Helena Handbaskets

Specifically, the ticket window at the Hauptbahnhof in Saarbruecken, if that makes any difference. Would I be able to buy tickets there on a Sunday afternoon (about 4 pm), or would it be closed? If it's likely to be closed, would I be able to buy tickets on a regional train (to Landstuhl) onboard?

david7031

According to the German Rail web site (http://www.bahn.de/regional/view/saa...saarland.shtml), the ticket office in Saarbrücken is open on Sundays from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. There are also ticket machines.

I don't know whether you can buy tickets on board local trains in Saarland, but I do know that you cannot do so in Baden-Württemberg or Bavaria (with a few exceptions), so I would advise you to buy your ticket before boarding.

Aviatrix

The rule in Germany used to be that you could buy tickets on the train, without paying a surcharge, if your departure station was unmanned. I remember travelling on some rural lines where paying on board was the norm.

These days most stations have ticket machines so I don't know if that rule still exists.

SmilingBoy

Just use the semi-intuitive touch screen ticket machines. You can get almost any ticket, change the language to English and pay by Visa or Mastercard.

SmilingBoy.

stut

Yes, I remember this too, particularly around the Black Forest. The rule (similar to other European countries' rules) was that if your departure station was unmanned, you could buy a ticket on board, but that you had to approach the guard before he approached you.

Quite how this is enforced, I'm unsure.

etch5895

I've had some issues with several machines not wanting to accept my credit cards. Also, I don't think you can buy tickets for journeys far outside of Germany. I was able to buy a Munich-Salzberg ticket via the machine, but not a Berlin-Poznan ticket. I'm not sure if the OBB and DB have some kind of deal that DB and the Polish rail don't?

Flying Lawyer

Salzburg is considered to be a German station for trains coming from Germany and an Austrian station for trains coming from Austria. You have a similar situation in Kufstein.

The machines want to accept your CC but you need to be very nice with these machines. It takes some practice to make them sell you a ticket.

Flying Lawyer

It differs from state to state. The regional traffic is under control of the 16 states and there are no federal rules. In most states you have to have a ticket at least bought from the machines.

SmilingBoy

Wirelessly posted (Blackberry 7290: BlackBerry8700/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/120)

Exactly: you need to insert the card, leave it in there for a bit, and then remove it, but not too fast and not too slow or something similar...

SmilingBoy.

Flying Lawyer

Just think of totally different situations: Not to fast and not to slow and a bit of feeling and emotion....

MHG

The rule still exists but with the additional requirement to buy an "initial" ticket from a vending machine if there´s no ticket counter availlable or if it´s closed at that time. If there´s no vending machine (can´t imagine any railway stop in Germany without one) then you´re supposed to report to the train guard immediately after boarding the train.
Otherwise one is subject to pay the "service charge".

It is advisable to have Euro in cash to pay for the ticket if using a ticket vending machine as those located at small stations/stops mostly DO NOT ACCEPT ANY CREDIT CARDS (they usually accept only EC debitcards which foreigners barely hold).
It´s wise not to rely on CC acceptance at vending machines in Germany at all - regardless where you are - CC´s are not commonly used for that purpose in Germany)

Nevertheless you will not have any problems at Saarbrücken Hbf to get your ticket since Saarbrücken Hbf is sort of "major" station...
If you need to buy your ticket at the vending machine there´s a list of "surrounding" places on it. And Landstuhl is most certainly listed there anyway because it´s within a radius of ca. 50Km´s from Saarbrücken. Just enter the corresponding numbercode shown on the front side (4-digits i think) and choose adult or child fare and pay... That´s it !

etch5895

I gave the machine a nice, slow kiss while putting the card in, but all that happened was the Polizei chasing me out of the Bahnhof yelling something about a deviant?

tom tulpe

BEWARE there are major renovation works at Saarbruecken Hauptbahnhof right now. The ticket office has been relocated to the mall across the station forecourt (behind the tram stop, next to McDonalds, 2 mins walk as you leave the station). But there are plenty ticket machines, both the long-dinstance (touchscreen + credit card) and regional (buttons + cash) variety.

Tom

nixande

have you tried buying the ticket online through bahn.de and take the print out with you?

Helena Handbaskets

Thanks for the warning. I was able to use the touchscreen machine for the tickets, which proved to be very useful practice for later in the week when I had to get tickets from a similar machine with only a minute or so to spare.

Good thing I did, too, because although I had been advised that tickets are almost never checked on German trains, I had my tickets checked on all three of the trips I took on German trains this past week.