Sean

This might be too general but can one generally get train tickets say
an hour before taking off or should you always book ahead when you
can? Or does it totally depend on where you are going to/from?

I need to travel from Amsterdam to Hannover mid august and it looks
like there are 3 or 4 trains leaving between 8 and 12 in the morning,
so I assume I'll be ok. the order form for the sight (bahn.de) is all
in German so I'd rather not order now. Any general rules to go by?


thanks,
Sean

John Bermont

Sean

Just buy your ticket with enough time to run up the stairs to the
platform and jump on before they close the door. Worst case - wait an
hour for the next train.

See my page http://www.enjoy-europe.com/hte/chap17/rail.htm for tips on
using the trains.

John Bermont

sean wrote:
    > This might be too general but can one generally get train tickets say
    > an hour before taking off or should you always book ahead when you
    > can? Or does it totally depend on where you are going to/from?
    >
    > I need to travel from Amsterdam to Hannover mid august and it looks
    > like there are 3 or 4 trains leaving between 8 and 12 in the morning,
    > so I assume I'll be ok. the order form for the sight (bahn.de) is all
    > in German so I'd rather not order now. Any general rules to go by?
    >
    >
    > thanks,
    > Sean

Derek F

Most countries are OK but we found problems in Norway when we had a Scanrail
pass. On most long distance trains a seat reservation was needed and as it
was the peak Norwegian holiday season we found that we could not get north
of Tronheim as the two train a day route was booked up. Another point there
was that you have to sit in the actual seat that you reserved even when
there are spare seats. It seems that they like to be able to identify
passengers if there is a disaster!
Derek.
"John Bermont" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Sean
    > Just buy your ticket with enough time to run up the stairs to the
    > platform and jump on before they close the door. Worst case - wait an
    > hour for the next train.
    > See my page http://www.enjoy-europe.com/hte/chap17/rail.htm for tips on
    > using the trains.
    > John Bermont
    > sean wrote:
    > > This might be too general but can one generally get train tickets say
    > > an hour before taking off or should you always book ahead when you
    > > can? Or does it totally depend on where you are going to/from?
    > >
    > > I need to travel from Amsterdam to Hannover mid august and it looks
    > > like there are 3 or 4 trains leaving between 8 and 12 in the morning,
    > > so I assume I'll be ok. the order form for the sight (bahn.de) is all
    > > in German so I'd rather not order now. Any general rules to go by?
    > >
    > >
    > > thanks,
    > > Sean

Martin Stock

"sean" <[email protected]> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:[email protected]...
    > This might be too general but can one generally get train tickets say
    > an hour before taking off or should you always book ahead when you
    > can? Or does it totally depend on where you are going to/from?
An hour before the train leaves is plenty of time.
Of course you have to consider that sometimes there are longer queues at the
desks for international tickets.
And these tickets are not sold at ticket machines.
Most trains (except of few trains like the French TGVs where reservation is
compulsory) will always allow you to board the train. Only if the train is
full and you've not reserved a seat you may end up sitting on the floor.
In the case of Amsterdam - Hannover this risk is low.

I'm more the type of "... oh - isn't this the sound of train doors opening?
Shit - why can this machine print the ticket not a bit faster?"

    > I need to travel from Amsterdam to Hannover mid august and it looks
    > like there are 3 or 4 trains leaving between 8 and 12 in the morning,
    > so I assume I'll be ok. the order form for the sight (bahn.de) is all
    > in German so I'd rather not order now. Any general rules to go by?
DB is nearly perfect. They ship the tickets virtually to every country in
the world. Inner German tickets can be even printed out at home on your PC
until 1 hour before departure if you have a credit card.
Nearly ... that people not only want to use their timetable (which is
available in English, French and Italian) for inquiries, but that they may
even dare to order a ticket seems to be beyond DB's imagination.

Krist

Martin Stock wrote:
    > "sean" <[email protected]> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
    > news:[email protected]...
    >
    >>This might be too general but can one generally get train tickets say
    >>an hour before taking off or should you always book ahead when you
    >>can? Or does it totally depend on where you are going to/from?
    >
    > An hour before the train leaves is plenty of time.
    > Of course you have to consider that sometimes there are longer queues at the
    > desks for international tickets.

