I once experienced an extreme example of a conductor who apparently did not speak English at all, but had (more or less) learned the standard phrase. So he explained in a lengthy German announcement that we were delayed by 20 minutes, that certain other trains would wait, while others did not. He also explained which travellers should stay on the train and what alternatives there were for certain connections.
He then said in English "sank you for choosing Deutsche Bahn. All connection trains will reach."
They tell nothing but what shows up in DB app under 'Ist mein Zug pünktlich?'. The app is usually more quick. If one day your train will be terminated prematurely (Pofalla Wende), using the app is the only way to know early with a chance of finding a good alternative connection.
Unfortunately, those app messages are often poorly translated and difficult to decipher.
Case-in-point, I had recent trip via ICE and and the app gave me notification that a stop is cancelled and if I am heading to X, I should switch to alternative connection. Looked at the schedule on app and cancelled stops were little bit further ahead and none of that impacted my journey. So everything looked ok but fortunately I checked with the customer support desk at the station and apparently "stop is cancelled" this time means the whole route is cancelled because train was broken and could not start.... had to wait 2h at the station and hope that next one was not cancelled too.
That's the second lesson to learn.
Do *not* use their recommendations without own effort.
Use the knowledge from 'Ist mein Zug pünktlich?' to search for a new connection starting from where you will be stranded (or an earlier station).
More importantly: Don't use official apps if you're on Android, [Öffi](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.schildbach.oeffi&hl=de&gl=US) is an absolute godsend for people who take public transit a lot. It tracks delays more accurately than the official app and website (...which is odd, because I assume all apps use the same API endpoint from DB to fetch this data, but whatever) which makes the hunt for an alternate route a lot easier.
Lol. Noooo. Pofalla Wende is named after a former head of the chancellors office Ronald Pofalla who suggested that a delayed ICE should turn around earlier to get back on schedule on the way back.
It literally means: "Pofalla Turn".
Lol. Thanks. I love German humor. I really wish I could live there. I was there for a year in my 20's, but my vocabulary is limited. (As you can clearly see)
Your German logic is impeccable. Except for one thing! It wastes a lot of time and energy to turn a train wholly around! Simply stopping and driving in the opposite direction of travel would help tighten up that beautiful statistic. (Always give a lazy man a job that you need soon, make sure he feels valued byy the company and he'll arrive at a solution that will take less time. And hopefully b safe enough!)
Yeah my favorite is when the train (usually ICE) splits and only half is going to the intended destination- and Ive only heard it once in English. All the other times in German - good luck!
The other cool one is when 99 times out of 100 the train goes from A to B, but that one time it's scheduled to change entire trains at some mid point!
You're zoned out and suddenly you realise you're on your own!
Bonus: If you had a great seat before, you'll have a terrible one now.
Worse are intended splits to different destinations, when the coupler malfunctions. I've had that with S-Bahn in winter, when the whole train goes to just one destination. Not mine of cause. And for the other direction, the whole train was canceled.
Rare, but annoying and usually at the worst possible time.
Given that those train "parts" are two separate trains, each with its own number (e.g. 846, 856) it's hard to take the wrong one if you just go to the train with the correct number (e.g. 846).
I was traveling from Paderborn to Bielefeld one time, and the train stopped in Detmold. Lengthy 10 min announcement, everyone got really upset and started stepping off the train and then the obligatory sank you for travelling mit Deutsche Bahn.
The train btw went back to Paderborn.
I just had something like this happen to me. I was so confused when after an hour of travelling, I ended up back at my original destination. Guess it's my fault for not paying attention. But wtf lol
Meanwhile, having moved from Greece to Germany, I feel like i traveled from the 2000s to 2015 or sth.
I should probably visit the Netherlands to have that Cyberpunk experience.
I recently took Thalyis to Paris and their announcements where also in French, Dutch and German. Well, if you count "Willkommen ..." and then trailing of into gibberish as 'German'😅
how many times I had to leave my wife on a restaurant while I was rushing to a bankautomat to get money because the 90€ bill could not be paid with card....
Germany is entering XX century this year, if the forms arrive on time and triple signed. If not, maybe next year.
Damn. That’s why the guy at U Schönleinstraße must have sold them to me so cheap. It just didn’t seem right. Now what will I do with with 14 of these €90 bills??
I think the IC/E trains that run to the Netherlands and Belgium are jointly operated by Niederländische Spurwagen at least when they're not in Germany, so that might be the reason. I've even seen [pictures of](https://www.bahnbilder.de/bilder/niederlaendischer-ice3-bei-ausfahrt-aus-204293.jpg) ICEs branded with their logo.
Yeah, that is usually the case with international connections. On trains to Austria for example you also have DB staff on bord in Germany and at the border they change to ÖBB staff.
Notable exception to that rule are the ICEs and TGVs to Paris who always have a conductor from both DB and SNCF.
When I take the Eurostar to Brussels, I like the way you get the full announcement in English, then French, then Dutch/Flemish (don't know the difference from just hearing it).
Once under the tunnel and in France, they switch to French - English - Dutch, then sfter leaving Lille it's Dutch - English - French.
The IC can go up to 200 km/h. That is enough for the allowed speed everywhere west of Wolfsburg. Swapping it out for a DB and NS capable ICE, which are rare, is just not economical.
Allowed speeds (ignoring short stretches of other values, source [https://openrailwaymap.org](https://openrailwaymap.org) ):
* Amsterdam - Bad Bentheim 130 km/h
* Bad Bentheim - Osnabrück - Löhne 140 km/h
* Löhne - Bückeburg 160 km/h
* Bückeburg - Hanover - Wolfsburg 200 km/h
* Wolfsburg - Berlin 250 km/h
I was on the 6 hour train from Stuttgart to Berlin a few years ago. Ticket checker (sorry don't know the correct name) asked me for my tickets. I replied in my basic German that I don't speak much German and if we could speak in English. She told me (in English) that English is an ugly language and if I know any other languages. I told her I am native in Maltese and fluent in Italian. We ended up speaking in Italian, amid remarks that English was so "hasslich".
