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Route Missing from DB Timetables

Posted by (Minneapolis, MN, USA) on

Many members of the Helpline, myself included, recommend using the timetables at www.bahn.de for virtually anywhere in Europe. They truly are excellent.

However, when doing some research recently to answer a question on another thread, I discovered that at least one route is missing from the DB timetables. While DB lists many times for trains between Venice and Naples, the direct night train is not among them.

I wrote to DB and got this reply: "We do not have access to this train, it is not listed in our timetables." No explanation was given as to why this particular Trenitalia train, as opposed to any other Trenitalia train, is blocked from the DB site.

That led me to wonder if the same thing might be true for other Trenitalia routes, or for routes within any other countries whose national rail systems would deny access to DB for some particular route.

Has anyone else found a route on a country's national rail site that was NOT shown on DB?

Posted by
8700 posts

I posted this note on a couple of other forums. One person said not to depend upon DB's timetables for the UK. They aren't always up to date. Another person said that it as simple as the fact that DB can only post what it is given by another country's rail system. If there is something missing from the database, the fault lies with the country who prepared it, in this case Trenitalia.

Moral: Always check both the DB timetables and a particular country's timetables. (Unless an international route either starts or ends in Germany, you''ll have to go to a coutnry's national rail site anyway to get fares.)

Posted by
9099 posts

IMO the DB website is a bit overrated. I've known about these gaps in DB timetables for a while now. There are a few Swiss Rail trains that don't show up on the site either. I only use the DB site for German trains, and as as you say, for other countries use that operator sites for domestic listings. Moral of the story: for the most accurate timetables always go to the source.

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