Careful around DB (Deutsche Bahn)

[Disco]

It wouldn’t let me do that until I logged out and logged back in again, but all good now.


saw that, but I was after 1st class and just the three month trial card.

I’ve checked their trackwork page and looks like everything is supposed to be wrapped up by early December and I’m travelling in mid December so should be clear, plus I couldn’t see anything on the routes that I intend to take. So fingers crossed.

Kind of annoying though that I’m making three long-ish distance journeys between the 10th and 15th of December. My birthday is on the 16th December where upon I’ll be entitled to the extra discount for being 65 or over.

Good luck with your holiday and hopefully the app will notify you of the last minute changes

 

[Duggo]

I was traveling Berlin to Munich in August, I got notified 35 minutes prior to departure train was cancelled, we were in a taxi just getting to the station and this came via the app, I went to help desk in Berlin HBF and their words were you will have to find another train yourself. I had first class tickets booked and paid prior to leaving Oz and the response to that was you will have to do your best once you get on the train. Zero apologies and I actually felt like they were inconvenienced by me asking questions rather than me and my wife being inconvenienced for the travel disruption.
We ended up on a train that was very full and seated apart for the first couple of hours, apart from that the trains were great.
I was truly appalled at the attitude but I have a family member who has been in Berlin for 12 years and he was adamant that this was standard for Deutsche Bahn. I ended up writing a comprehensive complaint letter and received a voucher code just the other day for 71 euro for being delayed over 85 minutes.
German efficiency was a myth blown wide open, Deutsche Bahn was truly chaotic. Metro around Berlin was pretty good though in terms of scheduling and easy to navigate even though some of the trains and stations were pretty filthy but not all. The worst of the stations was after getting to Munich and going to Dachau, the station at Dachau was disgustingly dirty but it had a fabulous café outside of station near the bus terminal.

 

[RooFlyer]

I had first class tickets booked and paid prior to leaving Oz and the response to that was you will have to do your best once you get on the train.

Thanks. I also have first class tickets booked.

So did you just use the app to find a connecting train to your destination and then get on board, as it’s basically an any train ticket?

Did the App sort of recognise that your train was cancelled and the new train was substitute and therefore you were ticketed on it? Or did you just have to explain to the ticket inspector what has happened?

 

[Duggo]

Thanks. I also have first class tickets booked.

So did you just use the app to find a connecting train to your destination and then get on board, as it’s basically an any train ticket?

Did the App sort of recognise that your train was cancelled and the new train was substitute and therefore you were ticketed on it? Or did you just have to explain to the ticket inspector what has happened?

Yes, app notified of cancellation and it was just a case of finding another train we jumped in the first class carriage and found some seats and eventually were able to sit together after Nuremburg from memory. The ticket inspector scanned our tickets and kept moving without a second glance, as long as you have a paid ticket there is no problem. The cancellation of course meant two trains worth of passengers on the one train so it was pretty full. Certainly nothing wrong with the trains themselves, they are very comfortable but the network was certainly in disarray.

 

[mel-world]

Spring/summer '25 and, obviously DB has not improved much. I made several bookings via the DB App and a couple of seat reservations to use in conjunction with a Eurail Pass. It's not much value using an Eurail day unless you plan a lot of travel each day.

Almost as soon as I paid, I get an App notification and email telling me that the selected trip was cancelled and the ticket was valid for any train the same day. That's okay but all other options around the same time involve one or more transfers - not ideal with 6 weeks of luggage.

Then I get a time change for a trip where I had booked seats but now cannot see the train anywhere despite the ticket office at FRA station telling me the train still operates. Any alternative requires multiple changes.

None of the above would probably warranted a post until we came to take a simple journey from Frankfurt Airport to Koblenz yesterday. The original train was cancelled (see above) so got ourselves to the Frankfurt Main station for an 1142 Hamburg IC train with the first stop in Koblenz. The lack of information was impressive when the train was delayed - eventually departing 40 mins late, the platform changed and then the train took a different route, was stopped by every passing freight train and eventually arrived in our destination more than an hour late. I just pity any passengers going onto Hamburg as it was showing a 90 min delay as we left the train and we were at the first stop. The onboard information screens just kept adding time to the journey.

I'm glad our next journey is to Switzerland - they could not be any better. I have a feeling that our delays were not unique given the attitude of the locals on the train.

 

[dajop]

I'm glad our next journey is to Switzerland - they could not be any better. I have a feeling that our delays were not unique given the attitude of the locals on the train.

Watch those Swiss delays. I mean they have a good track record, but I experienced multiple late trains - by a minute or two

Although in all seriousness, SBB delays can be relatively common - on international routes they operate from other countries (particularly Italy and Germany) back to Switzerland. Domestic only trains, not so much. [as an aside there seemed to be a lot of pressure for the Swiss to open up its railways to competition from foreign operators, but a lot of pushback as well to preserve punctuality].

