DB disruption advice

[williamn]

In a few weeks I'm doing London to Vienna by train, on both legs changing in Brussels and Frankfurt. Given everything I have read about DB I am slightly nervous about this!

In the apparently likely event of a delay or cancellation how do things work - is your ticket automatically ok to use for the next train or do you have to be rebooked?

 

[Fragezeichnen]

There is no compulsory reservation on trains in Germany. You can take any other reasonable ICE/IC/EC service if you are travelling on a connection specific ticket and your booked connection is delayed or cancelled.
Acceptance of your ticket should be unproblematic - the conductors are used to it! By contrast I have heard reports from France of Intercités train managers refusing to accept travellers who missed their Book TGV connection, on the grounds that it is a different sector
If you want you can go to the information desk in the station and they can endorse your ticket that your connection was missed, and rebook your seat reservations if you have any, but this is entirely optional.

If you miss your booked connection in Brussels you should be able to take the next train even if it is a Thalys and you booked an ICE or vice versa under the Railteam HOTNAT arrangement, but in this case you I believe you have to go to the international ticket office to get them to sort it out.

 

[FlyingPotato]

Was on ICE 17 from Brussels to Frankfurt today (got off at Koln), delay of 30 minutes I think

Expect a delay and you probably won't be able to do it in a day

 

[paul_munich]

As soon as the train you are supposed to take has more then 20 minutes delay, you can just take the next one of your choice...
Sadly the NL/BE services still suffer from poor reliability of the multi system Velaros, also the main line between Düsseldorf and Cologne is still closed for engineering works, the trains take a detour via Solingen, you can expect delays.
Also the line 91, Frankfurt-Vienna has a very poor punctuality in the last weeks since a bridge in Frankfurt Mörfelder-Landstrasse has been hit by a truck, so for service from the airport to the Hbf there is only singleline working, with high delays as a result, and the main line between Würzburg and Nürnberg is also closed until the second October week, trains going via Ansbach, you can also expect delays. So the chance of an on-time arrival is nearly zero %, but you are still getting there!

 

[Austriantrain]

As soon as the train you are supposed to take has more then 20 minutes delay, you can just take the next one of your choice...
Sadly the NL/BE services still suffer from poor reliability of the multi system Velaros, also the main line between Düsseldorf and Cologne is still closed for engineering works, the trains take a detour via Solingen, you can expect delays.
Also the line 91, Frankfurt-Vienna has a very poor punctuality in the last weeks since a bridge in Frankfurt Mörfelder-Landstrasse has been hit by a truck, so for service from the airport to the Hbf there is only singleline working, with high delays as a result, and the main line between Würzburg and Nürnberg is also closed until the second October week, trains going via Ansbach, you can also expect delays. So the chance of an on-time arrival is nearly zero %, but you are still getting there!

Line 91 has had a bad history of delays for years although occasionally for no apparent reason, a train will show up in Austria bang on time. But 45-90 minutes delay is common (and also affects the returns from Vienna, since turn-around time is short!).

 

[williamn]

Thanks for all your advice. Chatted to friends just returned from Germany with tales of constant delays and trains so full they were sat on the floor by the toilet, so am rather dreading my trip now!

 

[philg999]

if you have booked your tickets with DB online then they will email you if it looks like you will miss a connection, with a link to the DB Navigator which you can keep querying during your journey to see what is your best option for a new connection. Then you can simply jump on the trains it suggests.

 

[AY1975]

If you're doing a journey that would ordinarily be possible in a day but a delay or cancellation means you can no longer reach your final destination the same day, are you entitled to overnight accommodation en route? And if so, will DB normally arrange it for you on the spot or do you have to pay for it yourself and then claim the cost off DB afterwards?

 

[duesselmartin]

Thanks for all your advice. Chatted to friends just returned from Germany with tales of constant delays and trains so full they were sat on the floor by the toilet, so am rather dreading my trip now!

