are shortened significantly due to lack of operable equipment. Result: A friend of mine just called from the 3.55pm Cologne to Frankfurt ICE telling me that even though he paid for a seat allocation the carriage his seat was supposed to be simply doesn't exist on that train. The train is packed with angry people who are all looking forward to standing in the aisle for their journey to Frankfurt, Stuttgart or even Munich...
It's expected that the situation with DB ICE trains is about to last until fall of 2010. Happy travels - in your rental cars ;-)"
A lot of chatter followed this post about whether the guy was right or wrong. I have no way to verify the reliability of it, but you might want to dig around a bit. May not happen to you, or it may just increase your probability enough to make you worry about your connection. But if the train originates in Italy, maybe it's Trenitalia rolling stock and this does not apply. Just more rumors to chase down...