Taking advantage of DB's stops feature
Oct 11, 2018, 5:54 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NW London and NW Sydney
Programs: BA Diamond, Hilton Bronze, A3 Diamond, IHG *G
Posts: 6,344
Taking advantage of DB's stops feature
I need to take a train from Duesseldorf to Stuttgart. Ordinarily it would be all on an ICE and there would be no flexibility with a discounted ticket.
If I add stopovers at Kamen (necessary to avoid being put on ICE) and Wuppertal, I am offered a schedule of RB/RE services from Duesseldorf to Koeln, where I pick up the ICE for the rest of the journey. The price is the same.
But instead of going on the direct line taken by IC trains, it routes me on a big loop around the Ruhr, initially towards Duisburg (i.e. heading off in the opposite direction to Stuttgart) then Dortmund and Hagen.
From my understanding, I have to take the specific ICE train from Koeln to Stuttgart. Are there any restrictions on the local services, do I need to follow the suggested itinerary?
Can I break my journey as often as I like and stop off at any station? If yes, this would be a big saving as I want to go to some of these towns and cities in the morning-afternoon before heading to Stuttgart in the evening. I would otherwise need to get a VRR day ticket in addition to the long-distance train ticket.
What would the ticket say and how would an inspector decide whether I am off-route?
Can I take buses or trams if they are heading in the correct direction? One of the RE trains passes through Oberbarmen-Wuppertal Hbf-Vohwinkel. Can I take the Schwebebahn instead?
If I add stopovers at Kamen (necessary to avoid being put on ICE) and Wuppertal, I am offered a schedule of RB/RE services from Duesseldorf to Koeln, where I pick up the ICE for the rest of the journey. The price is the same.
But instead of going on the direct line taken by IC trains, it routes me on a big loop around the Ruhr, initially towards Duisburg (i.e. heading off in the opposite direction to Stuttgart) then Dortmund and Hagen.
From my understanding, I have to take the specific ICE train from Koeln to Stuttgart. Are there any restrictions on the local services, do I need to follow the suggested itinerary?
Can I break my journey as often as I like and stop off at any station? If yes, this would be a big saving as I want to go to some of these towns and cities in the morning-afternoon before heading to Stuttgart in the evening. I would otherwise need to get a VRR day ticket in addition to the long-distance train ticket.
What would the ticket say and how would an inspector decide whether I am off-route?
Can I take buses or trams if they are heading in the correct direction? One of the RE trains passes through Oberbarmen-Wuppertal Hbf-Vohwinkel. Can I take the Schwebebahn instead?
Oct 16, 2018, 5:48 am
#2
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: PEK
Programs: A3*G, UA Gold EY Silver
Posts: 8,958
You may want to look into a landesticket, which lets you travel an area on local trains for a low price.
Also- bahn.de has an advance search feature where you exclude ICE trains from the search.
Also- bahn.de has an advance search feature where you exclude ICE trains from the search.
Oct 22, 2018, 8:20 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Montreux CH
Programs: FB Platinum, M&M FTL, BA Blue
Posts: 11,622
Sometimes, just sometimes, when I put in a stop at Frankfurt Flughafen, but with no time spent at the stop, I get a much better and lower price. It’s worth playing around with stopovers, especially at the red and blue machines in the stations if you have time. Avoid evening connections, DB has become extremely unreliable.
Oct 24, 2018, 11:01 am
#4
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 55,189
Gotta love those suspension trains.
Oct 24, 2018, 12:14 pm
#5
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Montreux CH
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Posts: 11,622
That’s the Schwebebahn, where the railcar hangs underneath the line along which it runs. Probably better known as a “suspension railway”. There is also one in Dresden and one linking Düsseldorf airport to the airport train station, called the SkyTrain.
