9 ms·

> If the train number begins with RE or RB, you’re good, but of course, those are the slow ones that stop in every village along the way. Well, that is not exa

> If the train number begins with RE or RB, you’re good, but of course, those are the slow ones that stop in every village along the way. Well, that is not exactly true now, is it. REs do actually skip the vast majority of "villages" and are far from being the slow ones, comparatively. Anyway, for comparisons sake here is some Hamburg -> Berlin options: - By car (with low traffic, according to GMaps): 3h20 - Regional Trains (the ones you can use with 9-eur-ticket): 4h10, including 1-3 train changes depending on connection - All trains: 1h50 with no change Given that going by car will be considerably more expensive than a regional ticket (even the none-9-eur version) I would say that +1h might be a reasonable trade-off for a lot of people.

kuschku 4y ago
Actually, the Hamburg-Berlin IRE should be covered by this ticket as well, which requires no changes at all.
- april_22 4y ago
  There is a RE from Hamburg to Berlin?
  - end0r 4y ago
    No, RE stands for 'Regional Express'. There is RE between Hamburg and Bargteheide for example, but Berlin is too far away. REs are rather for commuters from nearby towns.
  - kuschku 4y ago
    There used to be an IRE, which stands for inter-regio-express. But apparently it was discontinued during covid.
  - dathinab 4y ago
    No you have to switch trains at least once. Also the travel takes ~4h15m (RE->RE) instead of ~1h50m (ICE). If your traveling at a time where the RE is not over crowded and you can spend the time well it's okay. If not, especially if the train is overcrowded in parts of the travel and it's really hot it's shit.
- germanier 4y ago
  That train isn't running since 2020 and last December they have announced that won't be coming back for the foreseeable future.
  - kuschku 4y ago
    Really? Oh no :( I never got a chance to take it, from what I heard it was a fun experience.
- usr1106 4y ago
  IRE trains are extremely rare. They have never been a regular product, but results of local political bargaining after the popular IR trains were discontinued ages ago.
jansan 4y ago
Of course, as with all train connections, you have to add the time to get to/from the station and some buffer.
- lucioperca 4y ago
  As usual in big cities you need to add the time for walking to your car and for finding a parking space in the end.
  - newaccount74 4y ago
    And add 30 minutes that you are stuck in downtown traffic because your meeting starts at an inconvenient time. I can't speak for all of Europe, but here in Austria trains, trams, and subways are way more predictable than taking the car. Sure, sometimes there are delays, but 99% of the time you get to your destination on schedule. When you drive you always have the risk of random delays due to traffic.
    - usr1106 4y ago
      Deutsche Bahn is very far from 99% punctuality. Statistics were published only recently and they pointed down once again. But to be fair going by car is hardly better, you can get stuck more or less unexpectedly in most somewhat busy places.
      - newaccount74 4y ago
        I can't really talk about DB, I rarely take the ICE. But I also want to point out that I didn't say that public transit is 99% on time, I said I get to my destination on time 99% of the time. Often when a train/tram/subway is late I can just take a different one and still get to my destination on time. If there is a delay on a long journey, I usually know hours in advance, and I can let people know I'm going to be late. But it's a very rare occurrence in my experience.
        ivan_gammel 4y ago
IMTDb 4y ago