Yes, but often people whose trains are leaving within an hour queue up
in their own queue, and can get their tickets faster. I once ordered a
Thalys ticket in Rotterdam by just pointing at the train (which was
already in the station...). I made it on that train without problem.
And when your request is simple, like a ticket to a big city across the
border you can often buy your tickets at the domestic ticket offices.
For example, in Switzerland you can get most international tickets from
the domestic ticket windows, but you usually can't get reservations there.
As a last resort, just hop on the train, and buy your ticket from the
conductor...

Last summer I travelled from Split to Bern. I started out carrying a
domestic ticket Split - Zagreb, and an international ticket Zager -
Ljubljana. The reason was that I wasn't sure that I'd make my conenction
in Zagreb, and might have to take the next train to Ljubljana. If I made
my connection the fasted rout to Bern would be via Trieste in Italy, if
I didn't the fasted would suddenly become a routing via Austria. I
wanted my options open.

I made my connection in Zagreb (my train was late, but so was the other,
or they held the connection, I don't know) with about 10 seconds to
spare, and then bought a ticket to Trieste in Ljublijana during my 40
min. layover there. Then during my on hour layover in Trieste I bought
my ticket to Bern (and my Cisalpino reservation...) Al in all I beat the
fasted route suggested by the DB site by about three hours... :-)

Had I missed my conenction in Zagreb then the next train would have been
an EC to Austria an hour or so later. I'd have bought Ljublijana -
Villach in Zagreb, and Villach - Bern in Austria then...

I rarely buy tickets in advance. This is the main reason why I still
prefer trains to planes, as with planes you really need to plan ahead to
much...

Greetings,

--
Krist

Alan Harrison

"Krist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

    > As a last resort, just hop on the train, and buy your ticket from the
    > conductor...

But before doing so, ensure that this is acceptable for that country and
that particular train.

In Britain, for example, you can buy your ticket on the train on the Gatwick
Express with no penalty, but many other trains, especially commuter trains
in major conurbations, are subject to penalty fares for passengers found
without a ticket.

Alan Harrison

Mark Hewitt

"Derek F" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Most countries are OK but we found problems in Norway when we had a
Scanrail
    > pass. On most long distance trains a seat reservation was needed and as
it
    > was the peak Norwegian holiday season we found that we could not get north
    > of Tronheim as the two train a day route was booked up. Another point
there
    > was that you have to sit in the actual seat that you reserved even when
    > there are spare seats. It seems that they like to be able to identify
    > passengers if there is a disaster!

Thats a rediculous rule. Like all things there has to be a balance. I would
say letting people move seat is a much bigger advantage than being able to
identify charred remains which would have moved in the crash anyway..

Tony Day

"Alan Harrison" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Krist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > As a last resort, just hop on the train, and buy your ticket from the
    > > conductor...
    > But before doing so, ensure that this is acceptable for that country and
    > that particular train.
    > In Britain, for example, you can buy your ticket on the train on the
Gatwick
    > Express with no penalty, but many other trains, especially commuter trains
    > in major conurbations, are subject to penalty fares for passengers found
    > without a ticket.
    > Alan Harrison

It is essential in some countries / on some trains (and a good idea on all -
and will probably avoid a penalty anywhere) to seek out the conductor as
soon as you board, rather than wait for him/her to find ticketless you.

Tony

Krist

Alan Harrison wrote:
    > "Krist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    >
    >
    >>As a last resort, just hop on the train, and buy your ticket from the
    >>conductor...
    >
    >
    > But before doing so, ensure that this is acceptable for that country and
    > that particular train.

It is very different if you allready have a ticket for part of your
trip. Then you are not a "passenger without a ticket", but a "passenger
that wasn't able to get a ticket for the full trip for some reason".

