Berlin

[deltic]

I am traveling from Paris to Berlin by sleeper shortly - the hotel where I am staying is close to Ostbahnhof. Does the Paris - Berlin ticket allow me to travel on to Ostbahnhof or will it only get me as far as Hauptbahnhof?

many thanks

 

[starrymarkb]

Not sure, but if it doesn't the fares in Berlin are pretty cheap (IIRC €7 for a day ticket for the Regio,S & U Bahn, Bus and Tram across greater Berlin and Potsdam)

I doubt you'd be checked on a long distance service on the Stadtbahn anyway, but services are announced as "Terminating: Do not board" at Stadtbahn stops to discourage local pax from boarding IC services.

 

[Gordon]

.

If this train used the Stadtbahn I'd be very very very surprised. In the old days the destination shown on tickets and coach destination boards said Berlin Stadtbahn, covering Zoo and other stations.

However the train from Paris does not travel along the Stadtbahn so you will be changing trains, therefor you are making a new separate journey so you should buy a new ticket.

But surely you will want a 24 hour city transport ticket anyway so why not get one immediately on arrival.

http://www.bvg.de/index.php/en/17181/name/Fares+Overview.html


.

 

[30907]

But normal DB tickets are valid to any station in Berlin including S -bahn these days?

 

[Golghar]

The last time I enquired about validity of tickets to Berlin stations this is what I was told at the DB ticket office:
If your ticket gives Berlin Stadtbahn as your destination, the ticket is valid for the entire Charlottenburg-Lichtenberg section of the main West-East S-Bahn line too. Berlin Ostbahnhof lies on this section. If it names a particular station, e.g Berlin Hauptbahnhof, then it is valid only upto Berlin Hauptbahnhof.

 

[47360]

If your train does stop at Ostbahnhof as well, I'd definitely take it as far as Ostbahnhof... if only for the fact the S-Bahn between Hauptbahnhof and Ostbahnhof is shut for a couple of weeks for maintenance.

(Actually it's the section between Friedrichstrasse and Ostbahnhof. There are three or four regional trains an hour that are valid with normal Berlin U-Bahn, S-Bahn etc tickets that can be used that stop at Hauptbahnhof - Friedrichstrasse - Alexanderplatz - Ostbahnhof)

 

[deltic]

The last time I enquired about validity of tickets to Berlin stations this is what I was told at the DB ticket office:
If your ticket gives Berlin Stadtbahn as your destination, the ticket is valid for the entire Charlottenburg-Lichtenberg section of the main West-East S-Bahn line too. Berlin Ostbahnhof lies on this section. If it names a particular station, e.g Berlin Hauptbahnhof, then it is valid only upto Berlin Hauptbahnhof.

Thanks - on checking while the sleeper reservation is Paris Est to Berlin Hauptbahnhof the actual rail ticket is just Paris to Berlin

 

[30907]

As I thought, so valid on RE or S-Bahn to any one station in Berlin.

 

[maxiboy]

The last time I enquired about validity of tickets to Berlin stations this is what I was told at the DB ticket office:
If your ticket gives Berlin Stadtbahn as your destination, the ticket is valid for the entire Charlottenburg-Lichtenberg section of the main West-East S-Bahn line too. Berlin Ostbahnhof lies on this section. If it names a particular station, e.g Berlin Hauptbahnhof, then it is valid only upto Berlin Hauptbahnhof.

Just to clarify this. Berlin Stadtbahn is the old name for the BERLIN station group that encompasses all rail stations on and within the Berlin Ringbahn (= all stations in Zone A) as well as Nöldnerplatz and Lichtenberg stations in Zone B.

Berlin Stadtbahn will not show up on any recent tickets as the station group has been renamed about eight years ago when the North-South tunnel railway launched.

 

[davetheguard]

Just to clarify this. Berlin Stadtbahn is the old name for the BERLIN station group that encompasses all rail stations on and within the Berlin Ringbahn (= all stations in Zone A) as well as Nöldnerplatz and Lichtenberg stations in Zone B.

Berlin Stadtbahn will not show up on any recent tickets as the station group has been renamed about eight years ago when the North-South tunnel railway launched.

Useful information, but what has the old name for the Berlin station group (Berlin Stadtbahn) been renamed to?

 

[starrymarkb]

"Berlin"

 

[maxiboy]

Yes, it's now simply "Berlin". Might be confusing to some as many stations such as Berlin-Spandau that have Berlin in its name are not included – "Berlin" only means Zone A.