 

[mel-world]

A further update on my post above (in case anyone is planning on using German trains this summer). As someone who plans obsessively (as my +1 would say), I booked seats on a direct EC train from Koblenz to Basel SBB to get into Switzerland using a Eurail Pass I bought 10 months ago during a 25% off sale. Of course, that thru train was cancelled due to track works - although the Eurail timetable did not reflect that.

So a 6 hour journey involving 4 transfers including a 9 min rush (with luggage) from the far end of Platform 4 at Basel to Platform 21, when the IC train from Frankfurt to Zurich was running so late that they just terminated the service Basel and left a herd of passengers to find their own way to their destination. So just be flexible on German trains this summer.

As an aside, I can recommend both the DB and SBB Apps to assist with planning, purchasing tickets and notifications of delays etc.

The DB staff at Koblenz did transfer my booked seats on the cancelled thru train to similar seats on the Frankfurt to Zurich (the Basel) service despite the T&C saying that I would have to claim the fee back later. Every seat in First on this Hamburg to Zurich Saturday service was booked so don't think you can just rock up and find a seat. In 2nd, people were parked anywhere with luggage all over the place.

 

[clifford]

I know what you mean.

I booked a R/T Ljubljana - Klagenfurt trip with OeBB for next month on a Sunday, and have since discovered that there will be trackwork between Ljubljana and Jesenice that day. So it looks like part of my trip will be by bus (if I'm lucky). I guess you just have to suck it up and be flexible. Hotels in Villach sound nice....

 

[Tommy tom]

Those sudden changes and disruptions are annoying and can mess up well-made plans. I'd assume the local businesses and long-distance commuters would already be making noise about these issues given they've been prevalent for quite some time and the high reliance on trains in Germany.

Luckily, train networks in many other European countries work very nicely. Many of them also have announcements in English, too. Hopefully you get smoother runs on rail on your future moves between locations.

Deutsche Bahn is a nightmare. I had first class rail tickets and seat reservation from Munich to Basel, but that train got cancelled. Then I rebooked for Munich via Stuttgart Basel but that train also got cancelled. Then tried to travel Munich via Frankfurt to Basel which also got cancelled. Then I boarded a train to Mannheim to then change for Basel, but missed my connection at Mannheim. Germany is an economic powerhouse and the world’s 3rd largest economy. DB trains are a national disgrace. Avoid travelling DB and stick to Swiss or Italian trains instead.

Tommy from Melbourne

 

[Tommy tom]

Deutsche Bahn is a nightmare. I had first class rail tickets and seat reservation from Munich to Basel, but that train got cancelled. Then I rebooked for Munich via Stuttgart Basel but that train also got cancelled. Then tried to travel Munich via Frankfurt to Basel which also got cancelled. Then I boarded a train to Mannheim to then change for Basel, but missed my connection at Mannheim. Germany is an economic powerhouse and the world’s 3rd largest economy. DB trains are a national disgrace. Avoid travelling DB and stick to Swiss or Italian trains instead.

Tommy from Melbourne

Hope my message is posted as DEUTSCHE BAHN is a national disgrace

 

[RooFlyer]

Welcome to AFF @Tommy tom - many of us can empathise.

The good news is that all the track work is making up for the under investment for the last 20 or so years.

 

[clifford]

The good news is that all the track work is making up for the under investment for the last 20 or so years.

Not great news if you're travelling any time soon. But not much worse than Great British Railways...

 

[RooFlyer]

Not great news if you're travelling any time soon. But not much worse than Great British Railways...

You can at least try and plan around it by looking at the works in progress page on their website. Doesn’t guarantee a free run but you’ve got a better chance of it by avoiding the advertised works.

 

[dajop]

Hope my message is posted as DEUTSCHE BAHN is a national disgrace

Sounds like the best option in this circumstance would have been to get a local train to Innsbruck and then you’re out of the DB system and rely on OBB (Austrian) and SBB to get you to Basel What a nightmare!

 

[mel-world]

You can at least try and plan around it by looking at the works in progress page on their website. Doesn’t guarantee a free run but you’ve got a better chance of it by avoiding the advertised works.

Good luck with that. The website is in German and so complex with routes, times and dates that you need to be an expert to work it out. IMO.

 

[RooFlyer]

Good luck with that. The website is in German and so complex with routes, times and dates that you need to be an expert to work it out. IMO.

I wonder if we are talking about different sites? I certainly don’t read German but I remember when I was there last year I found it pretty helpful.

 

[mel-world]

I wonder if we are talking about different sites? I certainly don’t read German but I remember when I was there last year I found it pretty helpful.

This is the one I was directed to:

Baustellen

 

[RooFlyer]

This is the one I was directed to:

Baustellen

This is mine . It should come out in English, (or you can select English on the top right) It details the lines affected, dates and some other info.

Aktuelle Verkehrsmeldungen - Schienenersatzverkehr

Aktuelle Verkehrsmeldungen

www.bahn.de