For example: SBB only sells tickets to major destinations in Belgium.
Last time I needed to be in a small place. So I bought a ticket to a
nearby big town (on the route), and bought the remaining part on the
train from the conductor without a penalty.

Even then many railways will not apply a "penalty" if you board a train
without a ticket and go the the conductor immediately and offer to buy
a ticket. You might be charged extra though.

The penalties for fare dodgers only apply if you are cought dodging the
fare... And that is not the same thing as boarding without a fare.

--
Krist

Krist

Derek F wrote:
    > Another point there
    > was that you have to sit in the actual seat that you reserved even when
    > there are spare seats. It seems that they like to be able to identify
    > passengers if there is a disaster!

More likely to make it easier for the conductor to see who is travelling
beyond the validity of their ticket.

--
Krist

Mark Hewitt

"Krist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Alan Harrison wrote:
    > > "Krist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > > news:[email protected]...
    > >
    > Even then many railways will not apply a "penalty" if you board a train
    > without a ticket and go the the conductor immediately and offer to buy
    > a ticket. You might be charged extra though.
    > The penalties for fare dodgers only apply if you are cought dodging the
    > fare... And that is not the same thing as boarding without a fare.

Mainline services in the UK do not apply a penalty if you purchase a ticket
on the train. However no discounts will be given, you must pay the full
single fare.

What is unclear however is that many times I board a train and then
subsequently get off at my destination without a gripper having come around
to sell/check tickets. What happens if there is then a ticket inspection at
my destination station?

?Ystein

"Derek F" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > Most countries are OK but we found problems in Norway

True! Bus is often a better alternative in Norway. The prices are much
lower, there are often more buses than train per day, you can rech far
more destinations by bus than by train, you don't need a seat
reservation and many bus routs set up an extra bus if the the first is
full booked. Generally the standard is high on Norwegian long distance
buses.

Check out the bus alternative for other countries as well, you might
get a nice suprise!

Øystein

Tony Day

"Krist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Derek F wrote:
    > > Another point there
    > > was that you have to sit in the actual seat that you reserved even when
    > > there are spare seats. It seems that they like to be able to identify
    > > passengers if there is a disaster!
    > More likely to make it easier for the conductor to see who is travelling
    > beyond the validity of their ticket.

Or to see who hasn't shown up, so that seats can be used by those without
reservations? (seemed to be what was happening in Spain one time).

Tony

Hatunen

On Tue, 5 Aug 2003 18:37:19 +0100, "Derek F"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >"Øystein" <[email protected]> wrote in message

    >> Check out the bus alternative for other countries as well, you might
    >> get a nice suprise!
    >Personally I don't like bus travel. In America though I normally by travel
    >by Greyhound as Amtrak routes do not connect up. We wanted to go from
    >Niagara to Burlington,Vermont ( no great distance as the eagle flies) To do
    >it we had to take the train to NYC, stay the night and then get a train to
    >Burlington.
    >Derek.

Buses in Europe are a lot nicer to travel on than Greyhound.


************* DAVE HATUNEN ([email protected]) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Derek F

"Mark Hewitt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Derek F" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > Most countries are OK but we found problems in Norway when we had a
    > Scanrail
    > > pass. On most long distance trains a seat reservation was needed and as
    > it
    > > was the peak Norwegian holiday season we found that we could not get
north
    > > of Tronheim as the two train a day route was booked up. Another point
    > there
    > > was that you have to sit in the actual seat that you reserved even when
    > > there are spare seats. It seems that they like to be able to identify
    > > passengers if there is a disaster!
    > Thats a rediculous rule. Like all things there has to be a balance. I
would
    > say letting people move seat is a much bigger advantage than being able to
    > identify charred remains which would have moved in the crash anyway..
As seats did not have reservation tickets on them we were often asked to
move by later arriving passengers when we had just sat anywhere. Conductors
were more interested in your reserved seat number than the fact that you
actually had a ticket to travel.You even have to book places for your bikes
on Norwegian trains as spaces are very limited. Two Swiss girls were told by
the conductor that if any people with bike bookings turned up they would
have to get off the train with their bikes.
Derek.