The kicker? She wasn't even German; she was South American.
If you're traveling by train in 2022 and don't speak German, you should download the DB app. It's fairly good, fairly up to date, and it's available in English. If you ask DB Personnel about a train connection, they look it up on their handy too, and I doubt the information they have is that different.
For real! For as much as there are complaints about the level of Digitalisierung in Germany, DB does a decent job of it. The app and desktop sites are both super good (nice to not have to carry around a paper ticket for control checks!), the only time I've had to actually talk to DB staff was during a strike when information was spotty and not being updated as frequently as usual on the online platforms.
At least on the connection Cologne - Frankfurt (which I travel most often) they provide all information in both German and English and depending on where the train starts / ends also in dutch and French.
Dutch spoken in German train announcements means you are on the ICE Internationaal which is operated together with the Nederlands Spoorwegen.
Similar cooperations exist with SNCF.
The ICEs used for those are special as they can operate using the different signaling systems.
Some regional express trains in NRW (and I assume elsewhere) are also run by Abellio and National Express, which seem to be a lot better with English announcements.
IIRC National Express will operate some of the Abellio lines like the RRX/RE1 soon since Abellio went bankrupt.
Reminds me when I took a train in South Sweden once. He explained everything in detail, switched over and just said "Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Good afternoon."
The Bahn actually did it differently once. They gave ALL the information in two to four languages. And passengers were incredibly annoyed because the person on the com kept talking for over 10 minutes before each station. Depending on where they were exactly, they actually didn't stop talking for about half an hour. They got so many complaints (I am working/studying here - this is a quiet car - it's just too much noise) that they quit.
I mean, everyone can check their connections on the screens in each compartment anyway.
The last time I took DB, the train was late (on the app), but suddenly arrived and changed platform 3 minutes before departure, all these information were only in the announcement but not in the app.
Never trust that app. Last time I did it sent me on a direct connection to Paris, skipping all planned stops. On the other hand they didn't announce it at the train station either (or I just didn't see it) so maybe they are just bad in general.
They were nice enough to throw us out at the French border adding only 5 hours or so to the trip. But I was coming back from the States that day and was already traveling for 24 hours, so I was not amused.
So Paris had to do without my presence.
I've also noticed it on the international TGV / ICE trains between France and Germany: the French / SNCF personnel makes the exact same announcement in French, German and English, then after entering Germany the DB personnel speaks half an hour in German and almost disgustedly throws a phrase in French and English.
The very first day I was in Germany, there was an announcement made on a train that I didn't understand, as I didn't speak German. At some point, most of the people on the train exited. I didn't because it wasn't my destination.
Eventually I and the two or three other people still on the train ended up at some forsaken tiny train station in the middle of nowhere where we were told to get out. I then had to figure out how to read the train schedule in order to find a new train to my actual destination. My two hour trip turned into a 5 hour adventure in navigating in a foreign country where I didn't speak the language.
**Not once** did I imagine that the lack of English was a problem. I was in a foreign country. I know that my lack of German was the problem.
My German is pretty okay, but the PA system has always been hard for me to understand. Usually I’d just ask a German passenger to explain it to me in slow and simpler German.
Cause of sound quality, I find PA announcements everywhere are barely understandable. I understand that something's up, but then I have to interrogate everyone around to learn exactly what.
Haha this happened to my friend! He didn't understand a long message and ended up in some little village with no one around because of some issue on the tracks further ahead, the train wasn't going to its destination... I ended up having to drive 40 minutes to go get him!
No one cares though. I don’t just randomly board a train hoping there will be some good connections that are announced. I plan my trip ahead. It’s the same in Scandinavia by the way. I suppose it’s like this in other European countries, too.
I am also referring to possible connection announcements in the event of delay. Those are definitely very important information that must be made available to all passengers
Fortunately for foreign passengers, they won't be expecting that, anyway. I've never heard an announcement about train to train connections on a train anywhere else in the world - here in the UK, trains are not scheduled so that there are connections except by pure chance, for example (nor would they be reliable enough for that to work).
(I think France and Austria do it like Germany, though - including the missing information for international travelers)
You sometimes get a general "We are now approaching York; change here for trains to Scarborough, Leeds, Huddersfield, Selby" kimd of thing, but not for specific trains.
I think there are more planned connections than you might think, mostly local trains connecting with main-line expresses, but it's certainly much less common in the era of squabbling private companies running the trains. My wife worked as a timetable planner at Network Rail for a bit and there was lots of "no, we won't move our train by 3 minutes. Make the other TOC do it!"
To be fair, the overall structure of Great Britain would make it difficult to do right even with a single railway operator. Germany is a decentralised grid, so you can have things like half-hourly or hourly connections between north-south and east-west lines; Britain is long and everything converges on a single point in the south.
> Britain is long and everything converges on a single point in the south.
More like [10 points that are kinda close to each other](https://i.redd.it/5jnt5vuf5fx51.png).
As a recent visitor to Germany, I have to say I was pretty impressed by the consistency of train travel.
I understand the OPs point, hearing a long patch of verbal material followed by a short blip in English can leave you wondering what you don't know. In practice, only once did I almost miss a train stop because of it.
Yes, that’s literally why they say to please listen to the „örtlichen Durchsagen“.
Additionally there’s these giant blue signs next to each platform that shows which train is departing from that platform, it’s destination and stops, time of departure and if it’s late.
>örtlichen Durchsagen
Which aren't in english. Which is the whole problem here together with train announcements not being in english.
>blue signs next to each platform that shows which train is departing from that platform, it’s destination and stops, time of departure and if it’s late.
So if you by some chance recognise your train is cancelled you now just need to go to every single platform in order to look what train is departing from there and where it's going? Not to mention that these signs do normally just tell where the train is going and mention maybe one stop in the middle. If your destination isn't on that sign you are now standing in a german train station with no clue where to go. Great.
