Careful around DB (Deutsche Bahn)

[VPS]

Geez, this is a bit concerning. In December, I'm planning Cologne-Strasbourg, then a few days later Strasbourg-Salzburg then Salzburg-Vienna. I'd usually hire a car except I want to stay in Old Towns and can't put up with the parking (been there, done that). Have booked hotels near the train stations which are cancellable, but as I'm basically allowing all day for each leg, hopefully I'll be fine.

I've been playing around with the DB app. I'm looking at 1st Class tickets and the scheduled transfers (one each for the first two journeys, three in the last) are 30-40 mins. Do people think I should open that out?

Does the app let you know of delays/cancellations? Platform changes?

If you have a reserved seat on say the second leg with a reserved seat (compulsory), it sounds like you just have to fend for yourself and book a fresh ticket and try for compo later???

Are you using individual tickets. If you get a Eurail pass you can hop on any train

 

[RooFlyer]

Are you using individual tickets. If you get a Eurail pass you can hop on any train

Thanks - still working my mind around all that.

 

[Disco]

Thanks - still working my mind around all that.

Not sure about this but I think there is a class of ticket on DB that allows for flexibility on which train is used on the day. However, the rail infrastructure is a mess and depending on the route, flying might be the better option. Might as in Frankfurt airport can also be a headache: last time I was there the airport computer systems went down.

 

[RooFlyer]

Not sure about this but I think there is a class of ticket on DB that allows for flexibility on which train is used on the day.

Yes, there is an 'unrestricted choice of trains' ticket (Flexpreis Europa) - but for 2nd class its about twice as expensive as the middle fare (can cancel, no choice of train). For First Class, its three times as expensive for my longest trip, Cologne to Strasbourg.

Air - routes are too short. Strasbourg to Salzburg involves a bus to FRA

@VPS - Eurail pass too expensive (I'm not gunna go 'Youth' or 'budget' )

I'm probably over-thinking this. My timings are not urgent and not every trip is going to be a disaster.

 

[Disco]

Yes, there is an 'unrestricted choice of trains' ticket (Flexpreis Europa) - but for 2nd class its about twice as expensive as the middle fare (can cancel, no choice of train). For First Class, its three times as expensive for my longest trip, Cologne to Strasbourg.

Air - routes are too short. Strasbourg to Salzburg involves a bus to FRA

@VPS - Eurail pass too expensive (I'm not gunna go 'Youth' or 'budget' )

I'm probably over-thinking this. My timings are not urgent and not every trip is going to be a disaster.

Agree, some of ours were ok. And the one where there was a problem, Leipzig to Hamburg via Berlin was rerouted on track via Hannover with no change of train until Hamburg suburban station. It just wasn't the easy travel of years ago in contrast to Norway.

 

[VPS]

Yes, there is an 'unrestricted choice of trains' ticket (Flexpreis Europa) - but for 2nd class its about twice as expensive as the middle fare (can cancel, no choice of train). For First Class, its three times as expensive for my longest trip, Cologne to Strasbourg.

Air - routes are too short. Strasbourg to Salzburg involves a bus to FRA

@VPS - Eurail pass too expensive (I'm not gunna go 'Youth' or 'budget' )

I'm probably over-thinking this. My timings are not urgent and not every trip is going to be a disaster.

That’s a shame. I got a great deal for my First class trip earlier this year.

 

[RooFlyer]

That’s a shame. I got a great deal for my First class trip earlier this year.

I don't think I'm doing enough to make it work. With a E125 Bahn Pass, I get 50% off the premium fares, (giving me total flexibility and seat reservations in one go), I'll save net E100. That said, maybe at the Adelaide dinner you can show me better.

(BTW how do you get a Euro symbol here? Control-Alt 4 or E doesn't work for me).. EDIT: on a PC

 

[VPS]

€ from my apple keyboard

 

[Seat0B]

it sounds like you just have to fend for yourself and book a fresh ticket and try for compo later???

Our experience in December 2022 was exactly this - they just cancelled trains and sent us to the Customer Centre. The staff there could not have cared less, refused to refund the seat booking charge for the cancelled trip (Berlin to Prague), and did not exert themselves to find replacement trains for us. And I speak quite functional German. We ended up crammed onto a local train, with no seats and absolutely sardine standing conditions (on a 1st class ticket) for a 2 hr connection to a different city (Dresden) that could get us a connection to our ultimate destination. It added several hours to the journey and cost us another round of seat reservation fees. Another experience involved lengthy delays with stops in the middle of nowhere and long stops at stations en route Munich- Berlin). Sounds like not much has changed.

