Is it reasonable to select a route in which the transfer time between trains is only 4 or 5 minutes? We are traveling with medium-size suitcases (not carry-on size).
What happens if we buy a ticket and can’t make the transfer in time? Is it better to just get reservations for the leg of the trip that is is in high demand and not for the other legs of the trip?
Thanks!
Where is the transfer? A reservation will not help you making a connection. If you miss the connection because of a late inbound train, then yes, you can get the ticket changed. If you are transferring between a national train (ICE, IC, EC train) to a regional train (RE, RB, IRE train) there is no need to have the ticket changed, as you can take any regional train from there on.
Some short transfers are designed in, where one train is meant to wait for the other. Places like Steinach bei Rothenburg, it is standard to have a short transfer. If it is a big station, that could be problematic.
Anyway, do tell us what transfer you are talking about
Hi,
Generally, if your 2nd leg is also on the ICE as your 1st leg, this second ICE will wait until your ICE pulls in.
Announcements to this effect are made, if you get on and wonder why your ICE has not left yet. Chances are that it is waiting for the iCE that is supposed to connect to it.
I would not place a bet that the following train will wait - especially not on routes with multiple connections a day. In general the journey planner of Deutsche Bahn would not offer a connection which is not doable but 6 minutes are a short time.
And I agree that the transfer details would help, especially which station and the track numbers.
Update: it might be useful to know that until end of April in 2019 only 80% of Deutsche Bahn long-distance trains were on-time plus 5 minutes (see red line in statistics tab "DB Fernverkehr"). Even with +15 minutes it is little bit over 90%. For a German these values are a clear no-go. Regional trains are more often on time (tab "DB Regio").
You will notice that as a train pulls into the station that folks are waiting at the door to get off. You need to do the same. If you wait to gather your bags until after the train arrives, you will likely be swimming upstream against boarding passengers. We have made a lot of tight connections but we travel light and normally ride regional trains. DBahn does not seem to sell connections that are unreasonably tough to make. Gary
Emphasizing what GaryMc says: you have to be ready, with bags in hand, to get off before the train stops. You can find maps of the rail stations online that will show you where tracks are in relation to each other. That will help ease your mind about getting one from one train to the other. There's no particular boarding process - just get on at any open door and find your way to your car & seat.
