Brussels to Italy, via Germany and Switzerland. Advice more than welcome!

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R
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NMBS don't have an extra fee for choosing a specific seat as far as I know.

Do let me know what kind of ticket you get for the Italian night train. NMBS recently claimed they don't issue electronic tickets yet for these trains, although a few months ago, they said they had just switched to electronic tickets (PDF) only for all international tickets (this incudes the ticket offices).

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
Angelo
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I don’t know. I don’t think that SNCB/NMBS can select seats. 

Do you have any questions? Feel free to ask in the community! Known languages: Deutsch, Italiano, English.
S
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NMBS don't have an extra fee for choosing a specific seat as far as I know.

Do let me know what kind of ticket you get for the Italian night train. NMBS recently claimed they don't issue electronic tickets yet for these trains, although a few months ago, they said they had just switched to electronic tickets (PDF) only for all international tickets (this incudes the ticket offices).

 

 

They are seats for Trenitalia, so it is Trenitalia's conditions of carriage and sales that count. So if an interrail fare is considered the "BASE ticket", I would be allowed to choose my seat for free.
Trenitalia's customer service is a joke! You can't get any info there, hopeless.

The seats I want to choose are on a Frecciarossa 1000 train. This is apparently not possible on the night train, if you choose a bed.


Keep your fingers crossed that it all works out, because it is always a challenge at NMBS.
A few years ago they sold me the wrong pass rate for SNCF at the counter, and I was fined on the train! Fortunately, NMBS has paid back the fine.

S
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I don’t know. I don’t think that SNCB/NMBS can select seats. 

 

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed!

S
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Do let me know what kind of ticket you get for the Italian night train. NMBS recently claimed they don't issue electronic tickets yet for these trains, although a few months ago, they said they had just switched to electronic tickets (PDF) only for all international tickets (this incudes the ticket offices).

 

 

I'll let you know how it went on Saturday evening for the purchase of the tickets for Trenitalia.

 

For the night train I will go for 1 room with 2 beds. Vagone deluxe doppia cabina intera.


The other train that I already want to book is the Frecciarossa 1000, Roma Termini 6.25 am - Milan Central 9.24 am.
This way we still have enough time to catch the train at 10:20 am to Colico where we have to transfer to a bus to get to Tirano.

S
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My experience with NMBS today.

 

When I told at the counter in Ghent sint Pieters that I wanted to book interrail fares for Italy, it was immediate. Yes, but that's not possible here with us, they made it very difficult for us!
I did not let myself be, and she that I had already informed myself well in advance at the customer service. And the counter clerk commented on that too.
Yes, "they can say that well"

 

Finally, she went looking for her computer, and it didn't work.

I had written everything down nicely, and wanted to book the intercity notte, and the Frecciarossa.
After waiting for 10 minutes, she said she could only reserve the Frecciarossa. But she could only reserve seats in coach 5 !? Strange, because that is 2nd class, while I have a 1st class interrail pass.

And then suddenly, after waiting a few more minutes, it suddenly worked. The lady had found the places I specifically wanted to reserve. The lady didn't know how she did it, but she had my desired seats! Yay!!

 

 

 

It did not work out for the intercity notte. The train did not show up on her computer program.

I then showed her via the Trenitalia app that the train is indeed for sale, and she also looked at the Trenitalia website.

 

She then looked on the "HAFAS" website, and the train is not listed there after August 5 or 6.
I didn't think about that when I was at the counter. But presumably that is the problem, that the timetable of the intercity trains is not yet in the planner of "HAFAS"?

 

The lady could not advise me where or whether I could book the intercity notte with NMBS.

I am disappointed in the customer service of NMBS via twitter / email, because they confirmed to me that it would certainly be possible to book the intercity notte at the counter in Ghent.

 

 

@rvdborgt

seewulf
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My experience with NMBS today.

 

When I told at the counter in Ghent sint Pieters that I wanted to book interrail fares for Italy, it was immediate. Yes, but that's not possible here with us, they made it very difficult for us!
I did not let myself be, and she that I had already informed myself well in advance at the customer service. And the counter clerk commented on that too.
Yes, "they can say that well"

 

Finally, she went looking for her computer, and it didn't work.

I had written everything down nicely, and wanted to book the intercity notte, and the Frecciarossa.
After waiting for 10 minutes, she said she could only reserve the Frecciarossa. But she could only reserve seats in coach 5 !? Strange, because that is 2nd class, while I have a 1st class interrail pass.

