Local Transport in Germany

Old Dec 10th, 2006, 02:55 AM
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bmr
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Local Transport in Germany

We a retired Aussie couple will be in Germany in a small town called Saulheim (they have a train station) near Mainz we have a house there for five weeks

I have been trying to find out about local transport as we find driving on the wrong side of the road for us at our age stressfull so we will use the local transport
we are just working out if it will be cheaper to get a rail pass or just local day tickets

We plan on going to Berlin and Munich and I think we will get a rail pass for some of the longer trips but I need help with the local ones as we will be there a long time and will go out most days around the area so I was hoping to buy a weekly ticket for the area

I have looked at the local transport web pages all the information is there but I do not speak German so has anybody stayed in this area???
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Old Dec 10th, 2006, 06:18 AM
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Have you tried www.bahn.de? Click the link "Internat. Guests" and you get their English pages. That should help with the train travel.

For local transport, go to

http://efa9.vrn.de/rnn/XSLT_STT_REQUEST

and enter Saulheim in the box for "Stadt/Ort" (which means "town/place") and "Haltestelle" (which means "stop"). Choose "Saulheim" and you get a drop-down list of all the train and bus routes that serve the town. Choose one and click on "Fahrplan ausfordern" (which means "order timetable") and it takes you to a page with a PDF file of the timetable. You will need Acrobat Reader or another PDF reader program to open the file: you can get Acrobat free at
www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

As for the tickets, as I read it, it works in zones, you can download the map, also as a PDF at

http://www.rnn.info/fileadmin/rnn/pd...lan_2007_1.pdf

Saulheim is in zone 340

You need a ticket at price level 2 for two zones, and presumably 3 for three zones, and so on. For levels 1 and 2, a ticket is valid for 1.5 hours, for 3 to 5 three hours, 6 to 8 four hours, 9/10 five hours.

You can get 20% off by buying 5 tickets at a go, or 25% of if you have a Bahncard (but that doesn't cover all services in the area, such as municipal transport in Mainz). The English pages on www.bahn.de have info on the Bahncard: you have to be spending 200Euro each on fares to make it pay, they say.

There are daycards for groups of up to 5, but it doesn't look as though they would be worth it for two people. Rates for the different levels are at:
http://www.rnn.info/Preise_Einzelkarten.779.0.html

(better invest in a dictionary to translate the different categories in the fare table).
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Old Dec 10th, 2006, 09:45 AM
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First of all, enter www.railsaver.com to check what is the best option for you (separate tickets or a pass). you fill there the destinations and the date, and the system will advise.

We used in Germany a twin flexi pass ( a pass for two persons traveling together0, for 5 any days from 30 consecutive days. Our pass was valid from 30 april till 30 may for any 5 days in this period. we used it to travel from Bacharach to Berlin, from Berlin to Cologne, from Cologne to Cochem,from Cochem to Koblenz, from Cochem to Frankfurt airport . It costed ~ 270 euro 9for both of us).
Then, I entered www.bahn.de and made seats reservation for long trips for IC trains, paid by credit card and type them.
It was very simple!

In Berlin we bought day tickets, so we could use - unlimited - any public transport. we bouth them from the turism information desk in Alexanderplatz. The seller asked us how may day we stay, where we want to travel and then he advised us what pass to buy (the most economical).
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Old Dec 12th, 2006, 12:15 AM
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bmr
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Thanks for the help
We will just buy local tickets and buy a rail pass for the longer trips to Berlin and Munich
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Old Dec 13th, 2006, 10:04 AM
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For local travel, buying point-point tickets will be easy. Although I suspect the station in Saulheim is unmanned, there should be a DB Nahverkehr (local transport) ticket machine (www.tiny.cc/bahnautomat, scroll down to the blue/white machine on the page). These machines are relatively easy to use. Supposedly, they can be made to display in English, but none of the ones I have seen would actually do that. Try pressing the button with the flag.

On the lower right are two columns of buttons; the left column is for adult tickets. The top button should be for single tickets (Einzelkarten).

Over on the left is a listing off all the local stations with a number code after each one.

Enter the number code for your destination on the keypad. Then press the button for adult Einzelkarte.

The price of the ticket will be displayed on the screen. Insert money in the appropriate slots, or use a bank card with a PIN. Your ticket will be printed and fall into the tray at the bottom.

