I've seen a couple of in cab videos where the driver isn't using AFB. Is it a requirement to use AFB, or do drivers not use it so they actually feel like they're in control of the train?
I mean apparently you don't HAVE to use it if they are not doing it. I think this is a personal preference, some people like to use it, some don't. I personally always use cruise control when I can, but I can see people that would never use such a system
Indeed. Looking at official DB documentation a while back, there‘s no rule that forces you to use AFB. It‘s strongly encouraged (at least for DB Fernverkehr), but no driver is required or obligated to use it.
That’s what I wasn’t sure of: freight, REGIO and ICE Services all have locomotives with AFB functionality, but maybe one strongly encourages it while another doesn’t!
Cab videos I've seen they usually activate it when moving. If it is anything like the game, I would be turning it off...climbing up a gradient and not reaching the AFB set speed is common occurrence. The AFB brakes can be quite strong so I don't know for sure if that affects passenger comfort. I prefer to use the electric brakes myself and train brakes for a station stop. Though I use it for ICE because of LZB.
The advantage i see is that I can focus much more on the route ahead rather than looking at the speed dials all the time, and it makes the drive a bit more relaxed, which I think is especially important for professional drivers.
I‘ve seen one freight cab ride with the driver‘s desk in view. He didn‘t use AFB at all. In another documentation I saw, a freight driver said he just sets AFB to PZB Vmax and doesn‘t really touch it otherwise. I‘m sure though that there‘s also a sizeable number of freight drivers using it more, but those are the two accounts I know for sure. I‘ve never seen an ICE cab ride where AFB wasn‘t used, so it‘s probably a fair assumption that there is a lot variation between Fernverkehr, Regio and Cargo. AFB is never used to slow the train down in real life. It brakes extremely hard and fast. I think it may actually be forbidden to use AFB for slowing down, but I‘d have to look at the official rules again before making that claim. In a German forum, I read a real driver saying that you should use the electric brakes manually when descending a gradient as AFB sawtooths - brakes hard, releases, brakes hard, releases, ... Meanwhile a manual application of the electric brake can just keep your speed steady without doing that. And just a nice bit of German rules since it sort of vaguely relates to your point: For stopping the train (station stop, Hp0 signal, ...), the sole application of the electric brakes is actually forbidden. It makes sense, of course, but I think it‘s interesting that there‘s an official rule about it.