And then suddenly, after waiting a few more minutes, it suddenly worked. The lady had found the places I specifically wanted to reserve. The lady didn't know how she did it, but she had my desired seats! Yay!!

 

 

 

It did not work out for the intercity notte. The train did not show up on her computer program.

I then showed her via the Trenitalia app that the train is indeed for sale, and she also looked at the Trenitalia website.

 

She then looked on the "HAFAS" website, and the train is not listed there after August 5 or 6.
I didn't think about that when I was at the counter. But presumably that is the problem, that the timetable of the intercity trains is not yet in the planner of "HAFAS"?

 

The lady could not advise me where or whether I could book the intercity notte with NMBS.

I am disappointed in the customer service of NMBS via twitter / email, because they confirmed to me that it would certainly be possible to book the intercity notte at the counter in Ghent.

 

 

@rvdborgt

The problem is Trenitalia have to load their trains into HAFAS  and even have to provide the sheduled configuration in the booking systems.They do it sometimes quite late or more and more never. Hafas was once the “European Rail managment System” but many Railcompanies made their own system and now it´s difficult to put them together.

I´ am not working for Eurail or Interrail i just share my knowledge here. Please ask in the Community and not via private message as this is the fastest way to get an answer. I prefer English/German/ Czech for my answers. In case of Reservationquestions please share some details like Route, Date, Trainnumber as otherwise we can just provide general advices or answers
S
Rank
Userlevel 4
Badge +8

My experience with NMBS today.

 

When I told at the counter in Ghent sint Pieters that I wanted to book interrail fares for Italy, it was immediate. Yes, but that's not possible here with us, they made it very difficult for us!
I did not let myself be, and she that I had already informed myself well in advance at the customer service. And the counter clerk commented on that too.
Yes, "they can say that well"

 

Finally, she went looking for her computer, and it didn't work.

I had written everything down nicely, and wanted to book the intercity notte, and the Frecciarossa.
After waiting for 10 minutes, she said she could only reserve the Frecciarossa. But she could only reserve seats in coach 5 !? Strange, because that is 2nd class, while I have a 1st class interrail pass.

And then suddenly, after waiting a few more minutes, it suddenly worked. The lady had found the places I specifically wanted to reserve. The lady didn't know how she did it, but she had my desired seats! Yay!!

 

 

 

It did not work out for the intercity notte. The train did not show up on her computer program.

I then showed her via the Trenitalia app that the train is indeed for sale, and she also looked at the Trenitalia website.

 

She then looked on the "HAFAS" website, and the train is not listed there after August 5 or 6.
I didn't think about that when I was at the counter. But presumably that is the problem, that the timetable of the intercity trains is not yet in the planner of "HAFAS"?

 

The lady could not advise me where or whether I could book the intercity notte with NMBS.

I am disappointed in the customer service of NMBS via twitter / email, because they confirmed to me that it would certainly be possible to book the intercity notte at the counter in Ghent.

 

 

@rvdborgt

The problem is Trenitalia have to load their trains into HAFAS  and even have to provide the sheduled configuration in the booking systems.They do it sometimes quite late or more and more never. Hafas was once the “European Rail managment System” but many Railcompanies made their own system and now it´s difficult to put them together.

 

 

 

Do all international sales stations work with the " HAFAS " program to sell international tickets ?

 

Does nmbs only work with HAFAS to sell international tickets?

S
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NMBS don't have an extra fee for choosing a specific seat as far as I know.

 

 

@rvdborgt 

It didn't cost me anything extra to reserve my chosen seats. A lot of sighing from the employee.

R
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Userlevel 7
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The problem is Trenitalia have to load their trains into HAFAS  and even have to provide the sheduled configuration in the booking systems.They do it sometimes quite late or more and more never. Hafas was once the “European Rail managment System” but many Railcompanies made their own system and now it´s difficult to put them together.

Do all international sales stations work with the " HAFAS " program to sell international tickets ?

Does nmbs only work with HAFAS to sell international tickets?

NMBS and NS work together and have a common back-end system that connects with a number of others to sell tickets, e.g. DB and SNCF and also Trenitalia. The basis though is that the timetable must be available. All railways (in principle) send their timetables to MERITS, the European Timetable Centre, which has updates twice per week If they don't do that, then others don't know them and often no tickets can be sold. It looks very much like Trenitalia still has to send an update to MERITS that includes this night train from 7 August.

