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German Railways 'Product'

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YorkshireBear

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On the DB website when looking at train times, there is a product column.

I get they are different trains, but has anyone got a list of what they actually mean? The two i am getting are M and EC. But a list of the rest for furture reference would be useful.

My searches on google and forum have not proven conclusive except on specific requests.
 
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gordonthemoron

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It's a mishmash of TOCs and DB's own products (RB,RE,EC,IC,ICE) M means Metronom and/or Meridian both of which are TOCs. You'll also get S for S-bahn
 

Groningen

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Metronom:
Bremen - Hamburg
Cuxhaven - Hamburg
Goettingen - Uelzen - Hamburg.

Meridian:
München – Rosenheim – Salzburg
München – Rosenheim – Kufstein
München – Holzkirchen – Rosenheim
 

30907

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There are 3 "classes" of product, and fares are priced differently. For DB trains,

A is ICE, B is IC/EC (the latter international and - in theory - with restaurant car). These are operated by DB Fernverkehr, which is what we used to call InterCity.
C is anything else, generically "Nahverkehr" or regional transport, and that's where all the franchised operators have introduced their own prefix letters.
You'll find this if you click on "more means of transport" on the search page.

There's a tiny handful of non DB long distance trains too.
 

YorkshireBear

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It was during my searches for trains from Munich Airport to Salzburg. Flying to Salzburg being quite difficult from Northern England whereas Munich is easy.

Prices are not out for when i am visiting yet but i assume services like RailJet are much more expensive!
 

WestCoast

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It was during my searches for trains from Munich Airport to Salzburg. Flying to Salzburg being quite difficult from Northern England whereas Munich is easy.

Prices are not out for when i am visiting yet but i assume services like RailJet are much more expensive!

There aren't many direct flights from the UK to Salzburg out of the ski season, possibly only from Stansted and Gatwick during the summer and autumn months.

The good news is your entire trip via S-Bahn to Munich Hbf and onwards by Meridian to Salzburg Hbf is covered by the Bayern-Ticket, and it doesn't matter when you buy that, Details here: https://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/prices/germany-regional/bavaria-ticket.shtml?. I personally wouldn't opt for a EC or RailJet service unless you really want to, the Meridian Stadler FLIRTs are perfectly adequate and the elevated seats give a great view of the pleasant Bavarian countryside (sit on the right in the direction of travel departing Munich).
 
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Bletchleyite

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And do travel via Hbf. Via Pasing is if I recall rightly quicker, but you may not get a seat if you get on there - they do get busy.

Worth noting, by the way, that despite being in Austria, Salzburg is considered a domestic German journey for ticketing purposes.
 

WestCoast

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And do travel via Hbf. Via Pasing is if I recall rightly quicker, but you may not get a seat if you get on there - they do get busy.

Worth noting, by the way, that despite being in Austria, Salzburg is considered a domestic German journey for ticketing purposes.

I suspect you might be thinking of München Ost actually, the Salzburg trains don't go via Pasing. :D Pasing is for the trains towards Garmisch or Ulm etc.

However, the advice is good. I'd recommend taking S1 from Munich Airport to the Hbf, and boarding the Meridian to Salzburg there at its origin. You can also take S8 too, it's only a few minutes longer. They do get very busy at times and no German regional trains offer seat reservations.
 
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30907

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Prices are not out for when i am visiting yet but i assume services like RailJet are much more expensive!

Not necessarily if you are travelling solo, as a test booking will show you, but cheap fares on Fernverkehr are booked train only, which means you have to allow lots of leeway coming from an airport. For 2+ people a Bayern Ticket will be cheaper (except before 0900 SX - but you'd not get a flight that ea rly from the UK anyway.)
 

Bletchleyite

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Railjet isn't that great anyway, it's standard UIC aircon coaches with (in 2nd) the seats from fGW HSTs/ (in 1st) seats which don't stay upright properly, and "graffiti" on the windows.
 

YorkshireBear

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Thanks for all the advice folks i really appreciate it. Not going till November but i am just researching it as i must admit this will be one of my first proper journeys on the railways of continental Europe.

I also happen to be going to Munich in two weeks time and ive been promised a ride out to Garmisch or Mittenwald on the train :) There are 5 of us and it looks like this Bayern Ticket could be a great idea.
 

30907

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.

I also happen to be going to Munich in two weeks time and ive been promised a ride out to Garmisch or Mittenwald on the train :) There are 5 of us and it looks like this Bayern Ticket could be a great idea.

Assuming the weather is halfway decent, go beyond Garmisch - either to Mittenwald or to/via Reutte in Austria (it's valid, and DB run the service). And be aware that the ticket is valid on most rural bus routes too.
 

bradford758

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And do travel via Hbf. Via Pasing is if I recall rightly quicker, but you may not get a seat if you get on there - they do get busy.

Worth noting, by the way, that despite being in Austria, Salzburg is considered a domestic German journey for ticketing purposes.
I seem to recall there was a cheap day return fare München to Saltzburg.

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gordonthemoron

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Assuming the weather is halfway decent, go beyond Garmisch - either to Mittenwald or to/via Reutte in Austria (it's valid, and DB run the service). And be aware that the ticket is valid on most rural bus routes too.

If you go to Reutte, you can carry on to Kempten and do a circular tour, it 'may' also be possible to get off at Ulrichsbrücke-Füssen and get a bus/taxi/walk to Füssen and get a train back from their (and possibly visit Neuschwanstein)
 

Bletchleyite

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I seem to recall there was a cheap day return fare München to Saltzburg.

Return tickets (other than at twice the single) aren't really part of German rail vocabulary, however, there are a range of day tickets which are basically what you say but allow unlimited travel.

In addition to the Bayern Ticket they do an operator specific Guten Tag Ticket which is a bit cheaper.
 

bradford758

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I used the terminology cheap day return as I thought I had seen something similar offered on the ticket machine (Gluten Tag! sounds familiar) for a specific journey each way, reservation required, on the fast trains RJ/EC.
There's also the slightly cheaper local ticket that covers local transport in München and trains to Salzburg.


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Bletchleyite

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The Guten Tag Ticket is on Meridian, not the RJ/IC. It's an unlimited travel day ticket.

There will no doubt be Sparpreis Advance-style singles on the RJ/IC as those journeys are DB-priced and most DB Fernverkehr services have those, like in the UK.
 
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