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Ultimate Guide to German Railways
For those who love to travel, the quality and service of German Railways (Deutsche Bahn AG or German Railway abbreviated as DB) are world-class, with free entry and exit without ticket gates, ICE high-speed trains with a speed of nearly 300 kilometers per hour, and dense With the railway network and precise and punctual schedules, if you want to enjoy the way of traveling through the state and provinces on the train, Germany can be said to be the best choice.
There are approximately 37,000 trains operating in Germany every day. Most of the trains are operated by 24 railway companies under Deutsche Bahn. Deutsche Bahn also has the world's third densest railway network after the Swiss Federal Railways and Japan's JR Group. As of September 2012, the punctuality rate of Deutsche Bahn passenger trains reached 94.4%.
The most famous Deutsche Bahn in the railway transportation industry are Deutsche Bahn long-distance transport and regional transport of Deutsche Bahn, which is mainly engaged in passenger transportation, and Deutsche Bahn, which is mainly engaged in freight transportation. As a railway infrastructure company, Deutsche Bahn has the largest railway network in Germany.
The models of Deutsche Bahn are distinguished by different letters. Below are most of the train types and names, arranged by speed and coverage:
ICE-InterCity Express
IC/EC-InterCity/EuroCity
Night train
IRE-Interregio-Express
RE-RegioExpress
RB-Regional Train (Regiobahn)
R
S
ICE-InterCity Express (ICE)
ICE is the flagship product of Deutsche Bahn, which is actually high-speed rail, providing high-speed connections between major metropolitan areas. Trains usually run every hour, sometimes even more frequently. The third generation of ICE high-speed trains includes new inclined trains that can travel at high speeds on traditional tracks and curves.
IC-InterCity
These express trains connect larger domestic cities and hubs, and the speed is sometimes slightly slower than ICE. The train usually runs every one or two hours. Many IC trains are double deck trains (Double Decker)
Deutsche Bahn InterCity double-decker train
EC-EuroCity
EC trains serve the standards of 20 EU countries, including comfort, speed, catering services and cleanliness. Each EC train is arranged and operated by multiple EU (or Swiss) railway companies according to multilateral cooperation. The EC train will be used in important European cities, such as Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Rome, Venice, Barcelona, Madrid and other cities. Connect to each other.
There are many domestic and international long-distance trains running at night in the German train route map. In addition to unique experiences, night trains or night trains can basically add a day's free time to your trip, combining travel and sleep. Many travelers on a small budget will use night trains instead of hotels.
In recent years, the number of dedicated "hotel trains" (NachtZug) connecting Berlin, Munich (München Hbf), Hamburg (Hamburg Hbf) and Cologne (Köln Hbf) and other characteristic international hotel trains has surged. These trains are basically full-service hotels on the railway. They do not have regular seats, only sleeper cars. These trains are a bit luxurious and the fares match.
Sleeper
Sleepers are usually private cars with 1-3 berths, mattresses and sheets, and a small washbasin with hot and cold water. Some trains have more high-end sleepers, and the compartments include toilets and showers. Soft sleepers provide a full range of services. In most soft sleepers, the predetermined meal is delivered to your compartment, but this service requires a fee. Some trains offer free breakfast. Soft sleepers are usually classified as first-class, which means that you need a first-class ticket for a first-class pass.
Hard Sleeper (Couchette)
Hard sleeper (Couchette, pronounced koo-SHET) is a relatively economical sleeper. Each sleeping car has 4-6 berths, and the berths include a pillow and blanket.
Both types of sleeping berths have space for luggage storage, and the doors can usually be locked. Please make sure that cash, credit cards or air tickets can be safely locked in the safe, or make proper arrangements. You should also consider locking your luggage on the luggage rack.
If you don’t want to pay extra for a sleeper or sleeper, you can try sleeping in a regular seat. But the comfort will be worse.
IRE-Interregio-Express
IRE is a local public transport railway service operated by Deutsche Bahn. It is only available in the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt. Anhalt) and Berlin and Switzerland (Basel Badischer station) provide operational services, Schaffhausen (Schaffhausen), Kreuzlingen (Kreuzlingen) also have some trains.