DB can also sell this night train. Maybe they can also do it via the train number search. In that case, they don't need to rely on the timetable being available, since that system directly connects to the reservation system. For RENFE trains, that works but I don't know if that also works for Trenitalia trains.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
S
Rank
Userlevel 4
Badge +8

The problem is Trenitalia have to load their trains into HAFAS  and even have to provide the sheduled configuration in the booking systems.They do it sometimes quite late or more and more never. Hafas was once the “European Rail managment System” but many Railcompanies made their own system and now it´s difficult to put them together.

Do all international sales stations work with the " HAFAS " program to sell international tickets ?

Does nmbs only work with HAFAS to sell international tickets?

NMBS and NS work together and have a common back-end system that connects with a number of others to sell tickets, e.g. DB and SNCF and also Trenitalia. The basis though is that the timetable must be available. All railways (in principle) send their timetables to MERITS, the European Timetable Centre, which has updates twice per week If they don't do that, then others don't know them and often no tickets can be sold. It looks very much like Trenitalia still has to send an update to MERITS that includes this night train from 7 August.

DB can also sell this night train. Maybe they can also do it via the train number search. In that case, they don't need to rely on the timetable being available, since that system directly connects to the reservation system. For RENFE trains, that works but I don't know if that also works for Trenitalia trains.

 

 

Yes, that is with 1000% certainty that Trenitalia has not yet forwarded their timetable to the correct authority so that other train companies can display the correct timetable of Trenitalia, starting August 7th.

The timetable of the night train, 797, is not visible anywhere else than at Trenitalia. It is not found in the scheduler of DB, SBB, ...

 

Now, what can I do as a customer to find out from when this intercity notte can be booked at NMBS?
Already sent a message to twitter nmbs.

Shall I email MERITS to ask when they expected Trenitalia's timetable?
Or what else can I do?

 

I prefer not to use the DB option, because then there will be costs that I have to incur.

S
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I called B Europe this afternoon, as I still had not received an email confirming my reservation for the Frecciarossa. And also because I can't upload my reservation in the B europe app.

I have now received the email. There was an error in my email address.

It is still not possible to upload my reservation in the app. The employee does not know why this is.

 

I therefore asked if she could check whether it was possible to reserve the intercity notte for the date of July 30, and that was possible. So it is clear, I have to wait for the train to appear on the HAFAS website, so that I can book the train via NMBS.

 

 

I will print the reservation confirmation and ticket again just to be sure. This way we both have 1 document, with which we can hopefully easily go through the gates.

At the counter I only received 1 document with both travelers with 1 barcode, and in major stations such as Rome and Milan, you have to go through gates.

S
Rank
Userlevel 4
Badge +8

The problem is Trenitalia have to load their trains into HAFAS  and even have to provide the sheduled configuration in the booking systems.They do it sometimes quite late or more and more never. Hafas was once the “European Rail managment System” but many Railcompanies made their own system and now it´s difficult to put them together.

Do all international sales stations work with the " HAFAS " program to sell international tickets ?

Does nmbs only work with HAFAS to sell international tickets?

NMBS and NS work together and have a common back-end system that connects with a number of others to sell tickets, e.g. DB and SNCF and also Trenitalia. The basis though is that the timetable must be available. All railways (in principle) send their timetables to MERITS, the European Timetable Centre, which has updates twice per week If they don't do that, then others don't know them and often no tickets can be sold. It looks very much like Trenitalia still has to send an update to MERITS that includes this night train from 7 August.

DB can also sell this night train. Maybe they can also do it via the train number search. In that case, they don't need to rely on the timetable being available, since that system directly connects to the reservation system. For RENFE trains, that works but I don't know if that also works for Trenitalia trains.

 

 

 

 

Now, what can I do as a customer to find out from when this intercity notte can be booked at NMBS?
Already sent a message to twitter nmbs.

Shall I email MERITS to ask when they expected Trenitalia's timetable?
Or what else can I do?

 

I prefer not to use the DB option, because then there will be costs that I have to incur.

 

@rvdborgt 

R
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Now, what can I do as a customer to find out from when this intercity notte can be booked at NMBS?
Already sent a message to twitter nmbs.

