Train Travel in Germany 2nd ½ 2022

[OZDUCK]

Just a few points for those considering train travel in Germany in the next few months or so.

There is lots of overcrowding but that may improve after the end of August when the 9 Euro fare will disappear. However I am convinced that some routes in their more populous areas will continue to be crowded.

Time keeping is not especially good. Outside the normal S & U Bahn systems all trains seem to run at least a few minutes late. We have been on ones that were 35 minutes and 20 minutes late.

Cancellations seem to occur on a regular basis and I don't believe that this is due to the 9 Euro fare but more to an under investment in the rail system. A lot of the trains are beginning to look little shabby. I have read comments along the same line before the cheap fare was introduced. Today some people were coming from Frankfurt to Berlin for the reunion we are attending. Their train was cancelled and they have been bounced around the country to get here. Some others have been delayed by about 2 hours.

Do not believe the station indicators which show where the carriage for the ICE trains will stop. We have caught 2 ICE trains. On the first train the wagon numbers were completely reversed leaving us some 300 metres from our reserved seats with no hope of reaching them in the couple of minutes the train was stopped. We found seats easily enough but wasted a small booking fee.


For the second train only half the carriage numbers were reversed leaving us confused as to where to go. Luckily this was a longer stop so we got to our seats.


And speaking of seats we had one trip in 1st Class and while there was plenty of legroom the seats were very hard and a bit uncomfortable.

 

[Mattg]

It's a shame you've had that experience - I'm personally a huge advocate of Deutsche Bahn (despite having had a few last-minute cancellations etc. and changed wagon configurations during my travels).

European summer is always a busy time to travel. The 9 Euro fares probably also didn't help, but as these are only valid on regional trains I would have thought the IC/ICE trains would be a bit less crowded.

Regarding the reversed wagon directions, they normally make an announcement in German if this has happened along the lines of "umgekehrte/geänderte Wagenreihung" when this has happened and you can find the info in the DB Navigator app (DB Navigator: die Wagenreihung in Echtzeit). I think they normally make the same announcement in English, or at least have something on the information screen next to where it tells you about the delay.

 

[Katie]

Friends recently got the train from Berlin to Frankfurt to connect to Qatar flights to Australia, rather than risk LH cancelling their original domestic flight and losing their luggage.

The cabin their seats were booked into had no power. No-one could sit in that cabin, and there were no other available seats in the class they'd booked (not likely first class).
The dining car wasn't able to provide either hot or cold beverages - I can't remember which, they arrived here in July, and have since returned home to Potsdam.

They were both quite scathing about DB performance lately. One of the couple is German, and they've been living in Germany since late 2019. *shrug*

 

[OZDUCK]

It's a shame you've had that experience - I'm personally a huge advocate of Deutsche Bahn (despite having had a few last-minute cancellations etc. and changed wagon configurations during my travels).

European summer is always a busy time to travel. The 9 Euro fares probably also didn't help, but as these are only valid on regional trains I would have thought the IC/ICE trains would be a bit less crowded.

Regarding the reversed wagon directions, they normally make an announcement in German if this has happened along the lines of "umgekehrte/geänderte Wagenreihung" when this has happened and you can find the info in the DB Navigator app (DB Navigator: die Wagenreihung in Echtzeit). I think they normally make the same announcement in English, or at least have something on the information screen next to where it tells you about the delay.

We have the DB Bahn app and we have got alerts about delays etc for some connections. On the first train the conductor told us that when the train was assembled the carriage numbers were all duplicated starting from the middle out so they basically just tossed a coin and renumbered them all from the back forward rather than from the front backwards.

I wasn't clear enough about the IC trains they were busy but not overcrowded. It was the Regional trains - RE and the like that were taking the strain.

I do have to apologise to DB Bahn for one point though. The people who were delayed were actually traveling on FlixTrain one of the multiple number of cheaper train operators. We had a meal with them last night and they said that they now understood why the fares were cheap - a good case of you get what you pay for. No A/C, windows painted shut and mostly unable to be opened and an interior that had been barely updated from the 1980's. So definitely a time when DB Bahn would be a better choice.

DB Bahn has got us where we want to go and the overcrowding should reduce after the end of August. I probably had exaggerated expectations of their service. They have not been anywhere as good for long distance travel as I found RENFE to be in Spain. But of course the Spanish rail system has basically been built from scratch with EU money over the last few decades so they don't have the legacy problems of Germany and don't carry the same number of pax.

 

[Mattg]

Fair enough. Yeah, FlixTrain is cheaper for a reason

Don't get me wrong, I've also had issues with Deutsche Bahn over the years and I know many Germans think they're terrible. But on the whole, I find their trains affordable, fast and comfortable - lightyears ahead of anything we have in Australia!

 

[OZDUCK]

Fair enough. Yeah, FlixTrain is cheaper for a reason

Don't get me wrong, I've also had issues with Deutsche Bahn over the years and I know many Germans think they're terrible. But on the whole, I find their trains affordable, fast and comfortable - lightyears ahead of anything we have in Australia!

What I did forget to mention was the mask wearing. Outside Berlin in the U/S Bahn & Re it was probably at 98 -99%. Although as normal some people believe that the nose does not nee to be covered. On the IC trains it was about the same but most people took an awful long time to eat a biscuit or drink a cup of coffee. Around 85% would be P2 masks and the rest Surgical ones.

As I expected Berlin is different. The figure is more like 85 - 90% We have seen officials tell people to put their mask on.

We have had our 9 Euro tickets checked twice. Both times on regional trains in the middle of nowhere. I have neve seen any checks in the cities.

 

[daft009]

Just got back from Germany a couple of days ago. This train ticket was great.

Saved us quite a few € in Metro trips in Berlin in the end.

As per my local friends this €9 ticket was introduced to combat the high fuel prices and it worked a treat, 60% increase in public transport use and trains were all running late we noticed as it was still summer holidays too.

Most of our ICE trains were an hour late minimum, except the last one which was after summer holidays finished

Now there are talks of extending it but perhaps increasing the prices a little bit

 

[CaptJCool]

From Berlin to Brussels, the night train renaissance gathers speed with the new European Sleeper

The latest capital-to-capital sleeper is one of Europe’s most eagerly awaited new routes – and connects London to Berlin in 16 hours

www.theguardian.com

 

[Beano]

I am in Germany and have bought the 25% discount card (Bahncard Probe 25). We have a German address though never been aked for it. Our experince is that all trains within 5 minutes and carriage locations accurately. Seats pre-booked on all trips so no problems. Unfortunately it is a strike season. We missed a strike by one day. Still one trip to go with a flight connection, so keeping fingers crossed.

 

[marki]

Are trips to from the airport free? Did they used to be free? Some airline tickets involve train travel. I remember these being included as part of the airline ticket! And had to be presented if asked for? However I thought that when travelling to or from the airport one could do the same on any airline ticket one had bought?

 

[Beano]

Lufthansa offer a deal which includes a train ticket from anywhere in Germany but as our train ticket was less than the deal we didn't take it up.

 

[CaptJCool]

Germany launches €49 monthly public transport ticket – DW – 04/04/2023

The coalition government has launched a €49 monthly travel ticket to help ease the cost of living and promote the use of public transport. How revolutionary is it?

www.dw.com

 

[marki]

Lufthansa offer a deal which includes a train ticket from anywhere in Germany but as our train ticket was less than the deal we didn't take it up.

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