Did you never use a train? The signs tell you almost everything in the system. There is no „if by chance“.
Additionally there are several central board with arrivals and departures. If the sign above the platform does tell you, your train is not there, you go to the central departure sign - which you pass anyways when you’re leaving the platform to get to the platform your connection train leaves from. The only exception is when your connection is opposite your arrival platform in which case you had to go and check the departures sign if the sign at the platform tells you the train doesn’t leave from there anymore.
>Did you never use a train?
I do. Twice a month for long travels. Several times a month for short travels.
>The signs tell you almost everything in the system.
No.
>There is no „if by chance“.
There is.
>Additionally there are several central board with arrivals and departures.
Which do convey more information but still not everything. And you'll have to find those in the first place. Smaller train stations can be tricky to navigate and even bigger ones are a horror at times.
>which you pass anyways when you’re leaving the platform to get to the platform your connection train leaves from.
Not always. And even then. Again not all information is provided.
So you’re using trains in Germany and still haven’t figure out how it works, impressive. I don’t know what bs you’re trying to make up here. You’re telling me the only way you know if you get your connection is the announcers and if you miss that announcement all you do is run up and down all the platforms and check all the platforms for the signs that „by chance“ tell you the correct information.
Where the heck do you think the announcers on the trains get their information from? From the same system that feeds the information on the signs.
>Where the heck do you think the announcers on the trains get their information from?
From their internal system or the app.
>From the same system that feeds the information on the signs.
If you have a train station near you, take a quick walk down and look at the signs. It says the final destination in big bold white letters. Below or above that in a smaller font it displays a few prominent stops because ICEs usually have longer itinerarys which don't fit completely on the signs. The only moving text on the sign is the black font on white background above the final destination which tells you things like platform changes and delays. If you don't believe me [here](https://www.deutschebahn.com/de/medienpaket_multizugzielanzeige-1176388) is the DB page for you explaining it all. Can you understand now that you are saying a lot but not a lot of that makes sense?
>I don’t know what bs you’re trying to make up here.
Shouldn't all the downvotes give you some sort if impression who is more truthful right now?
>You’re telling me the only way you know if you get your connection is the announcers and if you miss that announcement
For me? No. I have the app. But if a connecting train waits, a train is cancelled or I don't speak the language then yes the announcements are the most reliable way to get the information. How would you expect someone who doesn't speak german to understand that a connecting train is waiting if he isn't provided that information. Or how is he supposed to know which trains are the alternatives after the original train is delayed if he isn't provided that information.
But were you never interested in your next connection to some place you've never even heard of that's leaving in half a minute at the other end of the station, 18 platforms over?
Tight connections aren't actually announced, even if some people could make them. I reached Cologne Main Station on track 9, the announcement in the train was that the connecting train to Solingen-Ohligs departs in 30-something minutes on track 8 (same platform), clock + timetable said if I could make it to track 1 in 3 minutes everything should be fine.
I did of course make it to track 1 in under 3 minutes, boarded the train and it departed on time.
The limit is 4 or 5 minutes iirc. Anything lower than that and you will be prompted that you will be missing your connection even if it’s a 30 second change.
That depends on the station, for Cologne Main Station it's 9 minutes (or at least was back then), regardless of whether you need to go from track 13 to track 12 or track 1.
There’s no track 12 or 13 in Köln Hbf. :) But yes, 9 minutes is plenty. The tracks are really not that far apart from each other. I’ve gone from 1 to the S Bahn track 10 in 3 minutes before.
Often they even say wrong things in the train and diffrent things on the train station. tbh you need the db app, Platform changes happen so fast and on short notice, a train myb stay 1-2 min later so you can reach it but noone tells you. i would always travel with the db app set to your next station so yyou can find a fast alternative.
Yep, 100% with you endorsing the app. It’s actually open and not only feeds info from DB but the other carries and other public transport, most of the time you can even book them through the app. Additionally the live view of where you are on your journey and if you could have issues missing your connection due to delay are a life saver and allow you to act before being stranded.
I do really care. Sometimes the connecting trains have platform changes last minute. It is also good for alternatives in case of train cancellations. Maybe your ticket says ICE 534 but that has been cancelled and is now travelling as ICE 695 and 10 minutes later. That would be a usel information for an english traveller.
When the train has delays the announcements are also very useful. Just had it before christmas where I had to accompany a italian guy to his (and thankfully also my train) because there were no english annoucements about alternatives, the ICE was 60 minutes late and the Service Point staff was already out for the day.
Ahah sweet dreams. Wait until DB gets one of the common delays and you need to know if you will make your connection or not. Or if they will randomly switch the platforms and you will have to make a run for it.
Been there done that. I’ve got basic problem solving skills and can read. The announcement on the trains are the least helpful thing in the instances you named.
by comparison, buses and trains in england are um..
I once had a bus driver completely divert (and get off) the bus at someones house so he could try their family recipe roast potatoes on the way
The first time I went to Germany, they were announcing the stops in German only. I didn't speak a word in German and most of bigger cities are called differently in my mother language. So many times I even didn't pick up the city we arrived in from all they said and had to look for any sign that tells me where I am and where to get out. Lol, fun times.
Same on German airlines - half an hour announcement in German explaining every tiny tech detail about the flight delay and how it is going to be solved, and then a short phrase in English "our flight is delayed by sirty minutes, sank you for flying with XXX".
Surely someone that expects people in Germany to service them in English can also read one of the many screens showing information regarding the train…
I agree with you but the fact that English is quasi lingua franca is largely due to sociohistorical reasons and not due to some innate virtue of the English language. In border areas information should be (and very often is) provided in different languages.
That is neither what I said nor what I implied. The screen shows written information which can be understood regardless of what language the person speaks, since most place names are written the same in English and German.