 

[Seat0B]

Where you travel to / from Austria, definitely aim at the ÖBB trains, the Austrian national railways. You may have much better reliability in terms of the rolling stock & staff. Of course, while travelling on the German side of the border, they depend on the local track network but at least the company itself may potentially perform better.

Yes I agree. Again, this was our experience in both 2016 and in 2022.

 

[Seat0B]

If you get a Eurail pass you can hop on any train

Well, kinda sorta! We made the mistake of getting the digital Eurail pass and for that you have to link the pass to a specific train that you want to take and usually also have to book a seat (our pass was First class) and get a QR code that you show to the conductor as your ticket. And so if the train is full you can't get on, or if it is within 1 hr of departure, you can't link the pass etc etc. On one memorable occasion, whilst jammed in standing room on a packed train after our reserved F seat train was cancelled, the internet was slow to load and the conductor was reading Mr Seat 0A the riot act about it being his responsibility to have the QR code ready to be read, and that unless he could show the code he would now be on the spot fined (I think it was €130) for travelling without a valid ticket. It was super lucky that the internet decided to play nice at that moment, or else there would definitely have been an international incident requiring consular assistance.

Overall the modern Eurail pass was a total PITA for us and a long way away from the freedom of the older passes where you just hopped on a train, sat in a vacant seat (of which there were many) and set your watch as the train pulled out of the station perfectly on time. Oh yes, the good old days.

For our next trip to Europe (December this year) we are planning to rent a car. Yes I know about the old town, but we will now prefer to stay in teh burbs and commute into the sights on a subway/metro or bus.

 

[VPS]

Well, kinda sorta! We made the mistake of getting the digital Eurail pass and for that you have to link the pass to a specific train that you want to take and usually also have to book a seat (our pass was First class) and get a QR code that you show to the conductor as your ticket. And so if the train is full you can't get on, or if it is within 1 hr of departure, you can't link the pass etc etc. On one memorable occasion, whilst jammed in standing room on a packed train after our reserved F seat train was cancelled, the internet was slow to load and the conductor was reading Mr Seat 0A the riot act about it being his responsibility to have the QR code ready to be read, and that unless he could show the code he would now be on the spot fined (I think it was €130) for travelling without a valid ticket. It was super lucky that the internet decided to play nice at that moment, or else there would definitely have been an international incident requiring consular assistance.

Overall the modern Eurail pass was a total PITA for us and a long way away from the freedom of the older passes where you just hopped on a train, sat in a vacant seat (of which there were many) and set your watch as the train pulled out of the station perfectly on time. Oh yes, the good old days.

For our next trip to Europe (December this year) we are planning to rent a car. Yes I know about the old town, but we will now prefer to stay in teh burbs and commute into the sights on a subway/metro or bus.

I used the digital pass for three weeks earlier this year and could add a trip even after it started

 

[RooFlyer]

For our next trip to Europe (December this year) we are planning to rent a car. Yes I know about the old town, but we will now prefer to stay in teh burbs and commute into the sights on a subway/metro or bus.

I'm also going in December - visiting Christmas markets. Plan is to have train stations, hotels and markets all close to each other.

 

[SYD]

(BTW how do you get a Euro symbol here? Control-Alt 4 or E doesn't work for me).. EDIT: on a PC

With a full PC keyboard (with number pad), the following are handy:
€ ALT 0128
£ ALT 156
º ALT 167
and many others.

 

[Seat0B]

I used the digital pass for three weeks earlier this year and could add a trip even after it started

Sounds like they’ve improved it since we used it then. They needed to.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Not long back from Germany.

DB certainly not reliable! (PS our trips in other years had been excellent)

We had booked Hamburg to Prague.

• About 45 minutes into the trip train stops between stations, announcements all only in German. Asked another passenger. First announcement was that there will be about a 30 minute delay
• After 30 minutes. Another announcement greet by huge groans from all onboard. That does not sound good said my wife and I. It was not. Eventually found a conductor. The trainline to Berlin was closed for the day, and train was to return to Hamburg. There would be not trips at all on that line for the day. Asked conductor what could we do. They shrugged and pointed to the sky (fly!) After another 30 minutes the train started to head back to Hamburg
• So while travelling back on the train I jumped on line and found a flight to Prague (vis Dusseldorf) late that day. Good news later was that our ANZ Travel insurance later refunded us the cost of the flights less excess, plus $300 odd baggage claim temporary clothes for as the flight lost our bags for 2 days. Claim was just over $1000, and as the excess was almost the $300 in cloths that we purchased we basically ended up square
• When arrived back at Hamburg, it was bedlam! Huge queues at the DB Counters and no hope of talking to anyone.
• Chatted with some locals who advised us that there were no refunds as DB were honouring your tickets BUT only via travel via other trainlines. Plus by then no reserved seats left, so mainly that would mean standing/sitting on floor on trains for long periods. Pluss whether you could actually get on a train at any time would not be known till it pulled in! I was glad I had booked flights as travelling that way with baggage for 7 week trip would have been a nightmare.

