German Train Travel & Car Rental

Sorry to hear about your trip - hope things go well.

The quote you provided doesn't mention cancellation, only a change of schedule. Where did you learn there was a cancellation?

The 17.50E is standard cancellation for saver fare tickets. I would guess that major changes to a travel schedule might merit a complete refund - contact DB in that case. If "your planned travel connection" is roughly the same as the new schedule, perhaps not.

It doesn't even say which of the three trains (or all three) we needed
to use was cancelled.

How about giving us the trains (time and number) that you were scheduled to take.

Being unfamiliar with using German train system, I assumed because I no longer saw our scheduled journey on the BAHN site, that the train was "cancelled" when actually they said there were "schedule changes."

Because I plan to rebook this cancelled trip, I would really like to understand the system better.

Our train schedule which I booked online BAHN was Amsterdam to Arnhem (IC 3035) then Arnhem to Köln (ICE 123) then Köln to Koblenz (ICE 1025) and finally Koblenz to Boppard (MRB25345) I choose this journey because it had only 3 transfers and took 4:43 hours. All other trains had longer times, delays or more transfers.

When I looked at the new schedule the prices had gone up significantly for the same route and all had longer times and more transfers. Would I have to pay the new price even though it was their schedule change? Would I have to pay the €17.5 cancellation
fee for rebooking? I tried looking at the BAHN site in several places for answers, but with so many ticket options, it got rather confusing.

Being from the US would I be better booking through Rail Europe? They didn't seem to have as many options as the BAHN site.

Still digesting you itinerary.

They didn't seem to have as many options as the BAHN site.

They don't. RailEurope seems to concentrate on the highest priced, high speed trains and not all of those, and they charge more than the Bahn.

The Bahn has not cancelled all train connections between Amsterdam and Boppard; you can still get there that day, with only a small change. Only IC 3035, a Dutch train, has been cancelled, from Amsterdam to Utrecht. ICE, 123, on which you are scheduled from Arnheim to Köln leaves Amsterdam at 9:34. You could take it all the way from Amsterdam to Köln without changing trains. Or you could leave Amsterdam at 9:38 on IC 833, change at Utrecht, 10:09 - 10:21, and get to Arnheim at 10:59 and catch ICE 123 there at 11:37.

I'm sure if you choose one of those connections, the Bahn would not charge you for the change, since it was their fault. But even then, you would have to cancel that ticket with a 17,50€ penalty, so what is the point.

I've become a little disenchanted with the train system. I don't know if this is a rare occurrence, or something that frequently happens using the trains. I don't understand why I would be charged a penalty, if the train was "rescheduled." Hopefully, when I rebook it wouldn't happen again. If it does, I guess I would see my options when I arrived in Amsterdam. I would check with someone at the train station, but before the day we needed to travel on the train. What concerns me is the big jump in price and would they honor the price I paid at 118 Euros when I booked early? The prices are now 158 Euro and 178 Euro with longer trips or more connections, especially the regional one from Koblenz to Boppard.

Thank you for your assistance in trying to make sense in all of this.

Although they take longer than 4h:33, the current timings that start with ICE 123 have only 1 or 2 connections, which some travelers would prefer. It also doesn't sound like DB was asking you to re-book the tickets, but just to be aware of the schedule revision so you wouldn't miss your train. I don't know their minimum, but they might even send that message if the time just changed by a few minutes.

Amsterdam Centraal Su, 19.06.16 dep 09:34 ICE 123

Köln Hbf Su, 19.06.16 arr 13:17

Transfer time 36 min.

Köln Hbf Su, 19.06.16 dep 13:53 ICE 1025

Koblenz Hbf Su, 19.06.16 arr 14:46

Transfer time 6 min.

Koblenz Hbf Su, 19.06.16 dep 14:52

Boppard Hbf Su, 19.06.16 arr 15:06

Duration: 5:32; runs not every day, 19. Jun

OR

Amsterdam Centraal Su, 19.06.16 dep 09:34 ICE 123

Köln Hbf Su, 19.06.16 arr 13:17

Transfer time 39 min.

Köln Hbf Su, 19.06.16 dep 13:56 MRB25427

Boppard Hbf Su, 19.06.16 arr 16:06

Duration: 6:32; runs not every day, 19. Jun

I believe they would honor the ticket you already had and just substitute trains.

There is a clause in the AGB (Conditions of Carriage) for the Bahn that says if you have a train specific ticket and you miss that train due to a fault of the Bahn, they will put you on the next train to your destination. I inadvertently tested that clause in 2008. I had a SparPreis ticket from a station in the Harz to Karlsruhe including an IC from Göttingen to Karlsruhe. The regional train in the Harz waited too long at a station, and I missed the connection to the IC. I went to the counter. The clerk checked the computer to see that the regional train had indeed been late, then wrote the number of a later, more expensive ICE on the ticket, and I took that train to Karlsruhe.

The change in Koblenz is only 6 minutes, but it is a cross platform change, track 4 to 5 Süd (south). The train from Koblenz is only using the south end of the platform since it is a short regional train. If you don't have a seat reservation, try to sit near the front of the train from Köln, so you don't have to walk the length of the platform.

BTW, if you somehow missed the MRB to Boppard, you could take the next regional train, in no more than an hour. The regional trains on the Savings Fare tickets are not specific.

Thank you all for your advice. I feel a little more confident that I can get to our destination in a reasonable amount of time.

If you use the stopover function and the means of transport option to specify regional trains (RE) from Köln to Koblenz, you could stay as long as you wanted to in Köln and take any regional trains to Boppard. You would not be limited to the specific ICE from Köln to Koblenz.

I've become a little disenchanted with the train system
It is exactly as Lee explains: if you miss a connection due to a late earlier train, you'll be rebooked to the next one. I've had it a couple of times in Germany and the Czech Republic. The procedure is simple: you go to the information desk, you show your original tickets, and within five minutes you have a new ticket to continue the journey.