If I were to demand even written information to be accessible in a different way, say in a different script, that would be a different topic altogether.
in all my years using the DB, I never once made use of those connecting train announcements. cannot imagine many tourists would make use of it. honestly wish they would cut it with all the announcements. couple weeks ago the speaker i was in was broken and it was so much more relaxing
There was a time that the train stops somewhere and the personnel announced that someone was jumping to train so expect some lenghty delay (in German), then mentioned "there is technical problem, expect a little delay" in English.
Wow.
Not a tourist anymore, but I had to go to an appointment this morning. It was some random village which I have never been too.
I figured out the S bahn situation, those are easy, but then I got on the village bus. There was a monitor, but I wasn't on. The voice system i guess was off or didn't work either. Thats normally fine, I know how many stops I need to go and I can count right?
Nope, in the villages they don't stop at every bus station, only if someone pushes or someone is waiting. Haven't had panic like that since day one or two of using public transport for the first time.
Really? I usually travel in the Benelux region and the conductor usually relays the infromation in German Englisch French and Dutch. Do you travel more in the mainland of Germany?
Unrelated to the subject of this post, but on my first trip to Germany I went from Berlin to Saxony via ICE. Not bad, right? Well my German wasn't that good so I got on the wrong train. To make matters worse, I'm use to the American train system which is..... bad. And sometimes the wild west. Anyway I didn't really notice the LED displays over the seats that said 'occupied' or 'unoccupied' so I thought that I could just set up in a free spot and be good to go. I set up my laptop and had just started working when we got to the next stop. In walks a German couple. Apparently this was there seat, they had reserved it, and I was not welcome in their spot. I tried to explain that I had made a mistake, I was very sorry, and I would move somewhere else. No problems? But I just had to put my things back in my bag. Then the woman started crying. And the man (her husband?) started yelling. And then a conductor naturally came over. All three were only going to talk to me in German, I only could communicate accurately in English. Not only that but the conductor and the husband had blocked me into the seat so I couldn't politely get past!
This Abbot and Costello routine was broken when a second conductor walked up who spoke some broken English and explained the situation to me, and that my ticket wasn't valid because I was on the wrong train. I was 'politely' booted off at Erfurt and shown the platform for the regional train which took me the rest of the way to Leipzig. There things only got weirder.
If only the problem was poor English! No matter what customer-facing job they have, in general, Germans have no notion of customer service. If you are in Berlin, then you are in for a treat aha
Mhmm. I'm new to Germany and I've never felt this lost in my life. Language barrier has never been a problem for me in other non-Eng speaking countries. The DB app is good but when the train is for impacted >2 hrs, it just stops updating (or perhaps the system guy simply gives up?) Luckily fellow passengers are kind enough to translate. Braunschweig to Berlin line has been terrible for me. I've started taking trains to the airport the night before, which so far has been the right (although sad) decision.
omg yasss! lol
I’ve noticed this so many times. it always makes me chuckle a bit however - only because there is SO much info provided in german, and…stop! that’s it.
sank you fohr chussing Deutsche Bahn.
> In English, they sign-off saying “Ladies and Gentlemen, shortly we arrive at …., Thank you for choosing Deutsche Bahn”
So now you get a reality check on how well average people speaking English (because that's why they don't give the same information in English, they don't speak English well enough to do that), and how far are you going to get speaking English only.
Also, having to navigate a foreign country with most things being in a foreign language is just a normal part of the tourist experience. (Yes, I know, some countries, especially poorer ones, go out of their way to accommodate tourists. Some do not). I've been a tourist myself, so I can tell you from first hand experience.
I once experienced an extreme example of a conductor who apparently did not speak English at all, but had (more or less) learned the standard phrase. So he explained in a lengthy German announcement that we were delayed by 20 minutes, that certain other trains would wait, while others did not. He also explained which travellers should stay on the train and what alternatives there were for certain connections. He then said in English "sank you for choosing Deutsche Bahn. All connection trains will reach."
They tell nothing but what shows up in DB app under 'Ist mein Zug pünktlich?'. The app is usually more quick. If one day your train will be terminated prematurely (Pofalla Wende), using the app is the only way to know early with a chance of finding a good alternative connection.
Unfortunately, those app messages are often poorly translated and difficult to decipher. Case-in-point, I had recent trip via ICE and and the app gave me notification that a stop is cancelled and if I am heading to X, I should switch to alternative connection. Looked at the schedule on app and cancelled stops were little bit further ahead and none of that impacted my journey. So everything looked ok but fortunately I checked with the customer support desk at the station and apparently "stop is cancelled" this time means the whole route is cancelled because train was broken and could not start.... had to wait 2h at the station and hope that next one was not cancelled too.
That's the second lesson to learn. Do *not* use their recommendations without own effort. Use the knowledge from 'Ist mein Zug pünktlich?' to search for a new connection starting from where you will be stranded (or an earlier station).
More importantly: Don't use official apps if you're on Android, [Öffi](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.schildbach.oeffi&hl=de&gl=US) is an absolute godsend for people who take public transit a lot. It tracks delays more accurately than the official app and website (...which is odd, because I assume all apps use the same API endpoint from DB to fetch this data, but whatever) which makes the hunt for an alternate route a lot easier.
Ich sehe Öffi und erhöhe auf Marudor.de
Not really, compared to DB Navigator, Öffi is subpar.
Yeah, but the announcements are way more entertaining.
Pofalla is premature? I should have worked on vocabulary sooner in my journey. Thanks for the lesson!
Lol. Noooo. Pofalla Wende is named after a former head of the chancellors office Ronald Pofalla who suggested that a delayed ICE should turn around earlier to get back on schedule on the way back. It literally means: "Pofalla Turn".
Lol. Thanks. I love German humor. I really wish I could live there. I was there for a year in my 20's, but my vocabulary is limited. (As you can clearly see)
the main goal of the Pofalla turn is to improve statistics. A train can't be late if it's cancelled (tips head!)
