Bicycles, Tandems and Recumbent Trikes on Trains in Germany and Neighbouring Countries Part 3: Long Distance Daytime Services

Accompanied Bicycle, Tandem and Trike Transport on Long Distance Daytime German Trains
 

Rail services in Germany are divided into two groups: Long distance (Fernverkehr) - non subsidized and regional trains (Nahverkehr) - local services provided by an operator and subsidized by a regional transport authority but ultimately by the provincial government. The long distance services are there to make a profit. Both types of service cooperate. Your journey might involve travelling on both long distance and regional services.  Both types of service have in some cases the capacity to carry bicycles and even tandems and trikes.

Deutsche Bahn (DB) Long Distance Services  Deutsche Bahn operates by far the majority of long distance passenger trains in Germany (https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml). It is a state-owned operator that makes a profit on its long distance routes. Only a small proportion of these services offer bicycle transport. It appears to us that the ideal passenger is seen as someone who carries one credit card (rather than two) and MacBook Air. DB long distance services use two types of train: the high speed Inter City Express (ICE) and the slightly slower and cheaper InterCity/EuroCity  trains (IC/EC). One of the five ICE classes will take a limited number of "normal" bicycles (in a cubby hole) as do many of the IC/EC trains. In the German conditions of carriage we discovered a surprising sentence (translated into English): 

"Special types of bicycles (e.g. tandem, recumbent) are not permitted on all long-distance trains that carry bicycles for reasons of capacity. You can obtain further information from all DB sales outlets." 

Next time we are in Mannheim and the ticket hall on the Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) is not over full, we will chat to the staff to see what this sentence actually means. We will report back here when we have more information. I have checked with the ADFC, the German cycling club, the partner of DB in matters cycle transport, but I have yet to have a reply and I am not holding my breath. 

Basically tandems and special designs (trikes, quads, trailers) are not normally transported by DB, but there is at least one deceitful exception. In the days when I used to commute by train to Frankfurt, I met a family who had a Hase Pino, a tandem which is a cross between a recumbent and an upright. I asked the mother about putting the tandem on an Inter City train and was assured that the wheelbase was short enough to fit the bike in a single bike slot. Railway employees had never noticed it was a tandem. The latest models are demountable and can be divided before transport. A number of other tandem models are sold with couplings allowing dismounting. Whether the divided bike then counts as luggage in the same way as a folding bike? We don't know.

Flix Train (https://www.flixtrain.de/) offers a limited number of daytime connections in both directions between:
Köln (Cologne) - Düsseldorf - Duisburg - Essen - Dortmund - Bielefeld* - Hannover - Berlin Spandau - Berlin Hbf - Berlin Südkreuz
*At present trains only stop in Bielefeld when travelling towards Berlin. 
Köln (Cologne) - Düsseldorf - Duisburg - Essen - Gelsenkirchen - Münster – Osnabrück - Hamburg

These trains are cheaper than the DB trains, but are slower than the high speed ICEs. With their tandem or trike the happy trike or tandem rider is not welcome on these trains. "Normal" bicycles are carried, but to quote the company's conditions of carriage: 

 

"Bicycles must be of a standard size, without additional attachments, and may not exceed 20 kg (45 lbs). We recommend that you book your bicycle slot early due to limited capacity." 

Bicycles, Tandems and Recumbent Trikes on Trains in Germany and Neighbouring Countries Part 2: Joining and Changing Trains

If you wish to travel by train within Germany with your bicycles and/or tricycles and you have a choice of stations you can start from or need to change at, then either check out the station/s beforehand, if you can,  and/or download the Bahnhof live app. In Bahnhof live fill out the name of the station/s and the relevant page/s should appear. Click on Austattung and you will be shown a list of facilities. Look for the green barrier free wheelchair logo (Stufenfreier Zugang)  and Aufzüge (lifts/elevators) to be sure you don't have to carry your steed up or down flights of steps. There can be a lot of stairs, as this photograph of a station in Ludwigshafen shows. Just to explain the lift/elevator was temporarily out of order:

To further illustrate this approach: If you compare Augsburg and Munich (München) HbF - main stations with the app. Augsburg does not have barrier free access, but Munich does. It is much easier to change platforms in Munich. Things should improve in Augsburg in 2024!
It is recommended you should remove the bags before you load the bikes on the train. Don't do it until shortly before your train arrives. Some of the lifts/elevators are very narrow and your bikes with panniers are quite wide, so pop the bikes in these one forward one backward, so each pannier faces a front wheel.

Once on the platform check where the bike carriage (car) will stop. On bigger stations there will be diagrams showing the order of the carriages on a train. More often than not on local and regional trains the bike space is at one end of the train marked by bicycle logos on the side of the carriages. A WORD TO THE WISE (and the UNWISE) DON'T RIDE YOUR BIKE ON THE STATION, ON THE PLATFORM OR THE CONCOURSE. YOU CAN BE FINED 50€ ON THE SPOT. 