This is assuming that your trip starts and stops exactly next to the train station and that there is a non-delayed train available precisely at the right time. In practice that's not the case and those time add up quickly. Car trip will look like: 1. Travel from start to location (3:20) 2. Find parking (0:5) 3. Walk from parking to location (0:10) Total time of 3:35 Your train trip will look like: 1. Go from start to train station (0:20) 2. Wait for train (0:10) 3. Train to Berlin (1:50) 4. Train station to location (0:20) 5. Wait at location because there was no better train (1:00) Total time of 3:40. It stil might be worth it to use the train, as you can work/read in the train which you can't do in a car. But for the train to be working it needs planets to be aligned: start location must be within reasonable distance to train station; end location must be within reasonable distance to train station; train travel speed is significantly faster than cars; train schedule is aligned with desired arrival time. If any of these conditions are not met, the train option does not work
- smlacy 4y ago
  I'm not sure what "Wait at location because there was no better train" means? Are you massuming a 3h40m trip for a specific time-based appointment? I think the use case of this kind of train is more similar to a flight with one or more nights at destination, so that the specific arrival time is not that important.
  - ivan_gammel 4y ago
    Let’s say you have an appointment at location 15 minutes away from train station at 9:00 and your train arrives at 7:45. You will have to wait for 1 hour and probably spend this time unproductively and maybe even at extra cost (e.g. you choose to get a cup of coffee and a sandwich in a restaurant nearby).
    - LosWochosWeek 4y ago
      Yeah, if you plan your appointment at a place 300km away willy nilly without checking the train schedule and if you plan your car drive in a way that you dont plan for any congestions leaving Hamburg, on the Autobahn, entering Berlin (good luck!), then yeah: The car is more expensive, more tiring, and slower. But get this: Instead of having an hour you can spend at your destination to your liking, you get to use that extra hour driving your car! Congratulations! Sorry but that has to be the most contrived and ridicilous statement I've ever read. And this is coming from someone -- me -- who owns two cars, lives in Berlin and practically never uses public transportation.
virtualritz 4y ago
There is also FlixTrain for e.g. Hamburg—Berlin (or vice versa) which is demand-priced. And includes a reserved seat. I went for 4.99€ last month – twice (taking early morning trains).
- llampx 4y ago
  I thought you have to book a seat separately on Flixtrain, at least when I looked a couple of days ago to compare to the DB train.
  - virtualritz 4y ago
    On FlixTrain you can book a seat separately if you want a specific seat. Otherwise you get an assigned seat included with the ticket for no extra charge. I.e. unlike DB there are no overcrowded FlixTrains where people have to sit on floors or stand. FlixTrains have a maximum occupancy dictated by number of seats.
LargoLasskhyfv 4y ago
Additionally: not coupled to a fixed train connection, but no seat reservation either. Could also use the Metronome from Hamburg to Bremen/Hannover/Uelzen, and go to Dortmund/Duisburg/Düsseldorf/Cologne/Bonn/Aachen via Münster/Osnabrück in the morning, using whichever REs are available. And doing whatever there. Though I'd be wary of the way back during the evenings, then you could be stranded for a few hours in the middle of nowhere. I remember a trip like this, initially from Dortmund to Berlin, starting around 23:00, having to switch in Hannover. Would have been stranded in Stendal around 02:30 to something like 4:30 or 5:00. Uncool. Just made it to Hamburg instead :-) Anyway, it remains to be seen how that develops. I'm expecting overload. Especially in times of Covid, I'd be (still) wary to use it. /me sings: I wan't to ride my bicycle, baaaicycle, baaaaicycle!

