I have a question about an upcoming visit to Stuttgart, with some side trips. I'm betting Lee can answer these ;) , but anyone is welcome to help. I've already done exhaustive research on this trip, so I know a lot of the routes and ticket options available, but I had a couple of questions that I couldn't find the answers to: 1. My wife & I plan to use the Länder-Karte Ticket (B-W) for a daytrip to Baden-Baden. I'm aware of the restrictions to Regional/Local trains, but is it also valid on the Stuttgart U1 (part of the VVS), which we'd be taking to & from the Hauptbahnhof? The DB site says it "can be used on all local trains (Interregio-Express, Regional-Express, Regionalbahn, S-Bahn) and the entire transport system of the Verkehrsverbünde Baden-Württemberg, with some exceptions". I've already read that it's valid on the buses within Baden-Baden. So the B-W ticket should be valid on the VVS as well, correct? The VVS website is very vague on this issue. And even locals on native German forums (I read/write German fairly well) don't seem to agree on this. I read one person's account of being busted and fined by the fare inspector because his Schönes-Wochenende Karte didn't cover the City Tram he was riding on (he didn't specify which city). Thanks for any advice!
Paul
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19275 posts
" I read one person's account of being busted and fined by the fare inspector because his Schönes-Wochenende Karte didn't cover the City Tram" But what city, that's key. The S-W-T says it covers many (viele) Verkehrsverbünde, not all. I think there used to be one S-Bahn line in Berlin that was not covered by the S-W-T. The S-W-T is issued by the Bahn and can't be equated with Länder tickets, which are issued by the Nahverkehr (ÖPNV) of the various Länder. But, reading the VVS website, it looks like it's covered there. But I don't think the validity of the B-W ticket in Baden-Baden proves it's validity in VVS. I only know what I read on the VVS website, "Das Baden-Württemberg-Ticket gilt in allen VVS-Verkehrsmitteln im gesamten Netz." In 2002, I used a B-W ticket for the S-Bahn from the airport to the Hbf, but no one stopped me, so I don't know if I was legal or not.
Posted by
OP
Astoria, NY, United States
10 posts
Thanks for the quick response, Lee! I did find this info about the B-W ticket on DB, with a little more work: Gilt in allen Nahverkehrszügen aller Eisenbahnverkehrsunternehmen, allen Verbundverkehrsmitteln (S-, U-, Straßenbahn, Bussen) und fast allen Linienbussen in Baden-Württemberg. Ausgenommen sind u.a. Schülerverkehre und einzelne Privat-Buslinien - insbesondere auf Mautstrecken und grenzüberschreitenden Verkehren. Einzelheiten zum Geltungsbereich entnehmen Sie dem untenstehenden PDF. It was that missing "U-" that I couldn't find on any other site. ;) So apparently the Länder-Karte should be valid. I know that its covering the Baden-Baden buses wasn't a guarantee of other coverage (just my wishful thinking)... Regarding the S-W-Ticket, I think I was equating it with the Länder-Karten because of their somewhat similar coverage (single state any day of week, vs. all of Germany weekends only). My confusion I think stems from the "Nahverkehr" label, which while describing "Local Transport" seems either to mean ALL local systems (including U-bahn & buses), or just local DB trains & S-Bahns, depending on which webpage it's used.