RE-RegioExpress
The regional express (RegioExpress, RE) is relatively new to German trains as the regional express RE double-decker train. In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the regional express (RE, or Austria: REX) is a regional train. It is similar to a semi-high-speed train, with an average speed of about 70-90 km/h (160 km/h). It will stop at more and smaller stations than InterCity. Many regional trains have a carriage dedicated to storing bicycles; there will be a bicycle sign on the outside.
RB-Regiobahn
RB is the most important section train in the DB system, connecting small towns to the RE transportation system and major railway hub cities. Regional trains (Regionalbahn, RB) usually stop at all stations on a given route, except for RB trains in the S-Bahn network, which may only stop at selected stations. Therefore, RB trains rank lower than (Regional Express, RE).
SE-City Express (StadtExpress)
StadtExpress (SE) used to be called City Bahn (CB). It has a lot of room for development in the surrounding areas of larger German cities and stops at every train station. However, in the core area of the metropolitan area served by other commuter trains (S-Bahn, suburban trains), it runs faster than the regional express, so it only stops at the most important stations. The city express is local traffic.
S-Suburban Train (S Bahn, S)
S-bahn is a mixed city-suburban train serving metropolitan areas. Some larger S-train systems provide convenient train transportation services for rapid transit systems, while smaller S-train systems are usually similar to commuting or even regional rail transit. They are especially common in Germany and Austria. They are called S-Bahn, which in the 1930s was an abbreviation for express (Schnellbahn), intercity train (Stadtschnellbahn) or light rail (Stadtbahn).
IC Bus-DB Intercity Bus (IC Bus)
DB Deutsche Bahn also launched the IC Bus service, which is affordable and convenient. The price has a great competitive advantage.
## Deutsche Bahn models
The models of Deutsche Bahn are distinguished by different letters. Below are most of the train types and names, arranged by speed and coverage:
ICE-InterCity Express
IC/EC-InterCity/EuroCity
Night train
IRE-Interregio-Express
RE-RegioExpress
RB-Regional Train (Regiobahn)
R
S
ICE-InterCity Express (ICE)
ICE is the flagship product of Deutsche Bahn, which is actually high-speed rail, providing high-speed connections between major metropolitan areas. Trains usually run every hour, sometimes even more frequently. The third generation of ICE high-speed trains includes new inclined trains that can travel at high speeds on traditional tracks and curves.
IC-InterCity
These express trains connect larger domestic cities and hubs, and the speed is sometimes slightly slower than ICE. The train usually runs every one or two hours. Many IC trains are double deck trains (Double Decker)
Deutsche Bahn InterCity double-decker train
EC-EuroCity
EC trains serve the standards of 20 EU countries, including comfort, speed, catering services and cleanliness. Each EC train is arranged and operated by multiple EU (or Swiss) railway companies according to multilateral cooperation. The EC train will be used in important European cities, such as Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Rome, Venice, Barcelona, Madrid and other cities. Connect to each other.
There are many domestic and international long-distance trains running at night in the German train route map. In addition to unique experiences, night trains or night trains can basically add a day's free time to your trip, combining travel and sleep. Many travelers on a small budget will use night trains instead of hotels.
In recent years, the number of dedicated "hotel trains" (NachtZug) connecting Berlin, Munich (München Hbf), Hamburg (Hamburg Hbf) and Cologne (Köln Hbf) and other characteristic international hotel trains has surged. These trains are basically full-service hotels on the railway. They do not have regular seats, only sleeper cars. These trains are a bit luxurious and the fares match.
Sleeper
Sleepers are usually private cars with 1-3 berths, mattresses and sheets, and a small washbasin with hot and cold water. Some trains have more high-end sleepers, and the compartments include toilets and showers. Soft sleepers provide a full range of services. In most soft sleepers, the predetermined meal is delivered to your compartment, but this service requires a fee. Some trains offer free breakfast. Soft sleepers are usually classified as first-class, which means that you need a first-class ticket for a first-class pass.
