Train reservations at Die Bahn
Posted by Frank on December 30, 2010
The German railroads, known by the locals as ‘Die Deutsche Bahn’ or simply ‘Die Bahn’, has one of the best train travel planning and reservation systems, I have seen so far. It covers not just Germany, but also through Die Bahn’s international trains, Germany’s neighboring states, i.e. half of Europe countries. Lund to London in one trains planner. The were early starters as well, and thorough as the Germans can be: I remember finding out about a bus connection in Holland through Die Bahn’s website even before there was an on-line public transport planner in Holland.
In the course of the past years, the service only expanded. One can now pick the amount of time one wishes to have for switching trains, ranging from 5 to 45 minutes. This comes in really handy if you’re planning long distance trips and are bound to run into one delay or another.
When you want to reserve a seat, you can request window or corridor seats (take a corridor seat for comfort), seats with or without table (take with table if you want to be close to a power plug, unless you’re travelling new ICE’s which have power plugs on almost all seats including 2nd class), seats in open carriage or in compartments (I prefer open carriage to compartment because you have more space to move). Isn’t that great? More options than your average travel agency could book for you in the 1980s (smoking or non-smoking).
And of course: home printing of tickets and reservations. Wow! No waiting for them to arrive, no problems with last minute travels, no postage to pay for, just an A4 from your home office. I call it progress.
Got the picture? Now, imagine you want to travel on the 27th of December from Holland to Sweden, like I am doing right now. Half the population is on the move after Christmas (the other half being the one the first moved to). No way you’ll have a seat if you have no reservation, so many travellers indeed booked, months in advance probably. After all, it is annoying to have to stand for three and a half hours between Duisburg and Hamburg, right? So there you are at Duisburg Central Station (Hauptbahnhof), the train is late and it’s freakin’ cold. No other option but to wait, knowing that soon you’ll sit warmly and comfortably. But just before the train arrives, Die Bahn informs its clients: today this train runs without carriages number 8 and 11. Just like that, without any explanation. There you are, looking up your reservation while a vague sense of doom dawns upon you. Next, Die Bahn dares to add that because the train is overcrowded, you’re advised to travel only with a reservation. I would explode on the spot, hunt down the responsible managers, and make them pull carriages 8 and 11 with their finger nails to Hamburg and back.
… gotta stop writing now. The conductor wants to see my ticket.
