Railways in Germany: length, classes of trains

Germany's railways are considered one of the most effective public transport systems not only in Europe but also in the world. Therefore, traveling on German trains is not only fast, but also comfortable. But, of course, this efficiency is worth the money. Although literate tourists, using various discounts and tariffs, can quite travel around the country rather budgetarily. Now we will tell you about how railway transport operates in this country. You will also learn how to travel around Germany and even abroad on trains in a way that is not very costly for your pocket.

Germany: the work of the railways

The first trains in this country appeared in the year 1849. It was then that the railway communication between the cities of Nuremberg and Fürth was opened. In twenty-five years the country covered eight thousand kilometers of rail. In 1925 improved locomotives appeared, and in 1936 German trains set a speed record, for the first time in the world reaching two hundred kilometers per hour. In 1988, an even higher bar was taken. Experimental Intercity trains showed the possibility of four hundred kilometers per hour. The idea of using electric energy in transport also belongs to the German - Werner Siemens. He also built a test plot near Berlin. The electrification of the German railways began in the nineteenth century, and continued after the First World War. After the unification of Germany, all railways became part of a single state monopolist named Deutsche Ban. The country is bound by rails with those states that have the same track width. They are France, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium. For today the length of railways in Germany is forty two thousand kilometers. This is the sixth largest in the world in terms of length. Electrified about twenty thousand kilometers.

Railway Stations

From the station begins any journey by rail. If in small villages and villages, as a rule, there is only one station, then in large cities there are several. You will immediately understand that before you - the main station, when you read the name "Hoptbahnhof." Railway stations in Germany are often equipped with everything necessary for a traveler. Even in the smallest stations there are cafes or bistros, ticket offices or vending machines, a timetable with timetables and signposts, how to get to the ways. Even if there is no covered station, there are always comfortable benches with glass walls, protecting from the wind. Most stations have facilities for people with disabilities and lifts. Large stations are whole mini-towns. Unlike small stations, they work around the clock, and there are many cafes and restaurants, as well as shopping galleries and boutiques. At some stations, network supermarkets of the Lidl type are open. There are storage cameras at most stations in the country. Tourists prefer automatic, because they are more convenient and cheaper.

Types of trains

Every tourist who travels in Germany should know this and chooses a tariff corresponding to his purposes and budget. In general, German trains are divided into two large groups. We would call them long-distance and short-distance rail transport. They are also called fast (trunk) and regional. The first is usually white, and the second - red. But there are exceptions. But then the system becomes more complicated. In the category of "high-speed train" fall Intersity Express, as well as just IC or the EU. They go inside and abroad. There are also sleeping night trains with lying beds. Regional trains are analogues of our electric trains, with the difference that they are immeasurably cleaner, more comfortable and travel at a speed of at least 100 kilometers per hour. Suburban often replace the metro and trams. Smoking is prohibited in trains of any type. This rule has been in force for several years.

The fastest

The train ICE (Germany), or Intercity Express, is considered high-speed, reaching three hundred kilometers per hour. It also makes the minimum number of stops. Its locomotive is like a silver bullet. But quite often in practice the speed of such a train is not much different from other trunk ones. "Intercity" is good to use if you travel a distance of five hundred to six hundred kilometers and, for example, go from Cologne to Berlin or Munich. So you not only save an hour or a half, but also do not make transplants, inevitable on other types of trains. They also have an increased level of comfort. Such trains usually go by day. Time travel can be compared with the movement in the car, but it will be much more comfortable!

ICE wagons

Here everything is thought out for the convenience of passengers. The class of the car in Intercity Express is denoted by a large gray number. The number is on the electronic display next to the door. There you can see the route along which the high-speed train moves. By the way, be careful when planting. Often the composition is divided in two, and one half can go completely to another place. The doors close automatically. Seated seats. In the second class there are usually two rows of paired seats. Between them - the passage. In the center of the car there are several seats opposite each other. Each chair has a table. Below the window is a laptop socket. On some trains running wifai. There is a headphone jack in the arm of the chair to listen to the radio. Baggage can be placed both on shelves above the seats, and in special compartments. In some cars there are six-seater compartments. On the scoreboard at the end shows how fast the train moves. The cars are usually airtight, and the rails are unattached, so there is no noise.

