My wife and I are traveling from Freiburg im Breisgau to Munich on Friday 9 August. My search on the DB site shows ICE trains leaving every hour and a very quick transfer in either Mannheim or Karlsruhe. With just 6 or 7 minutes to switch trains, should we book separately and build in an hour or so of safe transfer time ? Or will the second train wait for the first if we book the trip on one ticket? Thanks in advance for all your advice and expertise.
Posted by
Sweden
6469 posts
If the first train is late and you miss the second train, your ticket is valid for the next train to Munich. So no need to complicate things.
Posted by
Berlin
2335 posts
Mannheim with 12 tracks and Karlsruhe with 14 tracks are large train stations with some way to go to change trains. Ensure prior journey you know the station plans (Mannheim, Karlsruhe).
If you miss the connection train although the incoming train was on time, it can become an issue. Normally the train staff is very understanding situations and handle issues customer-oriented but avoiding is better than solving.
Be informed that only 62.9 % of DB long-distance trains were on time in January (source). "On-time" means in their logic up to 6 minutes late. Mannheim is one end of the most frequented train tracks in Germany between Frankfurt and Mannheim.
Posted by
OP
Union NJ USA
63 posts
Thanks. This is just the kind of info I need!
Posted by
Wengen
1782 posts
Trains are slow enough already. The last thing I need is railways forcing one to waste time hanging around a station. So do take the short connection. Do not worry about them too much. Stepping of one train and stepping on another does not take a lot of time and you only need to be on board 1 second before departure.
Train transfers should be short.
So for 3 minutes transfer: Excellent.
7 minute? OK
15 minutes? You're pushing it
30 minutes? Why are you wasting my time? Learn how to make timetables, for goodness sake...
Posted by
Green Bay
20254 posts
Of course German train punctuality ain't what is used to be. Its not Switzerland.
August 9 is too far out for them to have platform information, but if I look at Friday, March 1, for Mannheim, you are always going from Track 2 or 3 to 5. That means you will have to use the under passage to get between platforms, but they are next to each other. There are escalators in the middle of the platform between sections C & D, and an elevator all the way at the end in section A. Station plan.
https://www.bahnhof.de/downloads/station-plans/3925.pdf
It is probably a good assumption that the platform information will not change much. Check again when you get closer to your departure date.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19113 posts
When changing trains, the stairs to the platforms are about 60 feet or 2 walking minutes apart. The biggest expenditure of time is getting off the train and down the stair, then up the next stairs and to the train. A three platform change doesn't take much longer than a one platform change. (Of course, the easiest change is a same platform change.)
The thing I always tell people who are changing trains in a station is, this is not an aircraft, you are not required to stay in your seat until the train comes to a stop in the station. Know when you are coming to your scheduled station (it's often announced on the train's PA system). Before your stop, get up, gather your belongings, and proceed to the door. Be ready to get off when the trains stops. The people on the platform will let you get off before they start to board. If you wait to get up until the train stops, you will be like a salmon swimming upstream against the current of all the people getting on, looking for a seat.
When the train stops, get off, locate the stairs (if you are changing platforms) and proceed directly there. Don't hesitate, stay with the herd. You might want to take a second to check the schedule board posted on the platform. Departures are on mustard colored sheets. The schedule is for the whole station, not just your platform. Platform numbers are shown on the schedules.
The schedules are printed long in advance. If you already know the scheduled track number from the Bahn website, it probably hasn't changed. Train numbers and destinations are shown on a digital display above the tracks. Check to make sure the scheduled track hasn't changed. That only happened to me once, 35 years ago; not since.
Posted by
Seattle
37 posts
When you are inputing info in the DB website, you can change the transfer time, if that helps. The default is "normal", whatever that means. You can select 10 minutes or longer if that feels safer.
Posted by
Green Bay
20254 posts
Of course usually that means they just put you on a later train, or give you a whole different route that takes longer and may cost more. If you just take standard, if you miss it, you go on the next train anyway. But it is useful to look at the connecting track location, sometimes it is a cross-platform, which is as easy as it gets.