Some questions about Mannheim / Germany

[A S Leib]

What's happening with Brussels to Frankfurt services on 14-16 August? ÖBB's website, int.bahn.de and the DB app all show the 14:25 14/08 departure as running, but they don't let me buy seat reservations ("reservation cannot be made" / "keine Angebot möglich"). The Interrail journey planner only shows the service as running to Liège-Guillemins, with changes there and at Aachen needed.

Seat61 says seat reservations are mandatory for intercity Brussels to Germany services for 1 June to 1 September; I'd guess that they're only mandatory for the cross-border part, with Brussels to Liège showing on the Interrail app because it avoids that? I don't know if the service would be fully reserved three months in advance or not though.

Edit: "request unsuccessful" for b-europe.com, having shown reservations for €6 per person for direct Brussels to Frankfurt Airport trains.

 

[rvdborgt]

What's happening with Brussels to Frankfurt services on 14-16 August? ÖBB's website, int.bahn.de and the DB app all show the 14:25 14/08 departure as running, but they don't let me buy seat reservations ("reservation cannot be made" / "keine Angebot möglich"). The Interrail journey planner only shows the service as running to Liège-Guillemins, with changes there and at Aachen needed.

What the Rail Planner app or the Interrail website says is irrelevant. They should never be used to plan.

Seat61 says seat reservations are mandatory for intercity Brussels to Germany services for 1 June to 1 September;

That was last year. There are no mandatory reservations this year, as you can see on the DB website.

Edit: "request unsuccessful" for b-europe.com, having shown reservations for €6 per person for direct Brussels to Frankfurt Airport trains.

If DB can't book them, then nobody can, since DB have to open the reservations first. The problem seems to be between Cologne and Frankfurt, since I can get to the final payment if I try Brussels to Cologne.

There are also engineering works going on in Belgium during that period. The ICs Ostend-Eupen take around 15 minutes longer from Leuven to Liège, so they may be taking the old line; the ICs Kortrijk-Welkenraedt don't run east of Leuven. The ICEs are still shown with their regular timetables, which is partly incompatible with the retimed ICs (e.g. arrival in Liège from Brussels: ICE 17:12, IC 17:13), so I wouldn't be surprised if the ICEs will also be retimed. In that case, they'll probably leave Brussels earlier.

Side note: NMBS reservations are too expensive and they add a booking fee on top. ÖBB and ČD sell them for half the price. DB is interesting if you want to use a seat map or if you have multiple trains to book in one journey.

 

[A S Leib]

Thank you.