Shall I email MERITS to ask when they expected Trenitalia's timetable?
Or what else can I do?

I prefer not to use the DB option, because then there will be costs that I have to incur.

You could book via DB and then collect from a DB ticket machine while in Germany. But probably they can also only book when they can find the timetable.

It's no use to contact someone at MERITS: they're just waiting for data from Trenitalia. If the train is already in Trenitalia’s system, then it shouldn't be long until the data appears in other planners, depending on how fast Trenitalia work.

Most planners are updated with new data from MERITS in the nights Mon/Tue and Thu/Fri. You could e.g. check the DB planner every Tuesday and Friday morning until the train appears.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
S
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Currently, the plan is to return from Switzerland to Brussels on September 1.

In the morning I would like to do another trip from Chur to Zurich.

 

From Zurich I would then like to make the journey to Brussels, preferably with ICE because of the low costs (5.30 euros/person for a certain seat)

There is a connection at 11:59, 13:59, with a change at Frankfurt main.

 

My question : Isn't it better to travel from Zurich to Cologne, because of many delays / and even cancellations in Frankfurt?

 

If you have any other suggestions, let me know. Thank you!

 

 

 

( Just saw that the price has gone to 5.90 euros, instead of 5.30 euros. )

seewulf
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Currently, the plan is to return from Switzerland to Brussels on September 1.

In the morning I would like to do another trip from Chur to Zurich.

 

From Zurich I would then like to make the journey to Brussels, preferably with ICE because of the low costs (5.30 euros/person for a certain seat)

There is a connection at 11:59, 13:59, with a change at Frankfurt main.

 

My question : Isn't it better to travel from Zurich to Cologne, because of many delays / and even cancellations in Frankfurt?

 

If you have any other suggestions, let me know. Thank you!

 

 

 

( Just saw that the price has gone to 5.90 euros, instead of 5.30 euros. )

The question is if the trains at 11.59 and 13.59 goes to Cologne :) As usually the ICE´s from Zürich goes from Frankfurt via Kassel & Hannover to Hamburg :)
From Basel you have trains that goes to Cologne :)

another option is you may catch arround 10am the Eurocity from Zürich via Rhine Valley & Cologne to Hamburg and connect then in Cologne for a ICE to Brussels. (Have a scenic Route through the Rhinevalley at the end of the trip) and in case of 1st class you can even enjoy it from the panoramic carriage :)

I´ am not working for Eurail or Interrail i just share my knowledge here. Please ask in the Community and not via private message as this is the fastest way to get an answer. I prefer English/German/ Czech for my answers. In case of Reservationquestions please share some details like Route, Date, Trainnumber as otherwise we can just provide general advices or answers
R
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It is often best to continue further to Cologne as soon as possible. Currently, it seems (almost?) all ICEs Frankfurt - Brussels are only running west of Cologne. This may happen more often in summer because the series 406 don't really like hot weather :/

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
S
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NMBS don't have an extra fee for choosing a specific seat as far as I know.

Do let me know what kind of ticket you get for the Italian night train. NMBS recently claimed they don't issue electronic tickets yet for these trains, although a few months ago, they said they had just switched to electronic tickets (PDF) only for all international tickets (this incudes the ticket offices).

 

@rvdborgt

 

Yesterday I was finally able to buy the tickets for the intercity notte 797 at NMBS.
I received a printed PDF document at the counter. The counter clerk forgot to ask me if I also wanted to receive the document by e-mail. And according to her, she couldn't take the application anymore after I paid it.

 

Afterwards I called the 02 number of NMBS for service after purchase, and with great difficulty I also received my tickets that I ordered at the counter by mail via a PDF file.
The male employee I had on the phone claimed I wouldn't need the tickets to board the night train??!!!
That's why he didn't want to send me the PDF document by email at first.

But I wanted an email confirmation in case I lost my paper PDF document.

 

 

I'm going to open another topic, with some more questions for you. Also try to upload my ticket.

S
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Userlevel 4
Badge +8

Currently, the plan is to return from Switzerland to Brussels on September 1.

In the morning I would like to do another trip from Chur to Zurich.

 

From Zurich I would then like to make the journey to Brussels, preferably with ICE because of the low costs (5.30 euros/person for a certain seat)

There is a connection at 11:59, 13:59, with a change at Frankfurt main.