Hard Sleeper (Couchette)
Hard sleeper (Couchette, pronounced koo-SHET) is a relatively economical sleeper. Each sleeping car has 4-6 berths, and the berths include a pillow and blanket.
Both types of sleeping berths have space for luggage storage, and the doors can usually be locked. Please make sure that cash, credit cards or air tickets can be safely locked in the safe, or make proper arrangements. You should also consider locking your luggage on the luggage rack.
If you don’t want to pay extra for a sleeper or sleeper, you can try sleeping in a regular seat. But the comfort will be worse.
IRE-Interregio-Express
IRE is a local public transport railway service operated by Deutsche Bahn. It is only available in the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt. Anhalt) and Berlin and Switzerland (Basel Badischer station) provide operational services, Schaffhausen (Schaffhausen), Kreuzlingen (Kreuzlingen) also have some trains.
RE-RegioExpress
The regional express (RegioExpress, RE) is relatively new to German trains as the regional express RE double-decker train. In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the regional express (RE, or Austria: REX) is a regional train. It is similar to a semi-high-speed train, with an average speed of about 70-90 km/h (160 km/h). It will stop at more and smaller stations than InterCity. Many regional trains have a carriage dedicated to storing bicycles; there will be a bicycle sign on the outside.
RB-Regiobahn
RB is the most important section train in the DB system, connecting small towns to the RE transportation system and major railway hub cities. Regional trains (Regionalbahn, RB) usually stop at all stations on a given route, except for RB trains in the S-Bahn network, which may only stop at selected stations. Therefore, RB trains rank lower than (Regional Express, RE).
SE-City Express (StadtExpress)
StadtExpress (SE) used to be called City Bahn (CB). It has a lot of room for development in the surrounding areas of larger German cities and stops at every train station. However, in the core area of the metropolitan area served by other commuter trains (S-Bahn, suburban trains), it runs faster than the regional express, so it only stops at the most important stations. The city express is local traffic.
S-Suburban Train (S Bahn, S)
S-bahn is a mixed city-suburban train serving metropolitan areas. Some larger S-train systems provide convenient train transportation services for rapid transit systems, while smaller S-train systems are usually similar to commuting or even regional rail transit. They are especially common in Germany and Austria. They are called S-Bahn, which in the 1930s was an abbreviation for express (Schnellbahn), intercity train (Stadtschnellbahn) or light rail (Stadtbahn).
IC Bus-DB Intercity Bus (IC Bus)
DB Deutsche Bahn also launched the IC Bus service, which is affordable and convenient. The price has a great competitive advantage.
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German Railway Ticket
Deutsche Bahn offers a wide variety of tickets, and train travel in Germany, although the price is a bit expensive. However, the efficient transfer and running time greatly improve the comfort of the journey, and the German Rail Pass designed by Deutsche Bahn will allow passengers to travel freely in Germany to use the train to increase the comfort. There are many varieties of DB tickets, mainly including:
Germany Rail pass
Point to Point ticket
Lander ticket
Weekend ticket
Group ticket
In addition, according to the different types of tickets, it will be divided into paper tickets, electronic tickets, mobile tickets, and ticket collection codes.
Types of tickets
Germany Rail Pass (Germany Rail Pass)
Deutsche Bahn offers various rail passes (Germany Rail Pass). If your trip to Germany includes three or more long-distance trips, a pass is often a good choice. The most popular is the DB pass. With the pass, you can take unlimited trains for 4 to 10 days (continuous or non-continuous) within a month. The DB Pass for two people is a discounted DB pass, which is suitable for two people traveling together in Europe on their own. For passengers under the age of 26, you can use the DB Youth Pass, which allows you to travel on Deutsche Bahn trains for one month without restrictions. DB also offers various other discount tickets and student passes. For details, please see G2Rail. The DB pass is also valid for DB bus (Bahnbus) and KD river cruises.