We had also booked from Nuremberg to Wurzburg

• Weeks before the trip, the scheduled train with reserved seat was cancelled
• Emailed notification was that you could just get on any other train on the day BUT the reserved seat payment was useless, not transferrable and not automatically refunded. Gaining a refund is possible in theory, but complicated for international tourists.
• as we had bags. booked another seat reservation on an earlier train. On the day board to find a woman in our seats AND no reserved seats showing in the electronic indicator at our seats. She did no want to moved, so I just showed her our Reservation whereupon she grudgingly moved.

I have a niece living in Berlin at present and she relayed that the above is pretty normal. Indeed when I told her that our train returned us back to Hamburg, she said we were lucky as in her experience they just often disembark you wherever the train happens to have stopped!

 

[RooFlyer]

I've just found the DB major trackwork advice page

Major construction sites 2024

Major construction sites 2024 for Deutsche Bahn long-distance rail transport. All important information on time periods, timetable changes, replacement services.

int.bahn.de

The geography of the markers on the map Vs the description seems very odd! Got their numbers mixed up, kinda bizarre.

13 on map is description 14; 3 on map is description 7, 6 on map is description 3. No wonder the service is a shambles!!



I wonder how reliable the end dates are. With my mid Dec travel, hopefully will be out of the way.

 

[anat0l]

Heh DB. It works well when it works, but when it doesn't, you're wrong and DB is right and that is that. Heard a lot of stories like that from friends who live in Germany.

The general rule of thumb seems (or seemed) to be that if you are delayed or otherwise your journey is disrupted, you're supposed to be able to jump onto any service that will get you to your destination. You are supposed to get your ticket stamped by the conductor on your delayed / cancelled train (or at the intermediate station), which you can show to the conductor of the next train. This is supposed to also apply even if you purchase a supersaver ticket, i.e. which is restricted to travel on particular train services at particular times. That doesn't address what happens to seat reservation expenses (need to apply for refund, but often it's probably too much effort so most just forfeit it).

As much as possible, I would always print your ticket, even if you have a version on your phone as well. This can be (should be able to be) done at the ticket machines at stations. This will cover you in case your phone doesn't connect to the wifi or cellular network, or your phone runs out of charge. Conductors will not accept either of these as excuses for not producing your ticket; they will fine you. Plus, conductors can't really stamp an electronic ticket.

Contrary to popular belief, English is not widely spoken or used around the continental European train networks. It is used for most signage, ticket machines often have an English option, train websites usually have an English set of pages and conductors probably know how to say, "tickets please" and about half a dozen other phrases and commands, but that's about it. Some countries (train companies) are better than others, and it wouldn't be such a big deal if things never went wrong (which, amongst almost any travel media out there that we all watch, read and love, of course nothing ever goes wrong). Once things go wrong, it's not likely any information in English is easily forthcoming, so your only hope if you aren't fluent in the language is to rely on the kindness of bilingual strangers.

 

[RooFlyer]

As much as possible, I would always print your ticket, even if you have a version on your phone as well. This can be (should be able to be) done at the ticket machines at stations. This will cover you in case your phone doesn't connect to the wifi or cellular network, or your phone runs out of charge.

So just like an airline BP eh?

I read on the DB web site that booking via the DB Navigator app (which I plan to), gives you a digital ticket, with a QR code. I guess at worst you would screenshot that, or leave it open in the background. But best to get the hotel to print it - somehow.

Hmm, with more reading it might be best to book through the website. They then e-mail you a PDF of the ticket AND it will appear in the app if the account names are the same.

I intend to buy the most flexible ticket (Flexipreis Europa), so if cancelled before or mid-trip I can hop on anything (I think that's how it works)

so your only hope if you aren't fluent in the language is to rely on the kindness of bilingual strangers.

I was catching a train from Brussels to Bruges and was flummoxed on the platform by the non-English announcements that seemed to be indicating a change of platform, as people started to move away. A lady noticed this and offered to help. We ended up sitting together and having a good long chat; she had visited Tasmania several times.