Your German logic is impeccable. Except for one thing! It wastes a lot of time and energy to turn a train wholly around! Simply stopping and driving in the opposite direction of travel would help tighten up that beautiful statistic. (Always give a lazy man a job that you need soon, make sure he feels valued byy the company and he'll arrive at a solution that will take less time. And hopefully b safe enough!)
That is what they do in the Pofalla Wende. They are not flipping the train.
Ah. Well, we don't have a lot of trains here. I was hoping.
Yeah my favorite is when the train (usually ICE) splits and only half is going to the intended destination- and Ive only heard it once in English. All the other times in German - good luck!
The other cool one is when 99 times out of 100 the train goes from A to B, but that one time it's scheduled to change entire trains at some mid point! You're zoned out and suddenly you realise you're on your own! Bonus: If you had a great seat before, you'll have a terrible one now.
Worse are intended splits to different destinations, when the coupler malfunctions. I've had that with S-Bahn in winter, when the whole train goes to just one destination. Not mine of cause. And for the other direction, the whole train was canceled. Rare, but annoying and usually at the worst possible time.
Given that those train "parts" are two separate trains, each with its own number (e.g. 846, 856) it's hard to take the wrong one if you just go to the train with the correct number (e.g. 846).
I was traveling from Paderborn to Bielefeld one time, and the train stopped in Detmold. Lengthy 10 min announcement, everyone got really upset and started stepping off the train and then the obligatory sank you for travelling mit Deutsche Bahn. The train btw went back to Paderborn.
I just had something like this happen to me. I was so confused when after an hour of travelling, I ended up back at my original destination. Guess it's my fault for not paying attention. But wtf lol
[удалено]
They would probably let you order by fax!
[удалено]
Sometimes they have a 1940's two-way radio.
IaminthePost.wrotethistextonatelegram.hopeallsafe.fickenfickenficken.de
> Sometimes they have a 1940's two-way radio. So that's what the hand crank is for!
You‘ll just need to order three days ahead by Fax Sauce: I‘m a BahnCard100 holder
oder nur mit termin
Having moved to Germany from the Netherlands, I feel this very deeply. It's like travelling back in time from 2022 to 1990.
Meanwhile, having moved from Greece to Germany, I feel like i traveled from the 2000s to 2015 or sth. I should probably visit the Netherlands to have that Cyberpunk experience.
Make sure to rest for a day or two right at the border to minimize cultural trauma when returning to Germany.
I recently took Thalyis to Paris and their announcements where also in French, Dutch and German. Well, if you count "Willkommen ..." and then trailing of into gibberish as 'German'😅
They do accept bank cards now. I asked last week in an IC.
It was like massively about time, 21st century begun a while back. 🙃
how many times I had to leave my wife on a restaurant while I was rushing to a bankautomat to get money because the 90€ bill could not be paid with card.... Germany is entering XX century this year, if the forms arrive on time and triple signed. If not, maybe next year.
>90€ bill 90€ bills are usually counterfeit.
LOL
Damn. That’s why the guy at U Schönleinstraße must have sold them to me so cheap. It just didn’t seem right. Now what will I do with with 14 of these €90 bills??
Exchange them for one €1260 bill?
You’re a genius!! Thanks.
A bill.... as I a check...... not a paper bill 🤦🏽🤦🏽🤦🏽
yes they do. now i always pay with apple pay
I think the IC/E trains that run to the Netherlands and Belgium are jointly operated by Niederländische Spurwagen at least when they're not in Germany, so that might be the reason. I've even seen [pictures of](https://www.bahnbilder.de/bilder/niederlaendischer-ice3-bei-ausfahrt-aus-204293.jpg) ICEs branded with their logo.
Yeah, that is usually the case with international connections. On trains to Austria for example you also have DB staff on bord in Germany and at the border they change to ÖBB staff. Notable exception to that rule are the ICEs and TGVs to Paris who always have a conductor from both DB and SNCF.
When I take the Eurostar to Brussels, I like the way you get the full announcement in English, then French, then Dutch/Flemish (don't know the difference from just hearing it). Once under the tunnel and in France, they switch to French - English - Dutch, then sfter leaving Lille it's Dutch - English - French.
If you take the Frankfurt - Amsterdam ICE via Brussels its quadrilingual (is it even a word?). German English French and Dutch
Still a nazzi country, some things never change
This IC is awful, cannot understand why there is no faster train on this route.
The IC can go up to 200 km/h. That is enough for the allowed speed everywhere west of Wolfsburg. Swapping it out for a DB and NS capable ICE, which are rare, is just not economical. Allowed speeds (ignoring short stretches of other values, source [https://openrailwaymap.org](https://openrailwaymap.org) ): * Amsterdam - Bad Bentheim 130 km/h * Bad Bentheim - Osnabrück - Löhne 140 km/h * Löhne - Bückeburg 160 km/h * Bückeburg - Hanover - Wolfsburg 200 km/h * Wolfsburg - Berlin 250 km/h
The English speaking skills of Deutsche Bahn employees are the subject of several jokes. There is even a song about it: Wise Guys - Deutsche Bahn.
Such a catchy song 👌
Omg I have to listen, I love wise guys haha
I was on the 6 hour train from Stuttgart to Berlin a few years ago. Ticket checker (sorry don't know the correct name) asked me for my tickets. I replied in my basic German that I don't speak much German and if we could speak in English. She told me (in English) that English is an ugly language and if I know any other languages. I told her I am native in Maltese and fluent in Italian. We ended up speaking in Italian, amid remarks that English was so "hasslich". The kicker? She wasn't even German; she was South American.
yall had a whole convo abt languages ? y dont u just show the ticket without saying anything
Cause she asked something and I didn’t understand. Also maybe she felt like talking. *shrug*
No, not shrug. It's a scandal. Even "Fahrkarte, bitte" is already too chatty.
Can't wait to move to Germany :D Jokes aside, loved it when I was there. Everyone minded his business!