! If you use a card, two pieces will be printed. First piece is the receipt; second is the ticket. Don’t forget the ticket.

! You might have to try a few time to insert bills. Small bills are narrower than the slot. If I remember they have to be centered.

! Don’t insert your card before the price of the ticket is displayed, or it will be returned. It took me a while before I figured that one out. I would walk up to the machine and insert my card, first thing. When it came right back, I thought my card didn’t work.

! If you want a ticket for two instead of two single tickets, after the fare is displayed, press the green ‘+’ button, then enter the destination code again and press the single adult button again. It should display the price for two people.

I don’t believe that there are RNN (Rhein-Nahe Nahverkehrverbund) machines, but if there are, for travel entirely within the district (www.rnn.info/Verbundgebiet.696.0.html), or for day tickets within the district, you might have to use that machine. However, in Bacharach, when I was there, there was only one, the DB Nahverkehr, machine.


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Old Dec 13th, 2006, 09:26 PM
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Did anyone but me notice that the price table linked by Patrick says "Gültig bis 9.12.2006", or valid until Dec 9, 2006. The prices for many rail tickets in Germany changed (read increased) a little on Dec 10. The link to the new prices is at www.rnn.info/Preise_Einzelkarten.997.0.html. Overall, the increases appear to be small.

One change of note is that the price of a Rheinland-Pfalz Ticket has gone up from €23 to €25. DB doesn't show that price in their online store yet. Neither does Rheinland-Pfalz-Takt.de, which is the issuing body for the Land ticket. Is it possible that RNN is charging more if you buy the ticket from them than are other sellers?
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Old Dec 14th, 2006, 08:24 AM
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I heard back from Rheinland-Pfalz Takt about the fare discrepancy. The cost of a Rheinland-Pfalz Ticket will go up from €23 to €25 on Jan 1, 2007.

Rhein-Nahe Nahverkehrsverbund (RNN) revised their website with a new pricing structure on Dec 10, and shows the future price of the RLP Ticket. Apparently they didn't want to change their website twice. They are also showing an RLP Single Ticket for €18.

Rhein-Main Verkehrsverbund (RMV) also shows an increase for the Hessen Ticket from €25 to €29. I would assume this will also be effective Jan1.
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Old Dec 14th, 2006, 08:50 AM
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Larry: The Rheinland-Pfalz region i believes includes the Rhine gorge where the K-D boats run (Rudesheim/Bignen-Koblenz best part) - as train tickets are (or were) unless changed recently on these boats without formality - any train ticket for trains along the Rhine are valid on the boat - traditionally - would you know if the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket covers the boats as well?

Cheers.
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Old Dec 14th, 2006, 03:58 PM
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Bob,
the German Rail pass IS accepted for the K-D boats (source www.bahn.de) as are Eurail passes that include Germany (source www.eurail.com).

Nothing I can find on the Rheinland-Pfalz Takt websites indicates that the RLP Ticket includes the K-D boats.

Nor does the K-D website say anything about the RLP Ticket being accepted (but then the K-D website also doesn't say anything about accepting the German Rail and Eurail passes, and they do).

I see nothing that would indicate that a standard rail ticket is accepted "straight up" for ship travel. According to the K-D website you can get a 20% discount on the boat fare if you present a "VALID German Rail ticket" [my caps]. I don't think a RLP Ticket would be considered a German Rail ticket, but you can always ask. I also don't know what they mean by valid. Does that mean valid for that day, i.e., not one you saved from last week? Does that mean a ticket valid for the stretch of track parallel to the ship route you are taking? Or can it be the ticket that got you there?

The Bahn does sell reduced price tickets (about 25%) for travel on the K-D ships (see www.tiny.cc/bahn_kd_tickets).

BTW, on Jan 1, Bayern Ticket and Baden-Württemberg Ticket will go up to €27; B-W and RLP are adding Single Tickets.
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Old Dec 15th, 2006, 06:25 AM
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Thanks Larry - at one time my understanding was that any (valid) ticket for trains along the stretch of river were accepted for free boat travel. Obviously has changed - thanks for the update.
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Old Dec 15th, 2006, 07:22 AM
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>my understanding was that any (valid) ticket for trains along the stretch of river were accepted for free boat travel.