 

My question : Isn't it better to travel from Zurich to Cologne, because of many delays / and even cancellations in Frankfurt?

 

If you have any other suggestions, let me know. Thank you!

 

 

 

( Just saw that the price has gone to 5.90 euros, instead of 5.30 euros. )

The question is if the trains at 11.59 and 13.59 goes to Cologne :) As usually the ICE´s from Zürich goes from Frankfurt via Kassel & Hannover to Hamburg :)
From Basel you have trains that goes to Cologne :)

another option is you may catch arround 10am the Eurocity from Zürich via Rhine Valley & Cologne to Hamburg and connect then in Cologne for a ICE to Brussels. (Have a scenic Route through the Rhinevalley at the end of the trip) and in case of 1st class you can even enjoy it from the panoramic carriage :)

 

@seewulf 

I should have made my question clearer.

Wouldn't it be better to avoid Frankfurt because I notice there are a lot of delays or cancellations?

 

S
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It is often best to continue further to Cologne as soon as possible. Currently, it seems (almost?) all ICEs Frankfurt - Brussels are only running west of Cologne. This may happen more often in summer because the series 406 don't really like hot weather :/

It is often best to continue further to Cologne as soon as possible. Currently, it seems (almost?) all ICEs Frankfurt - Brussels are only running west of Cologne. This may happen more often in summer because the series 406 don't really like hot weather :/

 

@rvdborgt 

So if I understand you correctly, it is a better idea to do the following route :

 

Chur - Zürich

Zürich - Basel

Basel - Cologne

Cologne - Brussels 

R
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So if I understand you correctly, it is a better idea to do the following route :

Chur - Zürich

Zürich - Basel

Basel - Cologne

Cologne - Brussels 

I'd say yes. It just means changing in Basel (or Freiburg, Karlsruhe or Mannheim) onto the direct ICE to Cologne. Do check in advance if it reaches Basel SBB and is not turned short in Basel Bad Bf. When you plan to change in Frankfurt Hbf, you should always check before Mannheim if the ICE to Brussels is really departing there and not cancelled east of Cologne.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
S
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@Angelo

 

Could you please help me with this whether the message on page 3/3, which begins with "Linee: S11", will affect my travel plans on Friday, August 26?

Namely :

Lugano - Chiasso
Chiasso - Milan porta Garibaldi
Departure 19:32 - Arrival 21:21

 

Whether


Lugano - Mendrisio
Mendrisio - Monza
Monza - Milan porta Garibaldi
Departure 19h36 - Arrival 21h38

 

 

Thank you very much!!

 

Link

Angelo
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No because you are taking the Eurocity of Trenitalia and SBB? This document is about the local train service of Trenord. 

Some services on the line will not run for works between Monza and Milano. This will not affect some lines and long distance trains. 

 

NOTE: Your Eurocity from Lugano runs to Milano Centrale wich is another station then Milano Porta Garibaldi. 

You can also use local train services via Gallarate and Varese to Milano Porta Garibaldi or you run from Chiasso with local trains (to avoid the Eurocity Reservation and to get directly to Porta Garibaldi)

 

Do you have any questions? Feel free to ask in the community! Known languages: Deutsch, Italiano, English.
S
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No because you are taking the Eurocity of Trenitalia and SBB? This document is about the local train service of Trenord. 

Some services on the line will not run for works between Monza and Milano. This will not affect some lines and long distance trains. 

 

NOTE: Your Eurocity from Lugano runs to Milano Centrale wich is another station then Milano Porta Garibaldi. 

You can also use local train services via Gallarate and Varese to Milano Porta Garibaldi or you run from Chiasso with local trains (to avoid the Eurocity Reservation and to get directly to Porta Garibaldi)

 

 

@Angelo

I have described my travel plans in detail so that you can help me in the best possible way.

 

I take the train in Lugano with departure at 19:32, or with departure at 19:36. Both departure times are with a few changes to Milan porta Garibaldi. And because of this I also have to use the regional trains.

That's why I want to be sure about the link I've included. Will this have an effect on my travel plans?

 

 

In my previous post I described my travel plans to you. I may take the Eurocity to Chiasso, but I will see that on the day.

Angelo
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I'm not 100% sure, but want I get from the Document, it should not effect you. But Trenitalia and Trenord Timetable should be uptodate.

Do you have any questions? Feel free to ask in the community! Known languages: Deutsch, Italiano, English.

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