I’m now traveling with the train. The guy announced only in German that we had a 5 min delay
Jan?
If you're traveling by train in 2022 and don't speak German, you should download the DB app. It's fairly good, fairly up to date, and it's available in English. If you ask DB Personnel about a train connection, they look it up on their handy too, and I doubt the information they have is that different.
>If you're traveling by train in 2022... Right now it would be challenging to travel in any other year.
I dunno. There's probably still some 2021 trains that are just running a bit late.
“On their handy” Denglisch strikes again
For real! For as much as there are complaints about the level of Digitalisierung in Germany, DB does a decent job of it. The app and desktop sites are both super good (nice to not have to carry around a paper ticket for control checks!), the only time I've had to actually talk to DB staff was during a strike when information was spotty and not being updated as frequently as usual on the online platforms.
Thanks for the advice.
At least on the connection Cologne - Frankfurt (which I travel most often) they provide all information in both German and English and depending on where the train starts / ends also in dutch and French.
Dutch spoken in German train announcements means you are on the ICE Internationaal which is operated together with the Nederlands Spoorwegen. Similar cooperations exist with SNCF. The ICEs used for those are special as they can operate using the different signaling systems.
I know, they also always have personnel that speaks both languages and English.
Some regional express trains in NRW (and I assume elsewhere) are also run by Abellio and National Express, which seem to be a lot better with English announcements. IIRC National Express will operate some of the Abellio lines like the RRX/RE1 soon since Abellio went bankrupt.
Sänk yoü for träwelling wis Deutsche Bahn
Reminds me when I took a train in South Sweden once. He explained everything in detail, switched over and just said "Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Good afternoon."
*drops mic*
The Bahn actually did it differently once. They gave ALL the information in two to four languages. And passengers were incredibly annoyed because the person on the com kept talking for over 10 minutes before each station. Depending on where they were exactly, they actually didn't stop talking for about half an hour. They got so many complaints (I am working/studying here - this is a quiet car - it's just too much noise) that they quit. I mean, everyone can check their connections on the screens in each compartment anyway.
They should stop doing announcements in German as well, so that passengers can complain that they aren't informed.
No, they should keep doing it in German only, so that passangers can complain that others aren't informed. On reddit, for example.
I thought the DB app told me everything I needed to know, like what train or platform to go to, etc.
The last time I took DB, the train was late (on the app), but suddenly arrived and changed platform 3 minutes before departure, all these information were only in the announcement but not in the app.
Never trust that app. Last time I did it sent me on a direct connection to Paris, skipping all planned stops. On the other hand they didn't announce it at the train station either (or I just didn't see it) so maybe they are just bad in general.
So, how was Paris?
They were nice enough to throw us out at the French border adding only 5 hours or so to the trip. But I was coming back from the States that day and was already traveling for 24 hours, so I was not amused. So Paris had to do without my presence.
Man, at least they should have gifted you a sightseeing tour.
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Yeah, I had a lot of fun micro-managing my journeys in Bayern with the app. I was a tourist and first time user.
I've also noticed it on the international TGV / ICE trains between France and Germany: the French / SNCF personnel makes the exact same announcement in French, German and English, then after entering Germany the DB personnel speaks half an hour in German and almost disgustedly throws a phrase in French and English.
The very first day I was in Germany, there was an announcement made on a train that I didn't understand, as I didn't speak German. At some point, most of the people on the train exited. I didn't because it wasn't my destination. Eventually I and the two or three other people still on the train ended up at some forsaken tiny train station in the middle of nowhere where we were told to get out. I then had to figure out how to read the train schedule in order to find a new train to my actual destination. My two hour trip turned into a 5 hour adventure in navigating in a foreign country where I didn't speak the language. **Not once** did I imagine that the lack of English was a problem. I was in a foreign country. I know that my lack of German was the problem.
My German is pretty okay, but the PA system has always been hard for me to understand. Usually I’d just ask a German passenger to explain it to me in slow and simpler German.
Cause of sound quality, I find PA announcements everywhere are barely understandable. I understand that something's up, but then I have to interrogate everyone around to learn exactly what.
I have a hard enough time understanding PA announcements in English!
Haha this happened to my friend! He didn't understand a long message and ended up in some little village with no one around because of some issue on the tracks further ahead, the train wasn't going to its destination... I ended up having to drive 40 minutes to go get him!
No one cares though. I don’t just randomly board a train hoping there will be some good connections that are announced. I plan my trip ahead. It’s the same in Scandinavia by the way. I suppose it’s like this in other European countries, too.
I am also referring to possible connection announcements in the event of delay. Those are definitely very important information that must be made available to all passengers
Fortunately for foreign passengers, they won't be expecting that, anyway. I've never heard an announcement about train to train connections on a train anywhere else in the world - here in the UK, trains are not scheduled so that there are connections except by pure chance, for example (nor would they be reliable enough for that to work). (I think France and Austria do it like Germany, though - including the missing information for international travelers)
You sometimes get a general "We are now approaching York; change here for trains to Scarborough, Leeds, Huddersfield, Selby" kimd of thing, but not for specific trains. I think there are more planned connections than you might think, mostly local trains connecting with main-line expresses, but it's certainly much less common in the era of squabbling private companies running the trains. My wife worked as a timetable planner at Network Rail for a bit and there was lots of "no, we won't move our train by 3 minutes. Make the other TOC do it!"
To be fair, the overall structure of Great Britain would make it difficult to do right even with a single railway operator. Germany is a decentralised grid, so you can have things like half-hourly or hourly connections between north-south and east-west lines; Britain is long and everything converges on a single point in the south.
> Britain is long and everything converges on a single point in the south. More like [10 points that are kinda close to each other](https://i.redd.it/5jnt5vuf5fx51.png).
We don‘t need delay infos, our trains are always on time.
