Dutch flyer to Cologne

[tannedfrog]

I would like to use the "any Dutch station" ticket and continue to Cologne with the minimum of waiting around stations, on this route:

Hoek van Holland Strand Sa, 11.04.15 ab 08:53
Rotterdam Centraal Sa, 11.04.15 an 09:27
*Umsteigezeit*21 Min.
Rotterdam Centraal Sa, 11.04.15 ab 09:48
Eindhoven Sa, 11.04.15 an 11:00
*Umsteigezeit*16 Min.
Eindhoven Sa, 11.04.15 ab 11:16
Heerlen Sa, 11.04.15 an 12:21*
*Umsteigezeit*8 Min.
Heerlen Sa, 11.04.15 ab 12:29
Aachen Hbf Sa, 11.04.15 an 13:01
*Umsteigezeit*17 Min.
Aachen Hbf Sa, 11.04.15 ab 13:18
Köln Hbf Sa, 11.04.15 an 14:12

I think the Heerlen to Aachen train is DB - if so is my Dutch Flyer ticket valid as far as Eygelshoven Markt?

Heerlen Sa, 11.04.15 ab 12:29
Heerlen de Kissel ab 12:31
Landgraaf ab 12:34
Eygelshoven Markt ab 12:37
Herzogenrath ab 12:44
Kohlscheid ab 12:49
Aachen West ab 12:55
Aachen Schanz ab 12:57
Aachen Hbf Sa, 11.04.15 an 13:01

Any ideas on how will I buy a ticket for the German leg, bearing in mind that I only have 8 mins to change train in Heerlen, and the following train is an hour later? Will the guard be able/willing to sell such a ticket (I observed something similar on the Verviers to Aachen route where some Spanish passengers were trying to use a Go Pass to Aachen and the guard was happy to sell them a normal price ticket for the last part of the journey)?

Many thanks

 

[radamfi]

I think the Heerlen to Aachen train is DB - if so is my Dutch Flyer ticket valid as far as Eygelshoven Markt?

It's in the Netherlands so it should be valid.

Any ideas on how will I buy a ticket for the German leg, bearing in mind that I only have 8 mins to change train in Heerlen, and the following train is an hour later?

You could buy it online and print out the ticket from

https://www.b-europe.com

or

http://www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml

You could probably also use a mobile ticket from the DB Navigator app.

You can also buy it at any ticket machine in the Netherlands, for example Hoek van Holland, but then you will have to pay a 0.50 euro supplement for Visa/Mastercard.

 

[30907]

Looking at the AVV Aachen website confirms my memory that the TVMs are on the stations not the trains, and I would assume this applies in NL as well.

I've only done the journey via Venlo where there is a DB TVM in the booking hall, and you had to buy a NRW Anschlussticket (€2.90) on top of the internal fare.

Assuming you're travelling solo and don't need to use tram or bus on arrival in Köln, then I'd just buy and self-print from www.bahn.de at €20.10 from Heerlen, as the internal fare is €17.00 anyway so you'd only lose 20 Ct. Valid any train on date shown, possibly longer.

Sorry, beaten to it.

 

[radamfi]

Explanation in English of how to buy tickets to Belgium, Luxembourg and the west of Germany from a Dutch ticket machine, with a list of available destinations:

https://www.nsinternational.nl/en/where-to-buy/stations-selfservice-ticket-machines

(ignore the bit at the bottom about card acceptance. That's out of date and now all stations accept Visa/Mastercard.)

Of course, you can buy your ticket to start at any station, not just the station you are at. It is not like most British machines where you can only get the ticket to start at that particular station.