kuschku 4y ago

Actually, the Hamburg-Berlin IRE should be covered by this ticket as well, which requires no changes at all.

april_22 4y ago
There is a RE from Hamburg to Berlin?
- end0r 4y ago
  No, RE stands for 'Regional Express'. There is RE between Hamburg and Bargteheide for example, but Berlin is too far away. REs are rather for commuters from nearby towns.
- kuschku 4y ago
  There used to be an IRE, which stands for inter-regio-express. But apparently it was discontinued during covid.
- dathinab 4y ago
  No you have to switch trains at least once. Also the travel takes ~4h15m (RE->RE) instead of ~1h50m (ICE). If your traveling at a time where the RE is not over crowded and you can spend the time well it's okay. If not, especially if the train is overcrowded in parts of the travel and it's really hot it's shit.
germanier 4y ago
That train isn't running since 2020 and last December they have announced that won't be coming back for the foreseeable future.
- kuschku 4y ago
  Really? Oh no :( I never got a chance to take it, from what I heard it was a fun experience.
usr1106 4y ago
IRE trains are extremely rare. They have never been a regular product, but results of local political bargaining after the popular IR trains were discontinued ages ago.

jansan 4y ago

Of course, as with all train connections, you have to add the time to get to/from the station and some buffer.

lucioperca 4y ago
As usual in big cities you need to add the time for walking to your car and for finding a parking space in the end.
- newaccount74 4y ago
  And add 30 minutes that you are stuck in downtown traffic because your meeting starts at an inconvenient time. I can't speak for all of Europe, but here in Austria trains, trams, and subways are way more predictable than taking the car. Sure, sometimes there are delays, but 99% of the time you get to your destination on schedule. When you drive you always have the risk of random delays due to traffic.
  - usr1106 4y ago
    Deutsche Bahn is very far from 99% punctuality. Statistics were published only recently and they pointed down once again. But to be fair going by car is hardly better, you can get stuck more or less unexpectedly in most somewhat busy places.
    - newaccount74 4y ago
      I can't really talk about DB, I rarely take the ICE. But I also want to point out that I didn't say that public transit is 99% on time, I said I get to my destination on time 99% of the time. Often when a train/tram/subway is late I can just take a different one and still get to my destination on time. If there is a delay on a long journey, I usually know hours in advance, and I can let people know I'm going to be late. But it's a very rare occurrence in my experience.
      - ivan_gammel 4y ago

IMTDb 4y ago

This is assuming that your trip starts and stops exactly next to the train station and that there is a non-delayed train available precisely at the right time. In practice that's not the case and those time add up quickly. Car trip will look like: 1. Travel from start to location (3:20) 2. Find parking (0:5) 3. Walk from parking to location (0:10) Total time of 3:35 Your train trip will look like: 1. Go from start to train station (0:20) 2. Wait for train (0:10) 3. Train to Berlin (1:50) 4. Train station to location (0:20) 5. Wait at location because there was no better train (1:00) Total time of 3:40. It stil might be worth it to use the train, as you can work/read in the train which you can't do in a car. But for the train to be working it needs planets to be aligned: start location must be within reasonable distance to train station; end location must be within reasonable distance to train station; train travel speed is significantly faster than cars; train schedule is aligned with desired arrival time. If any of these conditions are not met, the train option does not work

smlacy 4y ago
I'm not sure what "Wait at location because there was no better train" means? Are you massuming a 3h40m trip for a specific time-based appointment? I think the use case of this kind of train is more similar to a flight with one or more nights at destination, so that the specific arrival time is not that important.
- ivan_gammel 4y ago
  Let’s say you have an appointment at location 15 minutes away from train station at 9:00 and your train arrives at 7:45. You will have to wait for 1 hour and probably spend this time unproductively and maybe even at extra cost (e.g. you choose to get a cup of coffee and a sandwich in a restaurant nearby).
  - LosWochosWeek 4y ago
    Yeah, if you plan your appointment at a place 300km away willy nilly without checking the train schedule and if you plan your car drive in a way that you dont plan for any congestions leaving Hamburg, on the Autobahn, entering Berlin (good luck!), then yeah: The car is more expensive, more tiring, and slower. But get this: Instead of having an hour you can spend at your destination to your liking, you get to use that extra hour driving your car! Congratulations! Sorry but that has to be the most contrived and ridicilous statement I've ever read. And this is coming from someone -- me -- who owns two cars, lives in Berlin and practically never uses public transportation.

virtualritz 4y ago

There is also FlixTrain for e.g. Hamburg—Berlin (or vice versa) which is demand-priced. And includes a reserved seat. I went for 4.99€ last month – twice (taking early morning trains).

llampx 4y ago
I thought you have to book a seat separately on Flixtrain, at least when I looked a couple of days ago to compare to the DB train.
- virtualritz 4y ago
  On FlixTrain you can book a seat separately if you want a specific seat. Otherwise you get an assigned seat included with the ticket for no extra charge. I.e. unlike DB there are no overcrowded FlixTrains where people have to sit on floors or stand. FlixTrains have a maximum occupancy dictated by number of seats.

LargoLasskhyfv 4y ago

Additionally: not coupled to a fixed train connection, but no seat reservation either. Could also use the Metronome from Hamburg to Bremen/Hannover/Uelzen, and go to Dortmund/Duisburg/Düsseldorf/Cologne/Bonn/Aachen via Münster/Osnabrück in the morning, using whichever REs are available. And doing whatever there. Though I'd be wary of the way back during the evenings, then you could be stranded for a few hours in the middle of nowhere. I remember a trip like this, initially from Dortmund to Berlin, starting around 23:00, having to switch in Hannover. Would have been stranded in Stendal around 02:30 to something like 4:30 or 5:00. Uncool. Just made it to Hamburg instead :-) Anyway, it remains to be seen how that develops. I'm expecting overload. Especially in times of Covid, I'd be (still) wary to use it. /me sings: I wan't to ride my bicycle, baaaicycle, baaaaicycle!