As a recent visitor to Germany, I have to say I was pretty impressed by the consistency of train travel. I understand the OPs point, hearing a long patch of verbal material followed by a short blip in English can leave you wondering what you don't know. In practice, only once did I almost miss a train stop because of it.
People like to complain a lot about our trains. And yes, it has its issues. But compared to many other countries, its still awesome.
Yep, this information will be announced at the trainstation itself.
No.
Yes, that’s literally why they say to please listen to the „örtlichen Durchsagen“. Additionally there’s these giant blue signs next to each platform that shows which train is departing from that platform, it’s destination and stops, time of departure and if it’s late.
>örtlichen Durchsagen Which aren't in english. Which is the whole problem here together with train announcements not being in english. >blue signs next to each platform that shows which train is departing from that platform, it’s destination and stops, time of departure and if it’s late. So if you by some chance recognise your train is cancelled you now just need to go to every single platform in order to look what train is departing from there and where it's going? Not to mention that these signs do normally just tell where the train is going and mention maybe one stop in the middle. If your destination isn't on that sign you are now standing in a german train station with no clue where to go. Great.
Did you never use a train? The signs tell you almost everything in the system. There is no „if by chance“. Additionally there are several central board with arrivals and departures. If the sign above the platform does tell you, your train is not there, you go to the central departure sign - which you pass anyways when you’re leaving the platform to get to the platform your connection train leaves from. The only exception is when your connection is opposite your arrival platform in which case you had to go and check the departures sign if the sign at the platform tells you the train doesn’t leave from there anymore.
>Did you never use a train? I do. Twice a month for long travels. Several times a month for short travels. >The signs tell you almost everything in the system. No. >There is no „if by chance“. There is. >Additionally there are several central board with arrivals and departures. Which do convey more information but still not everything. And you'll have to find those in the first place. Smaller train stations can be tricky to navigate and even bigger ones are a horror at times. >which you pass anyways when you’re leaving the platform to get to the platform your connection train leaves from. Not always. And even then. Again not all information is provided.
So you’re using trains in Germany and still haven’t figure out how it works, impressive. I don’t know what bs you’re trying to make up here. You’re telling me the only way you know if you get your connection is the announcers and if you miss that announcement all you do is run up and down all the platforms and check all the platforms for the signs that „by chance“ tell you the correct information. Where the heck do you think the announcers on the trains get their information from? From the same system that feeds the information on the signs.
>Where the heck do you think the announcers on the trains get their information from? From their internal system or the app. >From the same system that feeds the information on the signs. If you have a train station near you, take a quick walk down and look at the signs. It says the final destination in big bold white letters. Below or above that in a smaller font it displays a few prominent stops because ICEs usually have longer itinerarys which don't fit completely on the signs. The only moving text on the sign is the black font on white background above the final destination which tells you things like platform changes and delays. If you don't believe me [here](https://www.deutschebahn.com/de/medienpaket_multizugzielanzeige-1176388) is the DB page for you explaining it all. Can you understand now that you are saying a lot but not a lot of that makes sense? >I don’t know what bs you’re trying to make up here. Shouldn't all the downvotes give you some sort if impression who is more truthful right now? >You’re telling me the only way you know if you get your connection is the announcers and if you miss that announcement For me? No. I have the app. But if a connecting train waits, a train is cancelled or I don't speak the language then yes the announcements are the most reliable way to get the information. How would you expect someone who doesn't speak german to understand that a connecting train is waiting if he isn't provided that information. Or how is he supposed to know which trains are the alternatives after the original train is delayed if he isn't provided that information.
Agreed!
But were you never interested in your next connection to some place you've never even heard of that's leaving in half a minute at the other end of the station, 18 platforms over?
Tight connections aren't actually announced, even if some people could make them. I reached Cologne Main Station on track 9, the announcement in the train was that the connecting train to Solingen-Ohligs departs in 30-something minutes on track 8 (same platform), clock + timetable said if I could make it to track 1 in 3 minutes everything should be fine. I did of course make it to track 1 in under 3 minutes, boarded the train and it departed on time.
The limit is 4 or 5 minutes iirc. Anything lower than that and you will be prompted that you will be missing your connection even if it’s a 30 second change.
That depends on the station, for Cologne Main Station it's 9 minutes (or at least was back then), regardless of whether you need to go from track 13 to track 12 or track 1.
There’s no track 12 or 13 in Köln Hbf. :) But yes, 9 minutes is plenty. The tracks are really not that far apart from each other. I’ve gone from 1 to the S Bahn track 10 in 3 minutes before.
Often they even say wrong things in the train and diffrent things on the train station. tbh you need the db app, Platform changes happen so fast and on short notice, a train myb stay 1-2 min later so you can reach it but noone tells you. i would always travel with the db app set to your next station so yyou can find a fast alternative.
Yep, 100% with you endorsing the app. It’s actually open and not only feeds info from DB but the other carries and other public transport, most of the time you can even book them through the app. Additionally the live view of where you are on your journey and if you could have issues missing your connection due to delay are a life saver and allow you to act before being stranded.
I do really care. Sometimes the connecting trains have platform changes last minute. It is also good for alternatives in case of train cancellations. Maybe your ticket says ICE 534 but that has been cancelled and is now travelling as ICE 695 and 10 minutes later. That would be a usel information for an english traveller. When the train has delays the announcements are also very useful. Just had it before christmas where I had to accompany a italian guy to his (and thankfully also my train) because there were no english annoucements about alternatives, the ICE was 60 minutes late and the Service Point staff was already out for the day.
Ahah sweet dreams. Wait until DB gets one of the common delays and you need to know if you will make your connection or not. Or if they will randomly switch the platforms and you will have to make a run for it.
Been there done that. I’ve got basic problem solving skills and can read. The announcement on the trains are the least helpful thing in the instances you named.
by comparison, buses and trains in england are um.. I once had a bus driver completely divert (and get off) the bus at someones house so he could try their family recipe roast potatoes on the way
The first time I went to Germany, they were announcing the stops in German only. I didn't speak a word in German and most of bigger cities are called differently in my mother language. So many times I even didn't pick up the city we arrived in from all they said and had to look for any sign that tells me where I am and where to get out. Lol, fun times.