Take the bags off the bikes/tandems/trikes shortly before the arrival of the train. Depending on how easy it is to move and fold your trike do it before you pop on the train.  Unless the train is starting at your station, you may only have between two and four minutes to load the bikes/tandems/trikes. When the train arrives there may be a tsunami of people getting off the train. Let them off. If there is also another tsunami of travellers trying to get on the train, then politely but firmly make sure you can get on. Make sure you can get the other bikes in your party on the train and make sure you have got all your bags from the platform. Leaving the bar bag behind with your camera, passports and tickets could quite spoil your day.
Once you are all on the train: If you have booked a slot or slots look for yours and pop the bike in it. If you are on a local or regional train look for the conductor and check that it's OK for you to load your bikes/tandems/trikes. Obviously if you can do this before the train leaves it is better to do so, but if the train is coming from elsewhere you have two or four minutes to get your gear on the train, so after the motto it is easier to get forgiven than get permission, load your bikes. In any case do not block the entrances and exits. A bungee or a strap to keep bicycles from falling over is a good wheeze. It is usual for cyclists to help other cyclists, so muck in and don't let the side down. You may well be asked where you intend to depart the train so that bikes that will be first off are at the outside of the heap.

You should always try to travel outside the weekday rush hours, after nine am and before three in the afternoon. Unfortunately regional trains can also be busy on summer weekends. There are limits to the number of bikes that can be carried. It is the conductor's decision to let you stay on the train, so be polite. You have no rights, no say in the matter. Good Luck! 
We must stress that conductor/guards have the final say. We once chatted to a German conductor/guard in Wissembourg just south of French-German border. He told us that at Wissembourg Station he once had over 50 bicycles in his Diesel two car set with a maximum capacity of 2 x 12 bicycles. It was a Wednesday, a popular day for pensioners from the Ludwigshafen-Mannheim conurbation to cross over into the wine growing areas of the Rhineland-Palatinate and Alsace to cycle or hike. (Why Wednesday? The word is that Dr.'s surgeries are closed in the afternoon and so there is little to do.😎😎) The passengers refused to take their bikes off the train. The service to Neustadt an der Weinstraße is an hourly service and they all wanted to get home for their tea in time. He instructed the driver to leave; rang the railway police in Germany; the train crossed the border; stopped at the first halt and waited until the railway police who are also border guards arrived to reduce the number of bicycles on the train to safe levels.

Bicycles, Tandems and Recumbent Trikes on Trains in Germany and Neighbouring Countries Part 1. Overnight sleeper trains

Rail services in Germany are divided into two groups: Long distance (Fernverkehr) - non subsidized provided by an operator and regional trains (Nahverkehr) - local services provided by an operator and subsidized by a regional transport authority but ultimately by the provincial government. The long distance services are there to make a profit. If these services don't pay their way they will sooner or later no longer appear in the timetables. All of these services co-operate to some extent. Deutsche Bahn (DB) long distance trains mesh together with the various regional services as if they were only one operator. Journeys involving travel on both long distance DB services and regional services can be booked on the DB website (https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml). Both long distance and regional services can have capacity to carry bicycles and even tandems and trikes.

However although the DB website shows other companies' night train operations, it is necessary in the case of Alpen-Sylt-Nachtexpress, BTE and Urlaubs-Express to book using the company websites shown. After a period of decline overnight trains offering sleeping accommodation are returning to the rails in Germany.

Sleeper Services  

Services at present (Summer 2020) are restricted. 

Deutsche Bahn (DB) Deutsche Bahn operates the majority of long distance passenger trains in Germany (https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml), but although the operator does run some overnight trains in Germany, it no longer offers sleeper train services. Its rolling stock was sold off to among others Austrian Railways (ÖBB). The DB daytime services will be covered in another chapter. 

Austrian Railways (ÖBB) operates long distance sleeper trains in Europe (https://www.nightjet.com/en/) under the name "nightjet". The site offers a download showing the routes taken (shorturl.at/clETU). ÖBB took over some of the DB rolling stock when DB stopped operating sleeper trains. One can travel with a bicycle, tandem or trike on the following ÖBB overnight trains. The slots need to be reserved:

• NJ 466 Vienna - Linz - Zurich 
• NJ 467 Zurich - Linz - Vienna
• NJ 490 Vienna - Linz - Hanover - Hamburg
• NJ 491 Hamburg - Hanover - Linz - Vienna
• NJ 40420 Innsbruck - Munich - Hamburg
• NJ 40491 Hamburg - Munich - Innsbruck

"For recumbents, tandems or bicycle trailers, two spaces must be booked. These can only transported  in special luggage compartments."  
(My translation of an email from ÖBB in German.) 

