Smoking on trains in Germany?

I took a train from munich to vienna 4 years ago and do not recall anyone smoking....we would have noticed if someone was. I have never seen anyone smoking on trains in Europe in the past 8 trips I have been on. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't exhist, I have just never witnessed it.

Lisa, In my experience, all the trains in Germany that I've travelled in all had clear Rauchen verboten! signs in every car. There may be designated smoking areas in some cars, but I've never seen any. Smoking in the restaurant car is especially "verboten". That's not to say that I haven't seen smoking take place. One example is a trip that I took from Bacharach to Remagen. The train was filled from one end to the other with rowdy teenagers who were also having more than a few pints (it was during the World Cup). Some of them were smoking profusely, and I never saw a Conductor on the entire trip (it's probably wise that he didn't venture into that part of the train). I was offered some "liquid refreshment" and of course didn't want to insult them, so graciously accepted and made a toast to Germany (as I recall, the German team lost that day). During the trip, the festivities continued with them singing the team song and jumping up and down, and repeatedly striking the ceiling tiles in the car. The adventures continued later that day with severe rock slides and disruptions in both the rail network and roads in that area, but that's another story..... Cheers!

As I recall, smoking was banned on German trains around 2007. There had been "smoking cars" on some trains before that. Even when it was permitted it was not hard to avoid, so no worries.

No smoking on trains or buses as I am aware practically in all Europe.

Interesting to see the progression from a few "Nicht Raucher" cars to "Rauchen Verboten!" All happened a few short decades. ; )

Pamela: the same progression happened in the US. I remember when half the cars on each Amtrak train were smoking. Then there was just one smoking car, and then none. Trying to use Google to find out when this happened, I came across this US transit smoking restriction timeline: http://no-smoke.org/pdf/transportationchronology.pdf I also learned that the Auto Train is the only Amtrak train that still allows smoking, limited to specially ventilated spaces, and that's only because it makes no stops: http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/30438-auto-train-smoking/ Lisa: the gradual but inexorable progression of smoking restrictions in Europe has been one of the most pleasant changes since I started going there in the 1980's. I was particularly struck by the improvement in Spain and France; formerly, restaurants there were filled with toxic clouds, and now they're fine. As Ken says, other than rule-breakers (usually teenagers), you'll be hard pressed to find smoking on European trains these days.

Lisa, All trains in Germany are Nichtraucher, as pointed out. If one wants to light up, one may do that in the Raucherbereich (the red signs indicating where one may smoke) of the platform.

No smoking at all on German trains and that has been law since years, as others have pointed out. There is always the odd drunk here and there that will light a cigarette where they aren't supposed to.

This doesn't pertain to trains (the OP), but I have noticed recently that most accommodations in Germany seem to be Nichtraucher now. I think that if the room has a balcony, one can go outside on the balcony to smoke, and I notice the room description will say if there is a balcony (there are still a lot of smokers in Germany).

I do a lot of train travel in Germany and have never seen anyone light up. As others have said, it's banned throughout Europe. I heard rumors that people smoke anyway on trains in Romania and Serbia, but never saw that, either.

Thank you all for your input and experiences. I appreciate it.

Lee - I still encounter plenty of smoking hotel rooms in Germany, although there are more smoke-free properties total, probably. I would not be surprised if it gradually gets harder and harder to find smoking rooms, however.