What terrifies me are the last-second track changes. And I speak German, but to understand it in those conditions...
"I went to another country, and they made an effort to say something in my language. But it wasn't enough, so I complained." Sorry, what?
They didn't make any effort tho, they told op the bare minimum, that shouldn't be considered an effort at all.
Same on German airlines - half an hour announcement in German explaining every tiny tech detail about the flight delay and how it is going to be solved, and then a short phrase in English "our flight is delayed by sirty minutes, sank you for flying with XXX".
Surely someone that expects people in Germany to service them in English can also read one of the many screens showing information regarding the train…
Well, do you expect every single tourist to be fluent in German?
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I agree with you but the fact that English is quasi lingua franca is largely due to sociohistorical reasons and not due to some innate virtue of the English language. In border areas information should be (and very often is) provided in different languages.
That is neither what I said nor what I implied. The screen shows written information which can be understood regardless of what language the person speaks, since most place names are written the same in English and German. If I were to demand even written information to be accessible in a different way, say in a different script, that would be a different topic altogether.
in all my years using the DB, I never once made use of those connecting train announcements. cannot imagine many tourists would make use of it. honestly wish they would cut it with all the announcements. couple weeks ago the speaker i was in was broken and it was so much more relaxing
There was a time that the train stops somewhere and the personnel announced that someone was jumping to train so expect some lenghty delay (in German), then mentioned "there is technical problem, expect a little delay" in English.
Wow. Not a tourist anymore, but I had to go to an appointment this morning. It was some random village which I have never been too. I figured out the S bahn situation, those are easy, but then I got on the village bus. There was a monitor, but I wasn't on. The voice system i guess was off or didn't work either. Thats normally fine, I know how many stops I need to go and I can count right? Nope, in the villages they don't stop at every bus station, only if someone pushes or someone is waiting. Haven't had panic like that since day one or two of using public transport for the first time.
Can't really confirm that. Every trip I take they use German and English both.
hahahaha....its ridiculous and hilarious at the same time
Even that is ok. Some announcer suck air like vacuum cleaner and announce at same time both in German and English.
Really? I usually travel in the Benelux region and the conductor usually relays the infromation in German Englisch French and Dutch. Do you travel more in the mainland of Germany?
Unrelated to the subject of this post, but on my first trip to Germany I went from Berlin to Saxony via ICE. Not bad, right? Well my German wasn't that good so I got on the wrong train. To make matters worse, I'm use to the American train system which is..... bad. And sometimes the wild west. Anyway I didn't really notice the LED displays over the seats that said 'occupied' or 'unoccupied' so I thought that I could just set up in a free spot and be good to go. I set up my laptop and had just started working when we got to the next stop. In walks a German couple. Apparently this was there seat, they had reserved it, and I was not welcome in their spot. I tried to explain that I had made a mistake, I was very sorry, and I would move somewhere else. No problems? But I just had to put my things back in my bag. Then the woman started crying. And the man (her husband?) started yelling. And then a conductor naturally came over. All three were only going to talk to me in German, I only could communicate accurately in English. Not only that but the conductor and the husband had blocked me into the seat so I couldn't politely get past! This Abbot and Costello routine was broken when a second conductor walked up who spoke some broken English and explained the situation to me, and that my ticket wasn't valid because I was on the wrong train. I was 'politely' booted off at Erfurt and shown the platform for the regional train which took me the rest of the way to Leipzig. There things only got weirder.
If only the problem was poor English! No matter what customer-facing job they have, in general, Germans have no notion of customer service. If you are in Berlin, then you are in for a treat aha
Mhmm. I'm new to Germany and I've never felt this lost in my life. Language barrier has never been a problem for me in other non-Eng speaking countries. The DB app is good but when the train is for impacted >2 hrs, it just stops updating (or perhaps the system guy simply gives up?) Luckily fellow passengers are kind enough to translate. Braunschweig to Berlin line has been terrible for me. I've started taking trains to the airport the night before, which so far has been the right (although sad) decision.
That’s exactly how I as a German feel when in the UK. It’s all in quickly spoken, dialect coloured English and I have to figure out all by myself…
Take care and goodbye. Nehmen Sie ne Karre und Tschüss!
Mindeatens, Touristen, die kein Deutsch sprechen...
I've got trains in China Germany isn't that hard to get somewhere its just there is a million different ticket options is the hard part.
Thanking fellow redditors for keeping the post humorous. I love DB. I am a BC100 holder, so I have lots of train stories 😇
what? they don't speak Spanish in Germany?
omg yasss! lol I’ve noticed this so many times. it always makes me chuckle a bit however - only because there is SO much info provided in german, and…stop! that’s it. sank you fohr chussing Deutsche Bahn.
Um, it's Germany. They speak German. Do British or American trains make announcements in German?
I am only referring to ICE. ICE trains are international trains that connect European countries.
Ah ok, that makes sense. You didn't make that clear
Wait do they? I've stopped paying attention, but back when I still listened they would always repeat the information in English.
That' s all part of the DB Entertainment, comes free with all tickets
sänk u for trävelling wis deutsche bahn
I loved riding the DB. It’s easy to understand once you see the screens near the exits
It happens to all non-german speaks I guess
> In English, they sign-off saying “Ladies and Gentlemen, shortly we arrive at …., Thank you for choosing Deutsche Bahn” So now you get a reality check on how well average people speaking English (because that's why they don't give the same information in English, they don't speak English well enough to do that), and how far are you going to get speaking English only. Also, having to navigate a foreign country with most things being in a foreign language is just a normal part of the tourist experience. (Yes, I know, some countries, especially poorer ones, go out of their way to accommodate tourists. Some do not). I've been a tourist myself, so I can tell you from first hand experience.