Greta Thunberg 'owned' by rail company after she moans about 'overcrowded train'
The 16-year-old climate activist posted on Twitter that she had been travelling on the floor of a train through Germany – but Deutsche Bahn said she'd actually been travelling in first class
Activist Greta Thunberg has been embroiled in a spat with a railway company after she tweeted a picture of her sitting on the floor of an “overcrowded” train – when she’d apparently actually been travelling in first class.
The 16-year-old climate campaigner posted the snap of her on a Deutsche Bahn service in Germany yesterday, showing her surrounded by bags as she returned from a climate summit in Madrid.
Thunberg, who was this week named the Time Magazine’s person of the year, captioned the post to her 3.6million followers: “Traveling on overcrowded trains through Germany. And I’m finally on my way home!”
The picture drew sympathy from her fans as she appeared to slog the train journey out on the floor while other passengers enjoyed the comfort of their seats.
But the railway company Deutsche Bahn then sent a stinging reply to the crusading youngster, pointing out in a public statement that she had been travelling in first class during her journey.
It replied: “Dear #Greta, thank you for supporting us railroad workers in the fight against climate change! We were pleased that you were on the ICE 74 with us on Saturday. And with 100 percent green electricity.
“It would have been even nicer if you had also reported how friendly and competent you were looked after by our team at your seat in first class.”
Thunberg then quickly wrote back: “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!’”
As a first class passenger, Thunberg would have had access to more legroom in plush leather seats, free food and drink, as well as complimentary WiFi and newspapers.
Her online run-in with DB came just hours after she had spoken before a furious climate protest in Turin, Italy, and said that she would “put leaders against the wall” if they continued running away from their climate obligations.
She later apologised for the remark, claiming that a Swedish phrase had been lost in translation.
She said: “Yesterday I said we must hold our leaders accountable and unfortunately said ‘put them against the wall’. That's Swenglish: 'att ställa någon mot väggen' (to put someone against the wall) means to hold someone accountable. That's what happens when you improvise speeches in a second language.
“But of course I apologise if anyone misunderstood this. I can not enough express the fact that I - as well as the entire school strike movement - are against any possible form of violence. It goes without saying but I say it anyway.”
The 16-year-old activist first started a worldwide movement last year when she began to strike from school every Friday to protest government inaction on climate change.
Refusing to fly, she has twice crossed the Atlantic by boat in recent months in order to speak at a UN climate summit in New York and the hastily rearranged COP25 summit in Madrid.