Berlin VBB tickets purchase place

[WesternLancer]

Hi - expect this is fairly simple question but any advice gratefully rec'd.

I want to get what I assume is a VBB ticket for travel onwards from Berlin HBF (VBB fares listed on their site on an RE train look much cheaper than fare listed on DB site and I assume VBB fare is a walk up ticket).

Just wondered where you buy these from in the station as I can't see a location marked on the DB plan as per below link. Is it just main ticket office / machines etc or are the VBB ticket sales points / vending machines located elsewhere?

https://www.bahnhof.de/resource/blo...ac17/Berlin-Hauptbahnhof_locationPdf-data.pdf

Thanks in advance for any tips.

 

[Richard Scott]

Take it you just want the local day ticket? Can get them from any ticket machine (if I remember correctly was 2014 when I last went there) - they have an English setting if you need it. I have definitely bought them from machines in Berlin Hbf and fairly sure it's normal DB ticket machines. Should have a VBB option on them. Apologies for being a bit vague but, like I said, was a few years ago.

 

[Ken H]

Does this help?

https://www.vbb.de/en/tickets-and-fares/where-to-buy

 

[Spoorslag '70]

You should be able to get VBB Tickets at any TVM (and indeed ticket office) in the VBB area. (Or buy them online or on your smartphone etc.)

 

[Ken H]

You should be able to get VBB Tickets at any TVM (and indeed ticket office) in the VBB area. (Or buy them online or on your smartphone etc.)

I had difficulty using a UK debit card in TVM's. But they took cash no problems. Even €50 notes.

 

[Richard Scott]

I had difficulty using a UK debit card in TVM's. But they took cash no problems. Even €50 notes.

That is a point worth noting - had money debited with no ticket in the past causing hassle when get back to prove to the bank no goods received and get money back. Use cash if you can or go to a ticket office (noticed some tickets cost a little more if buy from a ticket office).

 

[WesternLancer]

Thanks all - helpful stuff. Yes, it's a 11.80 euro single ticket fare that the VBB site shows (not sure if this is any train within some sort of zone, or just the fare for the point to point journey).
Sounds like the TVMs are 'integrated' then? ie not like in UK where I doubt you can get a london transport ticket from a UK TOC TVM...

Useful info with the card point. I'll try cash first, or indeed try ticket office.

 

[blackfive460]

I want to get what I assume is a VBB ticket for travel onwards from Berlin HBF (VBB fares listed on their site on an RE train look much cheaper than fare listed on DB site .

That's odd.
The DB site should be offering you a VBB fare if one is available. Where are you travelling to?

 

[WesternLancer]

That's odd.
The DB site should be offering you a VBB fare if one is available. Where are you travelling to?

Thanks - Berlin Hbf to Kostrzyn (but the direct service has a rail replacement bus on part of the route due to engineering work, so I may go via Frankfurt (Oder) and Werbig which avoids the bus - albeit less frequent option. Both DB website and VBB website journey planners throw up that option - as well as the direct route including the bus section. DB then offers a fare of 29 euros, VBB shows an 11.80 euro fare on the same trains as far as I can see.

 

[blackfive460]

Right, I see.
I suspect that the problem with the DB planner is that your destination is in Poland and it doesn't know about VBB's cross border tariffs.

 

[paddington]

The RB26 trains (NEB) to Kostrzyn have a ticket machine on board. But they only start at Ostkreuz, and not sure about the engineering work. My ticket was checked when I took that train last week.** Strangely the guy was asking where everyone had boarded, despite most people's tickets being valid from the start of the route.

DB machines won't accept €50 notes when there is less than €20 left to pay, I think. Was a bit annoying once when I only had €5s and €50s and due to being very sleepy I couldn't work out what I was doing.

(Apparently Italian machines can even take €500 notes, at least the graphic showed they would be accepted although I didn't actually buy a ticket.)

** My ticket was checked 4 times within 5 hours within Berlin B and C zones on S and RB/RE trains. But previously it had never been checked even on 4 or 5 day trips in the same areas!

 

[30907]

Right, I see.
I suspect that the problem with the DB planner is that your destination is in Poland and it doesn't know about VBB's cross border tariffs.

