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Are summer schedules already loaded on the German rail site?

I just read a previous post about a traveller experiencing problems booking ahead on Rail Europe's website due to the summer schedules not being loaded yet. Having planned my July/August itinerary using the German rail site(http://www.bahn.de) exclusively, might I run into similar problems with unavailable/changed schedules? Please help me before I panic...

Additionally, since Rail Europe seems to be a bit of a money-grubbing ticket seller, what is the best place to purchase my rail pass (and a few point to point tickets)?

Posted by
19092 posts

Stacey, actually, RailEurope is pretty competitive with railpasses. They have to be because Eurail lets lots of people sell them. However, point-point tickets are not so easy to get from the U.S. and French Rail, which owns RailEurope has given them a virtual monopoly on French ones, so they don't have to be competitive.

As for railpasses, you should consider getting them here. Rick gives a lot of bennies (guides, discounts) with passes from here.

By the way, I believe the schedule on the Bahn website is updated. At least I can find schedules for July and they appear to be offering online tickets after mid-June as well.

Posted by
60 posts

Thanks for the excellent purchasing advice, Lee. Much appreciated!

Does anyone have info on my original question?

Posted by
19092 posts

I addressed that above, but to add to that, I was able to find, as of few days ago, that the schedule from Munich to Füssen will change as of June 13, so that looks like an update.

Posted by
8700 posts

The Bahn site is quick to load new timetables for trains within Germany, but it's at the mercy of the other countries' national rail companies as to when it can load their timetables. For example, it can't load new timetables for trains solely within Italy until Trenitalia has updated its Web site. Since Trenitalia is always slow in doing this, as of today it's possible that the timetables you'll find on the Bahn site for travel in Italy are not up to date beyond 12 June. New timetables will go into effect on 13 June. Enter a date on the Trenitalia site for travel within Italy before 12 June and you should get lots of choices. Then enter a date beyond 13 June for the same route. If you get the same full range of choices, then Trenitalia has updated it timetables--at least for that route. If you get limited choices, then Trenitalia's updates are still in progress. However, the new timetables are likely to vary by only a few minutes, if at all.

Posted by
60 posts

Thanks, Lee and Tim. I think I am reassured. I'll just make sure to double-check schedules closer to my departure date in case there are any major summer changes. (I am not travelling in Italy, so thankfully I won't worry about that info--but I do know people who are planning on using Italian trains so I will be sure to pass on that helpful information.)

Posted by
8700 posts

You're welcome, Stacey.

One more thing to know about the Trenitalia site. For domestic routes the site only shows full timetables and fares up to 60 days in advance (90 days for international routes).