alane

We will be landing in FRA at 9:30am and want to take a train to Koln. Is it easy to buy a ticket on the direct train the same day? I don't want to buy the ticket in advance in case the plane gets delayed.

Dukey1

You can probably use the ticket machines in the airport long-distance station. I would, of possible, take one of those 57-minute trips which are fabulous.

PalenQ

You could buy a full-fare ticket that would be good on any similar type of train - no seat reservation. Hourly trains unlikely to be full - www.bahn.de/en for doing your own ticket online - but should be able to buy tickets at station. check www.seat61.com for advice on ticketing; for general info www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

nukesafe

We made that same trip in October. I bought our unrestricted tickets in advance, and was glad we did as our flight was delayed and we missed our scheduled train. We merely went to the ticket counter in the main station and a nice young lady cheerfully issued us tickets on the next available train. In fact, we were going to Aachen, and the train we had booked was straight through. Thee new tickets require a change in Koln, which was no problem at all.

PalenQ

Buying a ticket in advance could be helpful as if on time you'd just have to head for the train -if late do as nukesafe did!

Fussgaenger

"We will be landing in FRA at 9:30am and want to take a train to Koln."

It's a tad over one hour on the super-fast trains. But you'll pay $170 for two for that trip if you buy at the station.

You can take the scenic route instead through the Middle Rhine River Valley (castles, vineyards, old-world towns and lots of great river scenery) on a day pass using regional trains. It costs about $60/2 at the station and the trip takes about 3 hours.

greg

>>> Is it easy to buy a ticket on the direct train the same day?

It seems you are framing this from a point of ease of purchasing process. This is rather a price/flexibility trade-off. Advance tickets are about half the price of the last minutes tickets. These days I use the DB app on my phone linked to my no fee credit card to purchase DB train tickets. I have a no data roaming charge plan on my phone and I can buy DB tickets while the plane is taxing to the terminal.

PalenQ

You can take the scenic route instead through the Middle Rhine River Valley (castles, vineyards, old-world towns and lots of great river scenery) on a day pass using regional trains. It costs about $60/2 at the station and the trip takes about 3 hours.>

Another great tip from Fuss! And that train ride via the Rhine is much much more scenic than the high-speed line with blah views often of windblocks.

sla019

> I don't want to buy the ticket in advance in case the plane gets delayed.

Check whether your airline issues the Rail&Fly ticket (just over €30). It's valid on any long distance train to any station in Germany. So you could hop on the next available ICE for approx. €60 instead of €170.

PalenQ

Again the longer more scenic route has a walk-up fare of $30 p.p. and you go right thru the awesome Rhine Gorge. Save a bundle (unless Rail&Fly is available of course.

TravelThoughts

I'm not sure if you meant buying the ticket after you boarded the train? I wouldn't recommend that. Depending on the person checking the tickets on the train you might have to pay a fine.
So you should either buy a ticket in advance (either for a fixed train or the flexible ticket), or on the day at the counter or machine or the phone app someone mentioned.

PalenQ

You can often buy full-fare tickets on trains but find the conductor before he finds and maybe fines you and then pay a premium surcharge for doing so - but not all trains do that.