Correct. This problem has been referenced WRT other border crossings as well - national railways tend only to "know" the international tariff.
DB does at least now offer you Kuestryn-Kietz on the German side of the river at VBB tarif - not so long ago it couldn't offer local (Verkehrsverbund) tariffs at all.

 

[WesternLancer]

Right, I see.
I suspect that the problem with the DB planner is that your destination is in Poland and it doesn't know about VBB's cross border tariffs.

Thanks.

 

[WesternLancer]

The RB26 trains (NEB) to Kostrzyn have a ticket machine on board. But they only start at Ostkreuz, and not sure about the engineering work. My ticket was checked when I took that train last week.** Strangely the guy was asking where everyone had boarded, despite most people's tickets being valid from the start of the route.

DB machines won't accept €50 notes when there is less than €20 left to pay, I think. Was a bit annoying once when I only had €5s and €50s and due to being very sleepy I couldn't work out what I was doing.

(Apparently Italian machines can even take €500 notes, at least the graphic showed they would be accepted although I didn't actually buy a ticket.)

** My ticket was checked 4 times within 5 hours within Berlin B and C zones on S and RB/RE trains. But previously it had never been checked even on 4 or 5 day trips in the same areas!

RB26 is the route that has the bus replacement service in operation for part of the route, hence the idea of taking the Frankfurt route, which I think starts at HBf.

 

[WesternLancer]

Correct. This problem has been referenced WRT other border crossings as well - national railways tend only to "know" the international tariff.
DB does at least now offer you Kuestryn-Kietz on the German side of the river at VBB tarif - not so long ago it couldn't offer local (Verkehrsverbund) tariffs at all.

So would I be right to assume that if I used a ticket machine or ticket office and asked for what I want I'd get the cheaper VBB fare?

 

[Spoorslag '70]

So would I be right to assume that if I used a ticket machine or ticket office and asked for what I want I'd get the cheaper VBB fare?

That's the way it's supposed to work (and usually does). Since a couple of years ago TVMs will find "Verbund" tickets even when using the normal search by destination function (i.e. enter your destination on the main screen and follow the instructions).

I can't comment on issues with British cards (and my German one usually works rather fine in Britain).

 

[urpert]

Sounds like the TVMs are 'integrated' then? ie not like in UK where I doubt you can get a london transport ticket from a UK TOC TVM...

A bit off topic, but plenty of TOC TVMs in Greater London sell (e.g.) paper travelcards and single tickets to Tube destinations.

 

[blackfive460]

So would I be right to assume that if I used a ticket machine or ticket office and asked for what I want I'd get the cheaper VBB fare?

If you see a yellow ticket machine, probably near the SBahn platforms at the north side of Berlin Hbf, or in the Reisezentrum that will be a VBB one, try using that as opposed to the DB (Red) ones. If you do use a DB one, there should be an option to get tickets within the VBB tariff on the staring screen which, if I remember correctly is at the bottom right of the touchscreen.

 

[WesternLancer]

That's the way it's supposed to work (and usually does). Since a couple of years ago TVMs will find "Verbund" tickets even when using the normal search by destination function (i.e. enter your destination on the main screen and follow the instructions).

I can't comment on issues with British cards (and my German one usually works rather fine in Britain).

Thanks - helpful info.

 

[WesternLancer]

A bit off topic, but plenty of TOC TVMs in Greater London sell (e.g.) paper travelcards and single tickets to Tube destinations.

Fair point!

 

[WesternLancer]

If you see a yellow ticket machine, probably near the SBahn platforms at the north side of Berlin Hbf, or in the Reisezentrum that will be a VBB one, try using that as opposed to the DB (Red) ones. If you do use a DB one, there should be an option to get tickets within the VBB tariff on the staring screen which, if I remember correctly is at the bottom right of the touchscreen.

Thanks - that's a really helpful tip - appreciated. (is 'staring' a typo for 'sharing'?)

 

[blackfive460]

Thanks - that's a really helpful tip - appreciated. (is 'staring' a typo for 'sharing'?)

