Are train conductors friendly?

They are people. Some are friendly, some are not. There is no general rule about how they are, though the ones I have had contact with were OK. Of course, in some places they may not speak English.

What country are you asking about? In Italy, i would say the language barrier is more of an issue than friendliness, I've never encountered an English-speaking Trenitalia staff member even to/from the most touristy cities. If you can speak a little Italian and are just asking a simple question like confirming with them (before getting on) that a certain train is going to a certain place, they have always given an answer to me. Although they may not be any more likely to speak English, I've always enjoyed trying to ask other locals on the train, usually they are extremely friendly and more than happy to help! My limited experiences in Northern Europe - Brussels to Amsterdam, within Belgium, and throughout Sweden and Denmark, English is much much more widely spoken (in general, not just by train staff), and by my memory they were very friendly.

Sorry to say, we've never encountered a friendly one in 6, 1-2 month trips to Europe traveling all over by train. It must be a miserable job.

Thanks for the info....and Germany is where we will be "railing" and don't hardly speak it....got some basic survival phrase books from RS though.

Our experience is a little different. We have encountered some very friendly and helpful conductors. More so in Germany and norther Europe but we need more help there. Every the Italians conductors have been good except for those on commuter runs and the Leonard Express.

Mark, I've found the Conductors to be somewhat "business like" for the most part, but quite pleasant. As the others have mentioned, there may be more of an issue with their English-language skills. Some that I've encountered were fine asking for tickets, but answering questions would have been a different matter. In some cases, there may also be a time issue. They sometimes seem a bit rushed, possibly as they have to get through the train and check tickets before the next stop. Cheers!

We had the most delightful conductor on the train from Berlin to Paris. He couldn't do enough for us. Apologised for not having any English papers. Kept us fed with nibblies and drinks. We still talk about him. Every time he asked us 'Everything Nice, Everything Beautiful'? in his lovely German accent.
Just depends on the personality of the individual.

Almost every German conductor speaks English. In my experience, they are "business polite" without being overly friendly. Unless you have the wrong ticket or are sitting a reserved seat, your interaction with them is likely to be minimal.

I have found the conducters on the German trains to be fairly friendly and helpful. Depends on how full the train is too. I have often taken trains without ever having the conducter even come by to check tickets. Especially, the small, regional trains may not have a ticket checker. Just as a guess, I would imagine that if you want a job with the Deutsche Bahn that involves interaction with guests, they are going to make sure that English is one of your languages, as well as some other ones, like French or Spanish or Italian.

We took the ICE to Paris last weekend from Germany. All the conductors were pleasant. There were two ticket stampers who were exceptionally friendly, joking around with the kids who were playing cards, it was really cute.

I've been on German trains quite a bit and have never encountered a rude conductor. Business friendly would certainly be an accurate term.

We just reurned from a trip that included trains in Poland, CZ, and Austria, and Germany. Most rides were in Germany. Everyone was friendly enough and willing to help as far as English could carry them. In Germany the conductors and the vendors were amiable and patient; on one ride the snack vendor was working a crowd of 30 German seniors like a comedy club stand-up the entire trip.

Perhaps I should actually be starting a new topic, entitled "Good Conductor Stories." But, briefly, there was the French conductor who just accepted my apology and did not fine me when I neglected to validate my ticket before boarding. Also, the young French conductor who thought about where I might be going, and told me the train would pause in Dijon, but then go on to Beaune. I.e., I would not have to change trains with my bicycle, as the schedule seemed to indicate. Can't remember any unhelpful conductors, just more like these two.

My experience is that it's a mixed bag, some are friendly, some are all business, some are rude.....and everything else in between:) In general I've found the Swiss Rail staff to be the most helpful overall. But one of the friendliest (and strangest) encounters was on a DB train between Munich and Frankfurt. The conductor was an Argentine immigrant, and we got to talking about his life and how he ended up in Germany etc. He sat down next me and had a pleasant conversation for the next two hours:) The rudest encounter happened just a couple of weeks ago aboard a Thalys train. I splurged for first-class tickets, and hopped on the train at Brussels. When the conductor arrived at our seats, he started lecturing us about how this is the car is for first class customers only, and the train requires reservations and we'll be asked to leave the train at the next stop!!! At no time did he actually ask us for our tickets he just assumed we were stowaways or something:) I took the e-tickets out of my pocket and handed it to him, he then started yelling at me because I folded the tickets, and he couldn't scan them (the creases weren't along the bar codes), he finally left and mumbled something about not getting frequent flier miles or something?? The funniest part was that I never said a word to him during the entire tantrum. I shudder to think what it was like in second class;)

What's behind the question, Mark? Its quite an unusual question. Is it as important to you that other service people such as desk clerks or waiters are friendly?

I find them in general quite friendly, although there are always a few that can be less friendly. But you should be aware that they have a lot of tasks to do when the train is on its way, and therefore they often do not have time for questions that require lenghty answer or for general chit-chat. Between each stop, they are required to check tickets of all passengers who boarded at the previous stop, including informing them about connecting trains etc. At all stations, they are required to go out on the platform and stand by the door since they are in charge of giving signal to the engineer when to close the doors. So that is a lot of running back and forth, and on a full train, they are actually quite busy.

LOL @ Question, Mark......

Sometime you get the elevator & sometimes you get the shaft. In general, we find them to all be decent. English is almost always spoken in German, Belgium & Netherlands trains. A strange version of English is spoken on all the UK trains. Don't expect English on Spainish or Italian trains( maybe 30% of the time ), but remember that a smile goes a l o n g way.

I'm with Nigel on this one. It makes more sense to ask if they're efficient and polite. But then I don't want to be instant BFF with my waitstaff, either.

I don't think they are rude but not necessarily friendly (some could be described as gruff). Generally, they are doing their jobs and will use the minimum time necessary to answer your question rather than engage in a conversation.

On average, I have been surprised at how nice and helpful they are. I think though having your tickets and/or reservations in hand and having tried to answer your own question will often get a more helpful reply than just being helpless and unorganized. Just like here.

If your definition of friendly is the plastic ear-to-ear smile adopted by most American service, then you might be disappointed. Just don't assume that every conductor speaks English and launch into your questions right away - if you don't speak the local language, it would be polite to ask the conductor if they speak English first. If the conductor doesn't speak English, chances are, someone sitting nearby does and will help to translate (at least this was the case for me). My only less-than-stellar experience with a train conductor was on a train ride straight from my inbound flight to Amsterdam. I was dazed from the long flight/time difference/seeing he had a gun, and the French-speaking conductor tried to accuse me of having been to a coffee shop. :-P

Simply asking because of time constraints and the language barrier issue.....just trying to make our experience as smooth as possible and then a little panick starts to creep in when thinking about some would-be obstacles. Thank you much! Mark