We will be taking a train from Mainz, Germany to Saarbrucken, Germany on a Saturday morning. We plan on using a Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket for this trip. There are 3 of us traveling. We then need to transfer to another train or bus to Forbach, France, just over the border to pick up our rental car at the train station.

Mainz Hbf
Sa, 05.09.09 dep 06:55 2:29 0 RE
Saarbrücken Hbf Sa, 05.09.09 arr 09:24

If we take the train to Forbach it departs at 9:25. Our arrival train arrives at 9:24 a.m. I doubt our Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket covers this portion of the trip. We would need to buy new tickets I assume for this leg. How do we make a train connection of 1 minute?

Bus 30 also makes this connection, but it leaves once an hour. 9:24, 10:24, 11:24 etc. Does this bus wait for the train arrival before departing? How much do bus tickets cost?

I realize this is a very specific question, but if anyone knows this system, I'd love some input on how we should best do this connection.

Thanks so much.

I've made connections in FOUR minutes more than once but even in Germany I wouldn't count on making a connection in one minute but it is possible your arrival might be early and the departure slightly delayed.

But don't those timings Saarbruken-Forbach occur roughly about once an hour? You may very well have to wait until the next train and frankly I would PLAN on doing so unless you get lucky and your departure train is directly across the platform.

I doubt that the www.bahn.de site, if that's where you got this itin., gave you only a one-minute connection. Did you piece that together yourself? It sounds like you'll be waiting an hour for the next train to Forbach.

Suggestion: Cut your stay a in Mainz on Friday a few hours short and use an R-P ticket to travel to Saarbrücken, and overnight there. You're only sleeping there. It's not a bad place. There's a nice shopping zone near the station where you can eat and stroll if you leave Mainz a little earlier. Then you can be on your way as early as you wish.

No, the site didn't give me the itinerary, they just have the schedules. The day before is our arrival day in Germany and I have a full day planned. Thought it best to get a hotel in Mainz and leave our luggage there.

The connection is from track 3 (arrival) to track 2 (departure). In most stations that is a cross platform change. My plan of the Saarbrücken station doesn't show a track 2, but track 1 is a stub track coming in from the west, across the platform from track 3. There is also an unidentified stub track coming in from the east, across the platform from track 3. I suspect that is track 2. I don't think they would be using the same platform if they didn't think you would make the connection. They might even hold the second train if the first one is late by a few minutes. You should should be at the end of the car, with you luggage, when the train stops. As long as you don't have too much luggage, you should be able to walk across the platform in a minute.

The ticket from Saarbrücken to Forbach (€3,70) is a Bahn ticket; you should be able to purchase it in Mainz before you start.

But, as mentioned, if you don't make the 9:25 train, there is another one in an hour.

Thanks so much. I don't think there is another train in an hour, but a bus instead. Is that correct?

Are there luggage lockers at the Mainz train station if we decide to just stow our luggage for the day and then spend the night in Saarbrucken?

OK, now I am confused.

Where are you getting these timings that show one-minute connections? I certainly do not see these for the dates you list when I check on the Bahn site.

Something is amiss here....

I've put a stationplan for Saarbrücken on my website (see www.germantravel-info.com/Bahnhöfe.htm).

Let's try

www.germantravel-info.com/Bahnhöfe.htm

The parenthesis does not belong in the URL.

The link to the Saarbrücken station plan is the third from the bottom of the page.

Images, you're right, 10:24 is a bus. I don't know if the Bahn ticket would cover the bus. Maybe not since the fare dosn't show on the Bahn website. You might ask at the ticket counter in Mainz.

Maybe you should just plan on taking the bus. I imagine you can buy the bus tickets on the bus. The bus stop is in front of the station. If the schedule says 9:24; I doubt they wait for you to get out of the station. You'll have a better chance of catching the train, but you would have to risk the cost of the ticket. If you buy the ticket in Mainz and miss the train, you might be able to get a refund in Saarbrücken (you'll have time).

It looks like there is a Burger King and a Buffet in the station. You might just plan on a late breakfast and catch the 10:24 bus.

Dukey, you have to put in the connections separately. The train from Mainz comes in on track 3 at 9:24. The train to Forbach leaves on track 2 at 9:25.

OK..understood..I was doing it as one continuous trip and of course the BAHN SITE did NOT offer the possibility of having a ONE-MINUTE connection which was my point but thanks.

Have you looked at earlier trains? On Sat/Sun the 9AM restriction on Länder-Tickets is off. And by the way - there's a weekend ticket with no region restrictions either: http://www.bahn.de/international/vie...many/swt.shtml

Thanks for all your effort. The earlier train leaves Mainz at 5:15 a.m. and takes over 3 hours. My daughter would be very unhappy with me if I decided on that train!

Looks like we won't get to Forbach until 11 a.m. with this current plan, unless the trains use the same track and we can make the connection.

Where do I look at the station information so I can see if there are luggage lockers in Mainz?

Thanks again!

Here's the rail station map! Looks like there are lockers.

http://www.bahnhof.de/site/shared/de...lan__mainz.pdf