Going to Berlin, to end up in Brussels is a bit unlogical. You go 250 km further eastward, to return on your steps. That’s 500 unnecessary km, which takes time. It’s good to have a broad buffer when it comes to night trains, punctuality isn’t the best point of night trains. But I wouldn’t be to afraid for it, it’s not that you travel with Nightjet that has awful on time performance. ;)
Get off in Hamburg, head to Cologne. If you miss the ICE to Brussels, there’s always the route to Belgium via regional trains, with changes in Aachen and Welkenraedt to get you in Brussels eventually.
Hello @pavlosegg
One third of the long-distance trains in Germany are excepted to be delayed, but you need a crystal ball to predict if your specific train will be on time or not.
Going to Berlin, to end up in Brussels is a bit unlogical. You go 250 km further eastward, to return on your steps. That’s 500 unnecessary km, which takes time. It’s good to have a broad buffer when it comes to night trains, punctuality isn’t the best point of night trains. But I wouldn’t be to afraid for it, it’s not that you travel with Nightjet that has awful on time performance. ;)
Get off in Hamburg, head to Cologne. If you miss the ICE to Brussels, there’s always the route to Belgium via regional trains, with changes in Aachen and Welkenraedt to get you in Brussels eventually.
Thanks. Well, reason for alighting at Berlin is so the family doesn't need to be up at 4.30 to get off at Hamburg at 5.30, so there honestly was some logic to the decision!
Also, the fact we're travelling as a family is another reason why I'm trying to plan rather than go with the flow, so just hoping to book some reservations, but not spend a fortune on every eventuality.
Will probably go for Hamburg.
Arriving at 5’ish is indeed a bit on the early side. I would say that trains passing the Ruhrgebiet are most prone to delays. So whatever the connections you choose, just provide ample of buffer/connection time in Cologne :)
! Train nerd alert ! You can find statistics about punctuality on this website, mainly for Central European trains: https://www.zugfinder.net/en/directconnection
Hello @pavlosegg
One third of the long-distance trains in Germany are excepted to be delayed, but you need a crystal ball to predict if your specific train will be on time or not.
So I guess this poses another question. My current reservation Berlin to Brussels, changing at Cologne has changed because the train to Cologne won't arrive in time for the next. If DB says the train is now arriving later, is that still up for debate?
@pavlosegg
I’m not sure if I correctly understood what you mean.
Snälltåget is a private company, if the train arrives late in Berlin, the DB has no obligation if you miss the connection. You must buy new reservations.
If you miss a connection between two DB ICE trains, you can ask for assistance at a ticket office and obtain new reservations.
If you miss a connection between a DB ICE and an Eurostar in Cologne, you can use the HOTNAT (Hop on the next available train) of Railteam.
To be complete, these informations can be found on the site of Snälltåget:
If you are traveling onwards with another company than Snälltåget, the journey is legally considered a separate trip, and unfortunately, we cannot assist you beyond providing information about the next connection. Therefore, make sure you have plenty of time for train changes. Snälltåget is not responsible for reimbursing you for new tickets or consequential delays due to Snälltåget's delay.
@pavlosegg
I’m not sure if I correctly understood what you mean.
Snälltåget is a private company, if the train arrives late in Berlin, the DB has no obligation if you miss the connection. You must buy new reservations.
If you miss a connection between two DB ICE trains, you can ask for assistance at a ticket office and obtain new reservations.
If you miss a connection between a DB ICE and an Eurostar in Cologne, you can use the HOTNAT (Hop on the next available train) of Railteam.
Sorry. My point is more about the DB delays. You mention that a third of trains are being delayed. I just wonder that since DB have rescheduled my journey, and the Berlin to Cologne train is now scheduled to arrive later in Cologne that originally scheduled, is this new scheduled time actually a new time, or could it still arrive on the original schedule? It looks to be a completely rescheduled service, rather than an expected delay.
Tue 27 Aug
Was: Berlin Hbf 10.56 - Koln 15.15
Now: Berlin Hbf 10.56 - Koln 15.54
@pavlosegg
If the train is rescheduled before departure, only the new schedule is valid, you can forget the old one. It is normally due to engineering works, the train is rerouted over another line and needs more time. Sometimes the train stops in another station, for example Frankfurt Süd instead of Frankfurt Hbf, and you miss your planned connections, although the schedule is the same.
The problem is that DB publish the timetables and sell tickets up to 6 months in advance, and the planning of the constructions are not known so soon.
If you have Saver or Supersaver Tickets, also with Interrail passes, you can take any other train in this case, but you must sometimes exchange the reservations or buy new ones and let refund the old ones.
An update for any interested parties, train was around 70 minutes late to Malmö, but they made time up when disconnecting the trains and Hamburg was just 30 minutes late. We decided to go from there, and the connection to Brussels was plain sailing.
Snälltåget’s ‘Krogen’ restaurant was delightful.