The current list of station groups (Sammelbezeichnung) in Germany and grouped stations (Abgang-/Zielbahnhöfe mit tariflicher Gleichstellung) is available at http://www.bahn.de/p/view/mdb/bahni...44636_gleichstellungen_01_04_14_flensburg.pdf

Station grouping only applies to tickets that exceed a minimum distance, and to international (SCIC-NRT) tickets. It is common practice that it also also applies to Advance tickets (Sparpreis) even if the route restriction on the ticket does not mention any NV* or *NV (local trains) before or after the respective Intercity train.

For whatever reason, DB calls station grouping "standardised fare equality" on their English language website. I don't think anyone, even frequent travellers, will understand that.

 

[dutchflyer]

But normal DB tickets are valid to any station in Berlin including S -bahn these days?

NO. Depends what is printed on them. IF you hold a Bahncard (*railcard for DE) then it inclused 1 trip from station to destination (or reverse if from). This is also in about any major city in DE-no ''+PLUS" thus needed.
If there is stadtbahn on them-this means the shortened sector Westkreuz-Ostkreuz. But this summer there are big works on the line.
If there is B+station then its just till there.
There is also another variation which includes any S-bahn stop IN and on the ring=circle, forgotten what the name is for that.
in DDR times Stadtbahn meant indeed any stop on the S-bahn. But local fares on it were frozen at 20 Pf (MarkDDR), 10 eur-cents to official rate, 2 black market.
Since a few monthes, if you book without BC online, you mostly get offered a reduced dayticket to add-like bus+ in UK.

 

[30907]

NO. Depends what is printed .

must have changed again. Certainly last time I had a Berlin ticket I was able to specify an S bahn station outside the inner ring as a destination or via, and the ticket itself showed BERLIN. Can't remember detail, sorry, but it was in September 2010.

Sorry, hadn't spotted maxiboy's post. It was a Europe Special and they are remarkably generous over permitted routes.

 

[deltic]

Had a pleasant trip to Berlin and back with no troubles. Given the amount of graffiti in Berlin the trains themselves seem fairly clean and graffiti free. However, German stereotypical punctuality was missing not helped by slow boarding times for the rolling stock used for regional services.

There seemed relatively few ticket machines at stations which led to long queues at some of them - having to buy each ticket individually did not help- ie buying 1 adult and 2 child tickets required quite a few extra steps than would be required on UK machines (albeit you just said the next ticket was to the same destination).

 

[maxiboy]

NO. Depends what is printed on them. IF you hold a Bahncard (*railcard for DE) then it inclused 1 trip from station to destination (or reverse if from). This is also in about any major city in DE-no ''+PLUS" thus needed.
If there is stadtbahn on them-this means the shortened sector Westkreuz-Ostkreuz. But this summer there are big works on the line.
If there is B+station then its just till there.
There is also another variation which includes any S-bahn stop IN and on the ring=circle, forgotten what the name is for that.
in DDR times Stadtbahn meant indeed any stop on the S-bahn. But local fares on it were frozen at 20 Pf (MarkDDR), 10 eur-cents to official rate, 2 black market.
Since a few monthes, if you book without BC online, you mostly get offered a reduced dayticket to add-like bus+ in UK.

This is not entirely correct, there's

- Station grouping: Any ticket that has been issued to "BERLIN", including Sparpreis (Advance) fares, will include travel to any destination station within Zone A (including the Ringbahn) as well as Nöldnerplatz and Lichtenberg stations in Zone B.
Station grouping includes tickets from TVMs even if the station denomination is ambiguous ("Berlin (Berlin Alexanderpl.)" - see attachment – this means that it was booked to Berlin Alexanderplatz, but still it is valid to any station in Berlin Zone A).
Station grouping does not apply if a minimum travel distance has not been included. It also does not apply to fare flows that are determined by the local Verkehrsverbund (passenger transport association) as these fares are often zonal fares with different regulations in place.
Station grouping only encompasses heavy rail travel, not light rail, tram or bus.

- City-Ticket: If a National (not International) ticket was bought with a BahnCard discount, the start and the destination may be printed with a "+City" suffix. It will generally allow one journey each before and after the rail journey, just like a single ticket of the local Verkehrsverbund, in buses, trams, light rail and local heavy rail (S/RB/RE/IRE, but not IC and ICE), within the borders of the city. (Exception: Berlin, where it is only valid in Zone A!)

- City Mobil: If a ticket has not been bought with a BahnCard discount, or City-Ticket is not included for another reason (insufficient minimum distance, International ticket, ticket for local rail), it is possible to book City Mobil that is similar to Plusbus in the UK. You will generally have the choice to book it as a single ticket or a day ticket. It is usually the same price as if you would buy it locally.