DB Sparpreis - Altered departure time

[Ant1966]

Anyone on the forum have any advice on this slightly confusing e-mail?
According to Bahn.de the 08:56 is still running (you can still buy tickets for it!!) As are 2 previous ICEs. So not sure why they have put us on a later train, losing the connection to Brussels? Can we get any train now? (is 'booked connection' both legs, or just the 2nd?) How would we get a reservation on another ICE? Any Advice welcomed!

E-mail below:

on your journey from Berlin Hbf to Bruxelles Midi on 10 April 2024 there are timetable changes:

• Your Train departs from Berlin Hbf later. New departure time is 09:45 am.
  Please note the changed time schedules.
• Your Train arrives later at Köln Hbf. New arrival time is 02:09 pm.
  Please note the changed time schedules.
• We use a different train.
  Your connection from Berlin Hbf to Köln Hbf will be carried out by ICE 952.
• Due to a timetable change your connection in Köln Hbf can not be reached anymore.

Please note the occurred changes in the connection overview.
The requirement for you to travel on a specific train on your booked connection has been lifted. This means you can also use your ticket on other Deutsche Bahn long-distance trains (e.g. ICE/IC/EC), as well as local trains and S-Bahn trains.
Please note that you must book a new reservation if your connection requires one (e.g. trains to France).
For more information Digital passenger rights.
Sincerely yours

Deutsche Bahn

Your former journey (not possible anymore)
Order Number: xxxxxx

08:56 AM	Berlin Hbf	Pl. 13
09:45 AM	ICE 652 Direction Köln Hbf	Pl. 14
	ICE 952 Direction Köln Hbf
01:15 PM	Köln Hbf	Pl. 7
02:09 PM		Pl. 8 D-G
01:42 PM	Köln Hbf	Pl. 6
	ICE 314 Direction Bruxelles Midi
03:35 PM	Bruxelles Midi	Pl. 10

 

[poffle]

It is odd that the scheduled train still appears on the the DB website. However it may take a cancellation a while to work through the system.

In my experience DB are pretty flexible once there is a disruption. Once you have the notification staff on train will respect it.

I would probably be inclined to go for an earlier train as I think trains through the Ruhrgebiet have a tendency to pick up delays.

The trains from Berlin to Cologne will be starting in Berlin so there is less of an issue with finding a free seat particularly if you look at the end of the train where fewer seats will be reserved.

The Cologne - Brussels trains can be more trouble as the train will usually have started from Frankfurt and they are only half length ICEs.

 

[30907]

If you look on https://bauinfos.deutschebahn.com/ there are two relevant (PDF) notices for ICE route 19:
1. Trains cancelled between Berlin Ostbf and Hbf - should mean they will depart from the LL (Hbf Tief). Hardly significant, and it's in the planner anyway.
2. Some trains cancelled between Köln and Bonn, some diverted via Messe/Deutz en route to Koblenz. AFAIK your train doesn't fit either description.

In good DB fashion, timetable alterations for Cologne don't seem to have been uploaded. Also in true DB fashion, the slightest change has generated a mail

Anyway, you are free to take alternative DB trains on both legs - and I would do so if you have a London connection to make!

 

[Ant1966]

If you look on https://bauinfos.deutschebahn.com/ there are two relevant (PDF) notices for ICE route 19:
1. Trains cancelled between Berlin Ostbf and Hbf - should mean they will depart from the LL (Hbf Tief). Hardly significant, and it's in the planner anyway.
2. Some trains cancelled between Köln and Bonn, some diverted via Messe/Deutz en route to Koblenz. AFAIK your train doesn't fit either description.

In good DB fashion, timetable alterations for Cologne don't seem to have been uploaded. Also in true DB fashion, the slightest change has generated a mail

Anyway, you are free to take alternative DB trains on both legs - and I would do so if you have a London connection to make!

Thanks for taking the time to reply both, very much appreciated. Reassuring to hear your advice; the e-mail from DB was really not helpful at all! Will report back, fingers crossed for no strikes and few cancellations/delays...

 

[THC]

Thanks for taking the time to reply both, very much appreciated. Reassuring to hear your advice; the e-mail from DB was really not helpful at all! Will report back, fingers crossed for no strikes and few cancellations/delays...

I travelled from Berlin HBf to London on Monday last, intending to do so via Amsterdam. The first leg, ICE148 0806 Berlin HBf-Amsterdam Centraal, was cancelled so after talking to the nice lady in the ticket office I took the 0850 Berlin HBf-Köln HBf and changed there to the 1445 Köln HBf-Bruxelles Midi service. No problems from either train manager about the changed route and I picked up my original E* but at Bruxelles instead.

My journey out was the reverse of yours - I received several emails - but all that happened was my onward connection to Berlin HBf went not from Köln HBf but from Köln Messe Deutz instead.

THC