Whether the RRX from Düsseldorf to Cologne, with the RE 17 from Hagen to Sauerland, from Hamburg to Husum, or only with regional trains from Giessen to Berlin. In my life I have spent many hours on trains to get from A to B. And I like to travel by train – on scenic routes like from Giessen to Koblenz it’s just fun to look out the window for a while with music on your ears and watch how the landscape changes. But I know from painful experience that it is sometimes good for train travelers to know a trick or two. Believe me – there are some mistakes that I will not make again: Like standing in a crowded train for an hour with football fans roaring and jumping on the train to Frankfurt am Main.
With the 49-euro ticket, one or the other die-hard car driver might dare to go on a day trip or take the train on vacation. So that you, as an occasional train traveler, do not stumble over the pitfalls of train travel, we present you with a survival guide for your train journeys:
Long-distance trains may not be used with the 49-euro ticket. Therefore, before searching for the train in the booking portal or the DB app, only search for local transport. This works in the Deutsche Bahn booking portal by clicking on “More options” in the search mask, then ticking the box “Local transport only”. It gets a little more complex in the DB Navigator app: you will find the search settings under the date and time display. Click on it there, then select options and there means of transport. And set the slider to “local/regional transport”.
In order to get into a less crowded car, it is advisable to walk a little along the platform – after all, passengers cannot reserve seats on local trains. On the platform, it is usually worthwhile to walk a little further from the staircase. Or to walk to the end of the platform at terminus stations – there are usually fewer passengers boarding because few walk far to the back. And: When looking at the information board, pay attention to whether the train only stops in a certain area of the track: If you are standing in area A and the regional train only stops in sections D to E, you will probably be the last to board the train.
Five minutes transfer time is not a good idea – unless the connecting train leaves directly from the platform opposite. If you don’t feel like sprinting with a suitcase or if you don’t walk very well, you should adjust the transfer time when planning your trip. In the DB Navigator app you will find the search settings again under the date and time display. Click on it there, then select “Options” and select “Transfer time” there – you can enter a minimum transfer time there. In the Deutsche Bahn booking portal, it can be found in the search mask under “Other options” and then under “Intermediate stops”.
Before boarding the train, pay attention to who else is standing on the platform. If a group with colorful T-shirts, a handcart and a sound box has gathered next to you, run! Sitting for two hours next to a celebrating bachelor party, football club or bowling club is little fun with constant sound and the smell of vodka energy if you wanted to read a few pages of your favorite novel comfortably. If the train staff are on their toes, they try to put all of these groups in one car and separate them from the other passengers.
Look for alternative routes. On some routes, the Deutsche Bahn booking portal does not necessarily immediately spit out the best route. For example, if you want to travel from Düsseldorf to Gießen with regional trains, you will see a route with a change in Cologne and Siegen as the fastest connection. However, in Siegen you only have four minutes to change trains – and that often doesn’t work. The route with a change in Hagen and Siegen offers a slightly longer journey, but less stress when changing trains. Sometimes this route was not displayed to me either in the app or in the booking portal. However, under the “Add stops” option, you can see whether a route via a different location would suit you better.
Unlike the ICE, regional trains do not have an on-board bistro for emergencies. So pack enough provisions (also enough water) for the trip. And please make sure that the food is reasonably odorless! Nobody likes to be seated next to someone with a strong-smelling Limburger on their bread or a kebab in their hand. Even though I remember the young woman years later, I preferred her strange snack: celery sticks dipped in peanut butter – at least that didn’t give off a bad smell!
If you can drive off a little more flexibly, you don’t have to squeeze into an overcrowded RE. If you have a week off anyway, it is better to do the planned day trip to Sylt, Koblenz, Timmendorfer Strand or Düsseldorf on a Tuesday or Wednesday and not start at the weekend. Avoiding peak times can also help. Since most people want to sleep in on weekends, an early departure can save you from a crowded train.
If you sit on a train for more than 30 minutes, you should have a jacket with you even in midsummer and preferably a scarf or something similar that you can put over your legs. After a two-hour journey in your summer dress, after two hours of what feels like 10 degrees on the train, you feel more like an icicle when you arrive!
You should also be prepared for the other extreme case: If the air conditioning fails or an older train is on the way, it can sometimes get uncomfortably warm in the carriage in summer temperatures. So all travelers are well prepared in the onion look – they can always take off a layer!
It is better to travel light, especially on regional trains. Depending on the train model, there is only such a narrow shelf above the seats that at most there is room for a jacket. Instead of a huge suitcase, it is better to use two small suitcases or a tracking backpack. These can also be stowed under the seats or between two four-seater seats. On some trains there is a luggage rack at the beginning of the carriage – you can’t keep an eye on your suitcase there all the time. So don’t store valuables in it!
If you are traveling with the regional trains and are traveling with the 49-euro ticket, you do not have a ticket with the travel plan, where changes and departure tracks are noted. If you like it clear and on paper, you can have a travel plan printed out at the train ticket machine.
In the state’s ICEs and ICs, the WLAN on the railways has improved significantly in some places – but with regional trains, great WLAN quality is not to be expected over the entire route. So if you want to listen to music or watch a film on the go, you should download it to your smartphone or tablet and not rely on the fact that it can be streamed on the go.
A baby is crying, the people sitting next to you are laughing loudly – if you want to block out the (annoying) noises around you, you should always have a pair of earplugs with you. Or headphones that block out ambient noise.
We all know it: the train doesn’t always come on time. Especially on routes with many changes, it is better if you are traveling without time pressure. If you don’t have deadline pressure, you will be on the road less stressed, even in the event of major or minor delays.
On journeys lasting several hours, it can get very boring when the smartphone runs out of juice and you can no longer listen to music. So always put a fully charged power bank in your backpack – and almost nothing can go wrong.
Whether it’s salami, meat rolls with onions or the musty feet of the passenger next to you – a train ride can quickly become an attack on your sense of smell. If you are very sensitive and if smells upset your stomach, you should pack an anti-nausea remedy in your luggage to be on the safe side.
Anyone who has ever been to a platform knows the boxes marked in yellow where smokers can indulge their addiction. Not a comfortable place for a smoking break. And with tightly calculated transfers, there is no time for that – and smoking is banned on trains. For those who have doubts about making the train journey without a fag, they might want to switch to a nicotine patch to sate their cravings.
Especially on long train journeys, the view from the window gets boring. So stock up on books, magazines, music and/or movies. Otherwise they fare like presenter and author Sophie Passmann, who bought a crop shirt at the end of a long train journey without entertainment electronics out of sheer frustration…
A train ride is fun, a train ride is nice – until the train doesn’t run and only rail replacement services can get you from A to B. So before you leave, check whether there are any major construction sites on the planned route and whether there are only buses instead of trains, because then the journey will take longer.