Should have been 'starting' as in the first screen you get options on.
I must lern to read wat I ave wrote befor postng!

 

[WesternLancer]

Should have been 'starting' as in the first screen you get options on.
I must learn to read wat I ave wrote befor postng!

Thanks Blackfive, easily done! I'll look out for that screen etc.

 

[WesternLancer]

Just in case this info is of help to anyone in future.

No yellow VBB ticket machines that I saw in Berlin HBf - just DB red ones, which are located around the place including on platforms. Not hard to find.

I guess like any such machine (TVM) they are never immediately intuitive, but these are not bad. However, I'm pretty sure i am correct in saying (and I found this confusing) you only get offered local stations in the VBB area if you press a button at an early stage that accesses VBB fares (ie machine does not default to that fare when you start typing in a destination, or advise you, the station does not appear to exist as it were. The VBB button - big enough with hindsight - was not immediately obvious to me and it was 3 attempts before I noted that (!), but it still did not list Kostrzyn...

Because it's not in Germany.

So if it's a cross border destination of a local service (like Kostrzyn) you have to select a different button labelled 'Europa' for what is an international fare - that's not immediately obvious either at first glance as it's not on the front screen.

So when I'd got to that point and thought I'd cracked it - the machine then offers me the 29euro fare, not the 11.80euro fare....

As I was checking all this out when the ticket office was not open (for travel next day) I sort of gave up and thought I'd go to the ticket office when it was open, but seeing the DB info desks at the main entrances were not busy I asked then. I explained that I could not get the fare I wanted from the machine and a very helpful member of staff rose to the challenge, left his info point and accompanied me to a nearby ticket machine to try himself.

After some efforts he could only get the higher fare too!! He said I'd have to go to the ticket office when it was open.

So in the end I reckon the TVM only offered the fares on the DB website, not the fares listed on the VBB website (maybe).

Next day at the ticket office a rather dismissive member of staff said 'you just get it at the machines' but when I told him his colleague had been unable to do that, he did get me the 11.80eu fare quickly enough.

Then, waiting for my train, I tried again to see if the TVM would generate it for me, but no luck...

Conclusion
Either the TVMs don't sell the tickets at all, or it's so hard to find on the TVM that not even helpful DB info staff member could find it!

(NB: TVM did have the VBB fare to the last stop on the German side of the border (Kustrin-Kietz) for a price a bit less than 11.80eu)

 

[30907]

I would have expected to find the yellow machines on the S-bahn platforms (nowhere else), but if not, then the solution for the future is either to split at Ostkreuz (wasting a couple of Euros) or at K- Kietz or - if this is possible, no idea - to buy online.

 

[WesternLancer]

I would have expected to find the yellow machines on the S-bahn platforms (nowhere else), but if not, then the solution for the future is either to split at Ostkreuz (wasting a couple of Euros) or at K- Kietz or - if this is possible, no idea - to buy online.

Thanks - yes - other solution was to buy at ticket office which has clearly demarcated VBB area and is open 07.00 to 22.00 so at least a good window of time. Not sure what queues are like in general as I went soon after 7am and was seen within 2 mins of arrival as no one much in there.

 

[EC73LDN]

Yellow ticket machines are run by the BVG (underground, bus and tram operator) rather than the VBB (which organises the fare system across Berlin and Brandenburg). The S-Bahn is a separate company, arm's length from DB, but still using DB red ticket machines. The yellow ticket machines at Berlin Hbf are in the U55 part of the station, which is semi-detached down a pair of corridors from the east side of the below-street part of the main station, in case anyone else needs them in the future!

 

[WesternLancer]

Yellow ticket machines are run by the BVG (underground, bus and tram operator) rather than the VBB (which organises the fare system across Berlin and Brandenburg). The S-Bahn is a separate company, arm's length from DB, but still using DB red ticket machines. The yellow ticket machines at Berlin Hbf are in the U55 part of the station, which is semi-detached down a pair of corridors from the east side of the below-street part of the main station, in case anyone else needs them in the future!

Thanks - handy to know - though in this case that would seem unlikely to be a calling point for a a TVM with a destination a fair bit beyond the end of the underground or the S Bahn I suspect.