Greta Thunberg was called out by a German train company after the Swedish climate activist tweeted a photo of herself sitting on the floor of what she said was an “overcrowded” train.
“Traveling on overcrowded trains through Germany,” she tweeted Saturday. “And I’m finally on my way home.”
Traveling on overcrowded trains through Germany. And I’m finally on my way home! pic.twitter.com/ssfLCPsR8o
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 14, 2019
Deutsche Bahn (DB) spotted her message and was quick to offer a fuller picture of what really took place on their “overcrowded” train.
“Dear Greta, Thank you for supporting us railroaders in the fight against climate change! We were happy that you travelled with us on Saturday in the ICE 74 ... but it would have been even nicer, had you also reported how friendly and competently you were looked after by our team at your seat in the first class.”
OMG even German Rail companies are now dunking on the fraud that is @GretaThunberg! ?? pic.twitter.com/aAQjJJNWAt
— Raheem Kassam (@RaheemKassam) December 15, 2019
DB confirmed that Greta had travelled first class between the cities of Kassel and Hamburg. Greta responded swiftly, suggesting that DB had overreacted to her tweet by inferring that she had criticised the company for running an overcrowded service.
Contrary to their claim that she had spent the entire journey in a seat in first class, Greta said in a tweet on Sunday afternoon she had only been able to sit in a seat after Göttingen, more than four hours into her journey, and for the remaining two hours, before having to change in Hamburg for a further connection towards Scandinavia.
“This is no problem of course and I never said it was,” she wrote. “Overcrowded trains is a great sign because it means the demand for train travel is high!”
Our train from Basel was taken out of traffic. So we sat on the floor on 2 different trains. After Göttingen I got a seat.This is no problem of course and I never said it was. Overcrowded trains is a great sign because it means the demand for train travel is high!
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 15, 2019
Thunberg had been at a climate conference in Madrid and stopped for a climate protest in Turin, Italy on Friday.
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