Germany train tickets checked?

lily, yes it is true, sometimes conductors are busy, rushed or miss a ticket check. That is however, a rare event. Also, conductors change over in shifts periodically in train journeys, so the new people check again, often everyone. Do not travel without tickets, valid for your journey. Fines, expulsion from trains at next stops, or transit police may be involved. It is not worth the risk. A many-rail traveled traveler, larry from springfield.

On ten trains, I had my ticket checked nine times while in Germany.

The DB is pretty thorough when comes to checking tickets. In my experience, if you nod-off they will not hesitate to wake you up in order to check your ticket. Keep in mind that operating trains isn't cheap, it's best to pay your fair share.

(I apologize in advance if this post is in anyway "negative")

Last summer in Germany we had our tickets checked on every train we took and had a spot check for tickets on the Berlin subway. The guy kept checking tickets until he found someone without their ticket and he took her off the subway. We asked a German friend if he tried to ride without a ticket. He said it wasn't worth the hastle they put you through when you are caught. Buy a ticket and have peace of mind.

I'll put in another "YES."
They have checked for tickets every time I took the train.

It seems to depend a lot on the country and the type of train. I have seldom had tickets checked in Italy on the slower trains (IR & IC) but always on the faster trains everywhere in Europe and nearly always in Germany on all trains.

In Germany, tickets for most Bahn trains (ICE/IC/EC/RE/RB) are cancelled by the conductor on the train. He stamps them with the date and time so that they cannot be used again. On most of these trains your ticket will be checked.

However, most tickets in the local transit districts (Verkehrsverbünde) are only spot-checked. In these districts, the ticket are supposed to be "cancelled" by the passenger in special machines in the station before boarding. If you are spot-checked and your ticket is not properly cancelled, you can be fined. These tickets have the words "Hier entwerten" printed on one end where the ticket goes into the machine.

Lee is right. When we were on ICE and IC trains, the conductor checked tickets frequently (pretty much after every stop). One conductor remembered he had checked our tickets and only smiled when passing, the others sometimes had to be reminded. On the S-Bahn in Berlin, no-one regularly checked, but we were spot-checked one afternoon. He was in civillian clothes, and he moved FAST through the train.

Your experience in Italy is what we experienced as well. There doesn't seem to be enough conductors to do the job. If you happen to travel in Switzerland, they do check for tickets. For us, with Swiss Passes, they even asked for our passports to compare the signature on the passport with the signature on the pass.

I used to take the train between Frankfurt and Cologne all the time, and it often happened that my ticket would not be checked.

In some cities, you do not have to validate your ticket in a machine. Like Berlin or Frankfurt. It is all on the honor system. 40 € fine if you do not have a ticket. Also on buses, after 20:00 you need to get on in the front of the bus and show your ticket to the driver. This is often true of buses in small towns too, all day long.