That is a seldom occurance. I recommend reservations however with plenty of time changing trains . You can adjust the time for the changeover on the bahn.de website or the DB Navigator.

I am really sorry that you dread your journey. In the end, make sure you have plenty of time, be flexible and you are fine.

Best wishes from Germany.
Martin

If you're doing a journey that would ordinarily be possible in a day but a delay or cancellation means you can no longer reach your final destination the same day, are you entitled to overnight accommodation en route? And if so, will DB normally arrange it for you on the spot or do you have to pay for it yourself and then claim the cost off DB afterwards?

Usually staff helps you on the spot.

 

[ricohallo]

If you get stranded and you know you'll not make it to your destination on that day, I recommend going to the "DB Information" counter right away at a bigger station and they will arrange a hotel room for you if they have hotel rooms available. In case there isn't one available you might be able to arrange one on your own and apply for compensation, but the people at DB Information will be able to provide more information.

Thus far I've been stranded overnight twice. The first time in Berlin there were a lot of events going on in the area and they didn't have hotel rooms available. The second time in Frankfurt they did have rooms available and I received a voucher for a hotel room with breakfast for a hotel nearby. I was able to use my ticket on any train the next day.

 

[williamn]

Thanks again for everyone’s help and advice! I’m currently on my outbound leg. The Brussels to Frankfurt train was 20 mins late but that was fine. The Frankfurt to Vienna train left 30 mins late and seems to be losing more time. I’ll post some thoughts on my trip in a separate post after I’m back.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

My wife and I have just travelled on last night’s 20:11 Vienna-Brussels Nightjet which also conveyed sizeable portions for Hamburg (detached Nurnberg) and Amsterdam (detached Aachen.) A reasonable journey; we were about 45 mins late at Bonn and seemed to stand for a very long time at a junction near Cologne - incidentally I’ve never seen so many freight trains in such a short time - but made this back to 35 mins late on arrival into Brussels Midi so pretty good for an overnight train. The ex-DB sleepers are showing their age, no wifi for example and missing components in the ‘safety hammock‘ assembly for the upper bunk, but the service was pretty good and it’s clear it will be a winning product once they get more modern rolling stock.

 

[DanielB]

When I'm not mistaken the Amsterdam part detaches from the Brussels part at Köln West, not Aachen. So that may be the reason for the lengthy stop you're talking about.

 

[Austriantrain]

When I'm not mistaken the Amsterdam part detaches from the Brussels part at Köln West, not Aachen. So that may be the reason for the lengthy stop you're talking about.

It does (at Köln West).

My wife and I have just travelled on last night’s 20:11 Vienna-Brussels Nightjet which also conveyed sizeable portions for Hamburg (detached Nurnberg) and Amsterdam (detached Aachen.) A reasonable journey; we were about 45 mins late at Bonn and seemed to stand for a very long time at a junction near Cologne - incidentally I’ve never seen so many freight trains in such a short time - but made this back to 35 mins late on arrival into Brussels Midi so pretty good for an overnight train. The ex-DB sleepers are showing their age, no wifi for example and missing components in the ‘safety hammock‘ assembly for the upper bunk, but the service was pretty good and it’s clear it will be a winning product once they get more modern rolling stock.

I am not entirely sure if the new NJ sets will run to Amsterdam (they won’t to Paris and Brussels in any case), but I hope that with their delivery there will be enough slack in the fleet to thoroughly modernize the older stock.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

It does (at Köln West).



I am not entirely sure if the new NJ sets will run to Amsterdam (they won’t to Paris and Brussels in any case), but I hope that with their delivery there will be enough slack in the fleet to thoroughly modernize the older stock.

That’s interesting thank you! I didn’t realise we were split in the Koln area. What is the point of the 25 min booked stop at Aachen out of interest?

 

[DanielB]

That’s interesting thank you! I didn’t realise we were split in the Koln area. What is the point of the 25 min booked stop at Aachen out of interest?

Locomotive change to a Belgian locomotive.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

Aha that makes sense.