It's not many train pairs but it is a start. It strikes me to charge for two slots is a more sensible solution than a blanket "NO!". I suspect many train operating companies have issues with bicycles.
In addition the nightjet trains running between Hamburg and Zurich in both directions (NJ 401 and NJ 40470) will take a limited number of "normal" bicycles but nothing larger. These  slots need to be reserved.

Unfortunately this photograph (© ÖBB, reproduced with permission) does not show the luxurious accommodation for bicycles and the like, but bicycles travell in carpeted comfort under the Deutsche Bahn flag.

Interior of the bicycle storage space on a DB sleeper train

  





































Although the ÖBB Nightjet trains can be booked using the DB website, my feeling is that it is better to book using the ÖBB website. It is also advisable to book as early as possible as these trains are popular and the number of cut price tickets is capped.

Alpen-Sylt-Nachtexpress The private Alpen-Sylt-Nachtexpress runs overnight twice weekly in each direction in summer from and to Westerland, Sylt via Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich to Salzburg. (https://www.nachtexpress.de in German. Use a translator program.) The Alpen-Sylt-Night Express is made up of 10 couchette carriages (including a special carriage for people with disabilities or reduced mobility) with sufficient room for baggage. A train team  is present on board  for information and service. The list of baggage carried is long and comprehensive: 

Prams, Strollers // yes and free of charge

Wheelchair // yes and free of charge
Rollator (wheeled walking frame)// yes and free of charge
Kiteboard // yes and for a fee
Surfboard // yes and for a fee
Stand Up Paddle Boards// yes, if it is in a bag and for a fee
Foldable canoes // yes and for a fee
Sunshades / beach umbrellas of normal size // yes and for a fee
Bicycle // yes, as long as space is available and for a fee

At present only bicycles can be transported, because of problems of limited space and access through narrow doors. The operator intends to offer a bigger baggage car allowing transport of tandems from September. It still doesn't look good for trike transport, although it might be possible to transport folding trikes. If you are interested in travelling on this train write to the operator in English enclosing details of your folded trike/trikes.

Urlaubs-Express (https://urlaubs-express.de/ in English and German) is run by Trains4you a private charter train group. The car carrying trains run once a week in each direction. Bicycles and tandems can be transported at present in lockers or lashed to supports on the vehicle carriers. Trikes could be secured in the same way and carried on the vehicle carrying rolling stock. This means that bicycles etc can only be transported between the start and end of the journey. However, the company is considering putting bicycles in compartments in one or more passenger carriages which would mean that cyclists with bicycles could join and leave the train at intermediate stations. The company's trains are listed on the DB website, but one needs to book using the Urlaubs-Express website. Beware if using the DB website when travelling von Munich, for example the DB website suggests taking a DB train from Munich Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) and changing in Augsburg whereas as can be seen below the train starts in Munich East station. This year the company is running services between:

Düsseldorf - Innsbruck (- Verona) - Düsseldorf. The service to Verona has been cancelled this year, but it is planned to run it again in 2021.

Düsseldorf (Vehicle loading/unloading) – Köln (Cologne) – Koblenz – Frankfurt/M – München (Munich) – Kufstein – Wörgl – Innsbruck ((Vehicle loading/unloading) (– Bozen (Bolzano) – Verona) until 17 September 2020. Outward Journey: Friday Night/Saturday, Return Saturday Night /Sunday

Düsseldorf - Villach - Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf Hbf (Vehicle loading/unloading) - Cologne - Koblenz - Frankfurt/M - Munich East - Salzburg - Bischofshofen - Bad Gastein -  Mallnitz-Obervellach -  Villach (Vehicle loading/unloading). Outward Journey: Sunday Night/Monday, Return Journey: Monday Night/Tuesday

Hamburg - Innsbruck - (Verona) - Innsbruck - Hamburg
Hamburg-Altona (Vehicle loading/unloading) - Hamburg Hbf - Lüneburg - Hanover Hbf - Göttingen - Fulda - Munich East - Kufstein - Innsbruck Hbf (Vehicle loading/unloading). The service to Verona has been cancelled this year, but it is hoped to run it again in 2021: Bolzano/Bozen - Verona P.N. (Vehicle loading/unloading) 
Hamburg - Villach - Hamburg
Hamburg-Altona (Vehicle loading/unloading) - Hamburg Hbf - Lüneburg - Hanover Hbf - Göttingen - Fulda - Munich East - Salzburg - Bischofshofen - Bad Gastein -  Mallnitz-Obervellach -  Villach (Vehicle loading/unloading) on various dates.
Hamburg – Munich – Hamburg
Hamburg-Altona (vehicle loading/unloading) - Hamburg Hbf - Lüneburg - Hannover Hbf - Göttingen - Würzburg Hbf - Augsburg Hbf - Munich East (vehicle loading/unloading)   

 

Bahntouristikexpress BTE (https://bahntouristikexpress.de/autoreisezug-en.html in Danish, English and German) runs a car sleeper train service directly from Hamburg Altona to Lörrach on the German-Swiss border near Basel in summer most nights of the week. It is not clear whether the company will transport accompanying bicycles, tandems or trikes. We have written to the company, but have yet to receive a reply.