The German Rail Pass is a paper ticket
Point-to-point ticket
Deutsche Bahn's tickets use dynamic floating fares, just like airline fare systems. In general, the earlier you book, the cheaper the price. For example, from Frankfurt to Berlin, the full price is 132 euros, but the cheapest can be 29.90 euros. Tickets are generally sold three months in advance. Point-to-point tickets are roughly divided into three types:
Limited time special ticket (Super Sparpreis)
Special ticket (Sparpreis)
Full price ticket (Flexpreis)
Seat Reservation
Limited-time special tickets are the cheapest, but they cannot be refunded or changed and sold out at the earliest. Special tickets are cheaper, and you can usually refund or change tickets, but you need to pay a certain fee. Full-price tickets provide maximum flexibility, and there are no fees for refunds and changes. G2Rail can check the real-time remaining ticket quantity and the latest price of Deutsche Bahn.
There are two kinds of point-to-point tickets, one is electronic ticket (pdf, Print at Home) and mobile ticket (png, QR code)
Deutsche Bahn Full-Fare 2nd Class Mobile Ticket
Deutsche Bahn second-class special ticket e-ticket
Lander tickets
Each federal state in Germany provides state tickets, allowing unlimited rides on regional trains in the region, namely RE, RB, IRE and S-Bahn, but not long-distance IC, EC or ICE trains. Including Bayern State Ticket, Lower Saxony State Ticket, Baden-Württemberg State Ticket, Brandenburg and Berlin State Ticket, Hessen State Ticket, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania State Ticket, Rheinland Palatinate State Ticket, North Rhine Westphalia State Ticket, Saar State Ticket, Saxony State Ticket, Saxony-Anhalt State Ticket, Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg State Tickets, Turingen State Tickets, the most popular among tourists are the Bayern Ticket and the Lower Saxony Ticket (Niedersachsen Ticket).
Bayern Ticket
The Bayern State Ticket (Bavaria State Ticket) is a state ticket for a day trip from Munich to Salzburg, Munich to Füssen (Füssen, Neuschwanstein) or Munich to Berchtesgaden (Eagles Nest) .
Single travellers pay 25 euros, one person travels 31 euros, 3 people pay 37 euros, and 4 people pay 43 euros. In most cases, direct children under 15 are free.
The entire area of Bavaria and regional trains can be used. The time of use is from 09:00 in the morning on weekdays to 03:00 in the next morning. Saturdays and Sundays can be used throughout the day.
The Bayern state ticket is a paper ticket. You only need to search for a point-to-point ticket in Bayern and it will automatically display the Bayern state ticket.
Lower Saxony Ticket (Niedersachsen Ticket)
Lower Saxony tickets can be used in three states: Lower Saxony, Bremen, and Hamburg, including the city traffic between Bremen and Hamburg (HVV circle A+B). From 23 euros per person, each additional person adds 4 euros. The order is 27 Euros for 2 people, 31 Euros for 3 people, 35 Euros for 4 people, and 39 Euros for 5 people. In most cases, direct children under 15 are free.
When checking the point-to-point itinerary on the official Chinese website of Deutsche Bahn (Hamburg-Bremen), the option of Lower Saxony tickets will be displayed at the same time, and now more and more state tickets directly use electronic tickets.
Weekend Ticket (Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket)
Schönes-Wochenende (German Railway Weekend Ticket) allows unlimited rides on regional and regional express trains (RE, RB, IRE, S-Bahn) throughout Germany at a price of EUR 40 on Saturday or Sunday. Each additional passenger pays 4 Euros, and a maximum of 4 passengers can be added, such as 44 Euros for two persons, 48 Euros for three persons, etc. It is valid from 00:00 on Friday night / 03:00 on Saturday morning to Monday morning.
ICE, IC or EC trains cannot be used on the German Railways weekend ticket, only regional trains, which means that the trains displayed in the search results on the web page are RE, RB, IRE or S-Bahn. But it is absolutely super cheap: in principle, a family of 5 can travel across Germany at the price of 56 euros on weekends, each for only 11.20 euros!
Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket is equivalent to weekend tickets on weekdays. All regional and regional express trains (RE, RB, IRE, S-Bahn) throughout Germany can be used on all local trains between 09:00 and 03:00 the next morning. The first passenger pays 44 euros, and each additional passenger only pays 6 euros to join the same ticket, with a maximum of 5 passengers.
Like the Schönes-Wochenende ticket, IC, ICE or EC trains cannot be used, only slower regional trains can be used.
Ticket type
There are four types of German train tickets, and different types of tickets can have different types of tickets. For example, point-to-point train tickets can have e-tickets, mobile tickets, or number tickets, etc.
Paper ticket
DB Pass, state and state tickets are all paper tickets. Some Deutsche Bahn cross-border trains point-to-point tickets, such as Warsaw-Berlin, are currently only paper tickets. The paper ticket needs to be mailed to the passenger's address. If a refund is required, the ticket must also be sent back.
Ticket On Departure (TOD)
The value-for-money ticket on the Chinese official website of Deutsche Bahnhof is a type of ticket, and you need to pick up the ticket yourself at the train station. Passengers who purchase TOD tickets will receive a Pdf document with instructions on how to collect tickets. The ticket collection code provides great flexibility, and the value-for-money special ticket is a ticket type specially designed for passengers by Deutsche Bahn. It has a great competitive advantage in terms of price and terms of refund and change, so it is very popular.
e-ticket
The e-ticket is an A4 Pdf ticket. Most German domestic and international point-to-point tickets will have e-tickets. The e-ticket needs to be printed on A4 paper and presented to the Deutsche Bahn staff when checking in. When booking, the e-ticket download link will be sent to the registered mailbox within a few seconds.
Deutsche Bahn second-class special ticket e-ticket
Mobile Ticket
The mobile ticket is a long bar png file containing a QR code. There are mobile tickets for point-to-point tickets in Germany. The mobile ticket does not need to be printed, as long as the ticket is shown in the mobile phone. When booking a ticket, the mobile ticket download link will be sent to the mailbox by email, and it will also be sent to the mobile phone by SMS.
Deutsche Bahn Full-Fare 2nd Class Mobile Ticket
Seat Ticket
Most of the German trains do not require reservations (but reservations must be made for night trains), and the number of German trains is dense, so as long as you have a German train pass, you can really sit and sit. However, if you encounter a trade show or carnival, it is better to book a seat first to be more secure. For example, during the Oktoberfest in October, the trains to Munich are not to mention first-class cars, even second-class cars have limited unreserved seats.
You can make reservations when you purchase tickets, whether you use the official website of Deutsche Bahn, automatic ticket vending machines, or at the counter window. If you already have a German train pass, you can choose "Reserve a seat only" on the official website, which means you can reserve a seat without buying a ticket. On the start page of the automatic ticket vending machine, go from the block in the lower left corner to the The function of booking without buying tickets.
The booking fee is €4.5 per second-class seat. This fee is not included in the German train pass, so even if you have the pass, you still have to pay this extra when booking. After the reservation is successful, the electronic display board above the seat or outside the box door will light up the station name, and other people who have not made a reservation or have different schedules cannot sit on this seat.
Please quickly choose your reserved seat after boarding, or choose your seat freely. If you have a reservation, you need to find a designated seat. The seat number is displayed on an LED screen under the luggage rack. If you need help finding your seat, you can also ask the conductor. If someone is already sitting on the seat you reserved, just indicate that you reserved that seat ("Entschuldigung, ich habe diesen Platz reserviert!"). Be sure to find the reserved seat as soon as possible-if you do not arrive at the designated seat within 15 minutes of departure, the reservation will be considered overdue.
Paper reservation label and electronic reservation display in the carriage (left) (right)
The reservation display shown in the picture below shows that seat #46 from Bochum to Nuremberg is reserved, while aisle seat #48 from Cologne to Munich is reserved. Suppose, if you plan to get off the bus before Cologne, you can use seat #48, because the passenger who has reserved this seat has not yet boarded the bus, he will board in Cologne.
