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Are Interrail holders disadvantaged when standing passengers on full trains are asked to disembark for security?

  • 16 September 2022
  • 7 replies
  • 142 views
G

I read somewhere in this forum (but cannot find it now) that in certain German ICE trains it happens that Interrail pass holders without seat reservations are asked to disembark for security when there are too many passengers standing in the corridors of the full train.

Does this happen regularly?

And if I desperately need to be on a specific ICE that I can see in advance is fully booked, does it help if I buy a regular ticket for that trip valid that day, so that I am not any more considered an Interrail pass holder, even though I still do not have a seat reservation on that train?

In other words, when I do not have a seat reservation on an ICE that is full of standing passengers, do I have better chances of not being disembarked if I hold a regular ticket, than with an Interrail pass?

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Best answer by Angelo 16 September 2022, 11:27

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7 replies

Angelo
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They do not look on the ticket, all people without a seat or a seat reservation have to leave the train if the train is to full that the staff can’t get from one part to the other of the train. 

If you want to be sure to get on the train, buy a reservation via bahn.com (4€/journey) or all other train operators like ÖBB, CD (3€/train), or others. It should be possible to book it at almost all (middle) European international ticket offices. 

 

P.S. On bahn.com you can check if the train will be full. 

Do you have any questions? Feel free to ask in the community! Known languages: Deutsch, Italiano, English.
R
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It can happen that on a very full train passengers without reservations are asked to leave the train. What kind of ticket you have does not matter; it's the reservation that matters. Buying a regular ticket does not help. I have never heard about distinction between ticket types in such cases.

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.
BrendanDB
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It happens sometimes, but mainly in high season. I only had it once on an ICE (in Frankfurt) and once on a EC (in Slovenia). Lucky thing high season is over now.

It’s very annoying for the people who have a reservation if some people refuse to leave the train, delay just adds up and then the whole train is screwed, reservation or not. If nobody moves the police sometimes shows up. But that I didn’t see yet.

In the ICE that was overcrowded that I was on, they said the following: “Passengers that don’t have a destination Amsterdam or Brussels should leave this train and take others. No matter the ticket.” So I wouldn’t say an ordinary ticket improves your chances, it would be a waste of your money. Just buy a reservation or try to plan around fully booked trains, if your schedule permits it.

If it happens in Frankfurt, there’s plenty of other ICE’s to continue your journey.

G

Thank you for all these replies. I need to get from Budapest to Brussels in one day on Sunday, so I do not have that much margin when it comes to alternatives. The 11:15 Vienna - Frankfurt ICE is fully booked between Vienna and Passau, managed to book a seat between Passau and Frankfurt only. I hope I won’t get kicked off the train before that somewhere in Austria.

BrendanDB
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Even if you would miss your connection there’s always a possibility to get to Brussels. If you can get to Köln hbf around 19h (or 20h:15 at the latest), you can still get to Brussels by local trains. (Cologne-Aachen-Welkenraedt (or Verviers) - Brussels.

The last ICE Köln Brussels is at 21:42 in Köln.

The ICE’s to Brussels and Amsterdam are quite unreliable at the moment, they break down a lot. So you absolutely wouldn’t be the first one doing this.

 

Y
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I travelled FRA - BRU a few weeks ago. It filled to the brim at Cologne (standing room only) and chaos on reserved seats being occupied by unreserved passengers from FRA - the seat markers were non-active.

Nobody was asked to leave but many were uncomfortable, especially after the train was diverted and ran an hour late.

Reserve your seat on all ICE trains at peak times is my advice. I would hate to stand for hours.

M
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ICE are so often delayed-or even cancelled-and this also often means that connections (in fact done via DB a RES can cover 2 trains to connect for same price, now 4,50) go astray. In such a case the not can be used anymore RES does not help that much. And 2 weeks ago there was a major catastrofe in/around Koln which made that main station even inaccessible to all ICE/IC trains for some days.

Not wanting to frighten you-but it also happens in Austria on busy days-they then even check access to trains for only those who have RES-of course from that station, not from further on.

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