It doesn't make much sense for them to do that. The K-D fare from St. Goar to Bacharach is €9,20. If all someone had to do was go up to the St. Goar train station and buy a ticket to Bacharach for €2,80, K-D wouldn't sell many tickets.
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Old Dec 15th, 2006, 07:26 AM
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So Larry it seems the tickets are accepted at their face value perhaps and this is where the 20% comes in? anyway thanks for the research. I must be have wrong in my previous impression or maybe was that way years ago.
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Old Dec 15th, 2006, 09:42 AM
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Bob, I don't know if they are giving you credit when you give them a rail ticket between the same to points, or if they just give you a 20% discount for having arrived on the train. The fact that they specify a "valid" ticket, presumeably meaning one that has not been used, would tend to indicate the former.

Hopefully someone reading this thread will go over there soon and come back with a definitive answer.
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Old Dec 16th, 2006, 10:40 AM
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bmr, getting back to your question about the best way to get local tickets (hopefully you are still here. This is, after all, your thread) --

Saulheim is in the German state (Land) of Rheinland-Pfalz. If you look at a map, the state includes all of Germany on the left bank of the Rhein as far down the river as Bonn and south and west to the French and Belgian borders as well as part of the right bank along the middle Rhein gorge. Rheinland-Pfalz sells a day ticket, called the Rheinland-Pfalz Ticket for €25 (as of Jan 1). With it two to five people have unlimited use for a day (after 9 AM weekdays, from midnight weekends) of the regional trains (RE, RB) within the region of validity (see http://www.der-takt.de/fileadmin/Bil...rp_ticket.html). With this ticket you can travel down the Rhein gorge to Koblenz. From there you could continue down the Rhein to Bonn or go up the Mosel to Cochem and Trier to the Luxembourg border. You can travel south to the French border at Saarbrucken or Wissembourg, or across the Rhein to Mannheim or Karlsruhe. For cities like Bonn or Mannheim, which are outside the border of RLP, the ticket is only valid to the Hbf, not around the city, but the ticket is valid for the city transit in Wiesbaden.

The RLP Ticket is probably one of the buttons on the right side of the ticket automat (LH column near the bottom). Press the button and the price will appear on the display. It might first ask you to specify a day.

In addition, Saulheim is in the Rhein-Nahe local transit district (RNN). PatrickLondon gave you a link to the zone map of the RNN. For local travel (within 5 zones) in the RNN on weekdays, single one way tickets would be your best bet. For instance, the 4 zone trip to Mainz (which includes Wiesbaden) would cost €4,40 per person, one way, €17,60 RT for two. For six zones or more, which would include Bingen or Bad Kreuznach, during the week, the RLP Ticket would cost less. However, the RNN Tageskarte (day ticket), which during the week is valid for only one person, is valid for up to five people on a weekend day. For travel anywhere in the RNN on the weekend, the Tageskarte is your best deal. Even if you are only going from Saulheim to another station and back, the price of the Tageskarte will be less than two RT Einzelkarten (single one way tickets).

Note, that a Tageskarte does not give you unlimited travel to every place within a radius of that many zones. You have to give a start station and an end station, and you get unlimited travel on the route directly between those two points. However, when you pay for 10 zones, it becomes a "network" card. That might mean it is valid for unlimited travel that day anywhere in the RNN network. The RNN website implies this, but does not state it explicitely. However, it might just mean that 10 zones is the most you have to pay for unlimited travel on a direct route between any two specified stations in the network. If you intend to use a 10 zone Tageskarte for unlimited travel in the entire network, you should confirm this at a ticket counter. In Mainz you are more likely to find someone who speaks English.

Also note, that there is a weekly pass, a "Jedermann Wochenkarte" (http://www.rnn.info/Preise_Zeitkarte...ann.996.0.html). Like the Tageskarte, a Wochenkarte is only valid for the route specified, but a 10 zone card is a network card. However, it costs €60,80 per person, and is only good for travel within the RNN; it is probably not a good option.

If the station in Saulheim is manned, it might be easiest to buy a Tageskarte at the counter. If not, you should be able to buy it from the Automat. Find the button in one of the columns labeled Tageskarte. Enter the code for your destination, then press the Tageskarte button.
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