If you have not reserved a seat, please find an empty seat and check if there is a reservation. If the seat has been reserved by someone, look at the names of the two cities shown in the information displayed in the reservation. If your journey is not between these two cities, you can use this seat. Of course, if someone else reserves the seat, the person who booked has the right to ask you to change to another seat. Before sitting down, ask nearby passengers if they can make sure that the seat is still empty ("Ist hier noch frei?"). Please note that for seats with children (posted as "Kleinkinder"), people with disabilities ("Schwerbehindert") and seats expected to be sold by the railway at the last minute (usually marked as "ggf freigeben", which means "reserved seats" ); If there is no one in the above area, passengers can sit in these seats, but if someone says that they have reserved seats, they must give up their seats.
Baggage
There is a fixed area for the storage of luggage on German trains, and the luggage is generally stored on the shelf above the seat. In addition, there is a luggage storage area in the middle of the car, and usually there are luggage storage areas at both ends of the car.
Ticket Validation
There are no ticket gates on the German train platforms. Anyone can enter and exit at will, but you will definitely meet a ticket inspector on the train. After the train runs, the ticket seller will inspect the ticket. If you have just boarded the bus, please show your ticket (if you are using a pass, you need to show proof of age or residence, or show your passport). The ticket inspector will punch or stamp the ticket, or scan it on the e-ticket and return it to you. Unless there is a staff change, passengers do not need to show their tickets again during the trip. In some areas under the jurisdiction of the Deutsche Bahn, there are no ticket inspectors. Passengers on this type of train will not be checked. However, because Germany is a country with a credit system, there are very few fare evasion lines.
Facilities
Toilet facilities (WC) are located at both ends of the car, and you can use the toilet at any time. On ICE and some newer trains, there are electronic screens at both ends of the carriages that show the train’s journey, estimated time of arrival, and train speed. And there is a display screen to display the transfer information. Most high-speed trains have kiosks, cafeterias, and restaurants. Serves a variety of food, snacks and beverages, including beer and wine. On some trains, the conductor will push a small snack car to sell on the train.
Arriving
Basically, German trains are very punctual, and you can judge when to get off according to the time marked on the timetable. However, German trains are not perfect, and occasionally there are several minutes of delay.
In-car display showing arrival at Cologne Main Station
About 5 minutes before arrival, the next stop will be announced by the in-car broadcast. If you miss the announcement (or don't understand the broadcast content), a sign on the platform of a German train station will tell passengers which city the station is. High-speed trains have electronic displays, and the electronic displays at both ends of the carriage will show the name of the upcoming stop as it approaches the next station.
In the soft sleeper and hard sleeper, the ticket inspector keeps your ticket and passport during driving, so that you don't have to wake you up at night to check your ticket or passport. When you arrive at your destination, the ticket inspector will return your ticket and passport.
Before arriving at your destination, the ticket inspector will wake you up. If you get off at the last stop of the line (which is usually the case), there is usually a longer time to get up, prepare and get off.
In addition, itinerary flyers are usually found on seats and tables, which list scheduled stops and transfer information and services in each city. Passengers must make sure to get off the train in time after arriving at the station-remember that at some stations, the train only stops for a minute or two. When the train comes to the station and the wheels come to a stop, passengers need to open the door and get off by themselves. The door is opened using a handle or a green button (as shown in the picture below)-it is very obvious.
Arrived
Sign for the exit (Ausgang) of Berlin Central Station (Berlin Hbf)
After getting off the bus, follow the "Ausgang" signs to leave the station. Large stations have multiple exits, so check carefully to make sure you are heading in the right direction. If you need to change trains, please check the yellow timetable or electronic departure board to find out which track your next train departs from, and then follow the signs directing you to that platform. When the train approaches each station, the transfer information is usually announced on the train. In many cases, passengers may only need to cross one or two platforms to transfer to the next train.
## Deutsche Bahn models
