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Bingen - Rüdesheim ferry & DB flexpris ticket question

Posted by (Salem, Oregon, USA ) on

My ever evolving travel plans have a new wrinkle. Plan A was to take the train from St. Goar to Mainz, have lunch, then move onward to Frankfurt airport for 5:30 p.m. flight. I just learned that friends who live near Rüdesheim are able to meet me for a short visit. So now Plan B is to take the train from St. Goar to Bingen and then take the ferry to Rüdesheim. After our visit my friends will take me to Mainz Hbf to get train to the airport.

My questions are:

  1. The train stops at both Bingen HBF and Bingen Stadt. Which stop is best for ferry purposes?
  2. Do the passenger ferry and car ferry depart from the same location (I'm looking here)? The car ferry has more frequent departures according to the schedule. What is the best walking route to get to the ferry from the train station?
  3. I have a flexpreis ticket from St. Goar to FRA. Is it true I can take any train on the day printed on the ticket, not just the specific train listed? Given the change in plans, I may want to leave earlier in the day.

Thanks in advance for answering my weirdly specific questions. Any alternatives I should consider are most welcome.

Posted by
19109 posts

There are rail lines on both sides of the Rhein to Wiesbaden/Mainz. You could also cross the Rhein from St. Goar to St. Goarshausen and take the train from St. Goarshausen along the right bank of the Rhein to Rüdesheim Bahnhof, but I can't say if your "flexipreis ticket would be valid on the other side of the river.

Look at Google Maps for Bingen. If you zoom close enough it will show you both ferry routes. Hover the mouse over the blue train station symbol between the ferry docks, and it will say Bingen (Rhein) Stadt Bahnhof. The passenger-only ferry leaves from the K-D dock (Hindenburganlage) which is down the river from, and closer (500 m) to, the Bingen Stadt Bahnhof. The car/passenger ferry leaves from the dock at Hafenstr., which is up the river from, and farther (850 m) from, the Bingen Stadt Bahnhof. Unless it was foggy, I think I would take the passenger-only ferry.

I don't think I have ever seen something specifically called a "flexpreis ticket". If you just mean a standard price, fully flexible ticket for a regional train, it should be valid for any regional train taking the same route that day.

Posted by
6663 posts

The St. Goar ferry is more frequent than the Bingen ferry. It will be a little simpler if you do as Lee has suggested and just cross with the ferry in St. Goar and walk north to the St. Goarshausen station - that way you have more choices for timing the river crossing to meet your southbound train in St. Goarshausen than you could in Bingen. Ferries leave St. Goar at :10, :30, and :50 minutes after every hour in the morning. It may take 5 minutes or so to cross and another 5+ minutes to walk north to the St. Goarshausen station. (You might want to pre-purchase your St. G'hausen- Frankfurt airport train ticket while you're in St. Goar so that you don't have to fuss with that at the St. Goarshausen station)

St. Goar ferry photo: http://www.schiffbilder.de/1024/personen-fahrzeugfaehre-loreley-vi-zwischen-18381.jpg
St. Goar ferry schedule: http://www.faehre-loreley.de/fs_fahrplan.html

From Bingen the passenger ferry leaves only once per hour from pier "Brücke 5" - see schedule here if interested: http://www.bingen-ruedesheimer.com/rheinfaehren/index.html

Also, you can buy just ONE train ticket if you use the St. Goar ferry - and the €20.20 DB ticket bought for St. Goarshausen - FRA allows you to stopover in R'heim for as long as you like. You'll probably want to refund your flex-preis ticket at a station somewhere - it's for the St. Goar-Bingen-Frankfurt route and slightly less expensive than the ticket from St. G'hausen, so I don't see how it could cover you on the other side of the river. I suppose you could buy the St. G'hausen-FRA ticket at the same time.

From Rüdesheim to FRA: you will then leave R'heim (12:53? 13:23? 13:53?) for the 1 hr, 20-min. trip to FRA (1 change of train in Wiesbaden or Mainz-Kastel depending, check schedules.)

Posted by
8955 posts

The trains on both sides of the Rhine accept the Deutsche Bahn tickets. Yes, they are 2 different private train companies, but your DB ticket is valid on them.

If your friends live close to Rüdesheim, have they considered taking the ferry over to meet you and then driving you to Mainz? This would save you time and the hassle of finding your way.

Posted by
2376 posts

Thanks all for the advice. I totally didn't zoom in far enough in Google to see the ferry routes - cool! I will consult my friends and see what will work best for them (and their little one...part of the planning challenge).

Posted by
19109 posts

"Yes, they are 2 different private train companies, but your DB ticket is valid on them."

Jo, in all fairness, I don't think that is quite correct. I don't think he could just use the ticket unchanged starting from St. Goarshausen, although he could exchange it the day before to the desired route. There would be no penatly, but he would have to pay the difference in the fares. (It cost a couple of euro more to go to the airport from St. Goarshausen than from St. Goar.)

See this paragraph from the Terms & Condition. "Detour: Possible if the point of departure and the destination station do not change. The difference between the flexible fare ... of the original route and the new route will be calculated.".

You're right there in Frankfurt. Can you call the Bahn (or visit a counter) and confirm that this is true? I'd hate to see him follow our advice and get fined.

Maybe it's not a problem. I've traveled along the Rhein a number of times and never had my ticket checked.

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