 

A new couchette train from Sylt and Hamburg to Munich and Salzburg

OeBB Austrian Railways have reinvigorated the overnight sleeper train train market in Europe and other operators are putting a toe in the water.

Alpen-Sylt-Nachtexpress The private Alpen-Sylt-Nachtexpress runs overnight twice weekly in each direction in summer from and to Westerland, Sylt via Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich to Salzburg. (https://www.nachtexpress.de in German. Use a translator app.) The Alpen-Sylt-Night Express is made up of 10 couchette carriages (including a special carriage for people with disabilities or reduced mobility) and the locomotive with sufficient room for baggage. The train team  is present on board  for information and service. I suspect the trains may well take tandems and trikes. The list of baggage carried is long and comprehensive:

Prams, Strollers // yes and free of charge
Wheelchair // yes and free of charge
Rollator (wheeled walking frame)// yes and free of charge
Kiteboard // yes and for a fee
Surfboard // yes and for a fee
Stand Up Paddle Boards// yes, if it is in a bag and for a fee
Foldable canoes // yes and for a fee
Sunshades / beach umbrellas of normal size // yes and for a fee
Bicycle // yes, as long as space is available and for a fee

Just to make sure I will drop the operator a line to enquire and report back. 

A word we need in English

We bought two recumbent trikes recently. I now realise there is no word in English to describe a human-powered vehicle. We do talk about "bikes" but this is inexact. A bicycle by definition is a two wheeled vehicle. "Bike" is an informal way of saying "bicycle". Other European languages have words for human-powered vehicles. The French use "vélo"; the Dutch and people in the Rhineland use "fiets"; the Swiss Germans use "Velo", probably to show they are not Germans and the Danes use "cykel". Quite why there is no general english word is hard to decide. The Brits did invent the modern diamond framed bicycle, but it wasn't only bicycles. There were three and four wheeled human-powered vehicles being built in the 1880's.

Reserving tandem and recumbent trike slots on trains in Europe.

I have spent some time recently investigating accompanied recumbent trike transport by train in Germany. Deutsche Bahn (DB) the main long-distance train operator in Germany does not carry these vehicles on their long-distance trains (Fernverkehr). It is possible though I suspect difficult to transport these on some regional and local trains ((Nahverkehr), but reservations are not possible. If one is unlucky and the train is full, that's it you wait for the next one, or the next but one, or…

I contacted all of the companies running long-distance trains in Germany and was overjoyed to receive a positive answer from ÖBB Austrian Railways. The company runs Nightjet sleeper and couchette trains across Europe. One can travel with tandem or trike on the following trains:

• NJ 466 Vienna - Linz - Zurich 
• NJ 467 Zurich - Linz - Vienna
• NJ 490 Vienna - Linz - Hanover - Hamburg
• NJ 491 Hamburg - Hanover - Linz - Vienna
• NJ 40420 Innsbruck - Munich - Hamburg
• NJ 40491 Hamburg - Munich - Innsbruck

"For recumbents, tandems or bicycle trailers, two spaces must be booked. These can only transported  in special luggage compartments." 
(My translation of an email from ÖBB in German.) 

It's not many train pairs but it is a start. It strikes me to charge for two slots is a more sensible solution than a blanket "NO!". I suspect many train operating companies have issues with bicycles.

In Germany Car Parking Slots are for Cars only

I was amused yesterday to read in the Südhessen Morgen, our local daily paper, that the body representing owners of rented properties in Germany had issued a statement stating that if one rents a property with a designated marked car slot, this slot should only be used to park a motor car that is roadworthy and licenced. I take it that the slots mentioned are in covered parking areas which are often found adjacent to apartment blocks. It should not be used to store bicycles or drink crates. This would  break the terms of the rental contract. Quite what one does if does not own a motor vehicle, but does own the (n+1) ideal number of bicycles has not been explained. Presumably one fills the bicycle room in the cellar. 

One cannot also use a car parking slot in a  city centre to house one or more bicycles even if one feeds the parking meter. These slots too are for cars alone. You may however stand your bike parallel to the direction of traffic on the road adjacent to the pavement in a manner similar to motor cars, as long as it is not verboten under the road traffic regulations. I doubt however whether this is to be recommended as car parking and space on the road is a major source of irritation in Germany. You are likely at best on your return to find your steed has been picked up and thrown in a hedge or down an alleyway.