Other mainline trains

Among the major cities of Germany are the so-called "Intercity". This mark is worn by an ordinary fast train. He no longer looks so "cosmic", as "Intersity Express." The seats are also sessile. Most have tables and sockets. Sometimes the whole train has two ten-seat coupe. If you are traveling similar to other countries, then it will be marked with the EU. Often you can see how passengers take their belongings to neighboring places. It's a German custom. They release this place only at the request of other passengers. One of the cars is a restaurant. It is divided into two parts. In the first of them - with a bar counter and high tables - you can order tea, coffee or beer. And the second is a real restaurant with waiters, menus and beautiful instruments on tablecloths. Night trains are called "CityLine Light". There is a compartment with bed-places where bed linen is given out. Usually they connect megacities. If such trains move between European capitals or large cities, they are labeled as "EuroNight".

Regional and suburban rail transport

This kind of trains are not only state, but also private lines. Usually they walk a distance of one hundred to two hundred kilometers. Regional express trains make stops in major cities. The German railways have special varieties of this type of trains not some routes. They are called interregional express trains. There are trains that make frequent stops. They are called simply regional. Suburban transportation, which is part of the railroad system, is S-Bans or Stadt-Ban. Such trains usually pass through large cities and / or connect neighboring settlements. They are part of the local transport network. Such trains run both in tunnels (instead of metro) and on land lines (like trams). They can be used when traveling inside the city and the surrounding area.

What are the rates for fast trains

At first glance, Germany's railways have a rather complicated ticket purchase system. However, if you understand it, you can find great benefits for yourself. There are so-called basic tariffs. Prices for them, so to speak, bite. If you want to go on such a fare from Berlin, for example in Dortmund, then pay about ninety euros for an ordinary fast train. And Intersity Express will cost even a hundred. A trip to Dresden from the capital of Germany will cost half as much. The same system operates on night trains. But they are much more expensive. If the journey from Berlin to Munich is at a base rate of just over a hundred and fifty euros, then in a night express train the price will rise to two hundred and even three hundred. In fast trains it is possible (and sometimes it is necessary) to book a place - by a window or a passage. But most often they just buy a travel document. Without armor seats you can sit on any unoccupied chairs in second-class wagons. If there are no free seats, you can stay in a tambour or a restaurant.

Discounts

However, if you buy tickets in advance, you can get to the reduced prices, the so-called shparparseys. Then you can go to the same Dortmund and for forty euros. And if the distance of your trip is not more than two hundred and fifty kilometers, then you can try to buy tickets for 25 and 19 Є. True, their number is small, and to catch them, you need a fair amount of luck. On some trains that cross the whole country, you can buy a ticket for a discount for twenty-nine euros. But it will be almost impossible to return it if the trip does not succeed. Want to travel in Germany with comfort, but not for sky-high price? To you in the help - all the same system. The first-class car (indeed, more comfortable, the seats in it are similar to airplanes) will cost at least twenty-nine euros, and for long distances - 39. The price for night trains with early booking can also drop two, or even three times.

Group tickets on regional routes

In Germany, by train, you can travel quite cheaply. Simply, you need to select special discount tickets for regional rail transport. And there are a lot of such opportunities. For example, there is an unlimited ticket, through which you can ride throughout the country from nine in the morning to midnight for one day on regional trains (excluding fast). It costs forty-four euros per person. He even has the name "across the country from end to end". But on such tickets it is better to go by the company - the more a person (up to five), the better. For every next passenger you pay eight euros. As a result, a large family or a company of five people can travel around the country during the day for only seventy-six euros.

Even better opportunities for such trips are provided by the German railways on weekends. The weekend ticket has the same advantages as the unlimited ticket, only it operates from midnight to 3 am on the following day. In addition, for him for 40 euros can ride one passenger, and every subsequent (up to five) pays for 4 Є. Incidentally, such tickets operate not only on trains, but also on public transport, as well as on regional buses in any part of Germany.

Federal offers

Not only nationwide can be group tickets. Germany, as is known, is divided into federal lands, and each of them has its own system of discounts when traveling through the region. For example, in the Rhineland-Palatinate land a regional ticket will cost twenty-four euros per person. For every next passenger (up to five), the price will increase by another 5 Є. Interestingly, this way you can travel not only in this federal land, but also in neighboring regions - up to Mainheim and Karlsruhe in the south, to Limburg and Wiesbaden in the east and to Bonn in the north - and even to reach two border French cities. And if you pay another six euros to this ticket, you will have an opportunity to go to Luxembourg. This discount is valid on weekdays, from nine to midnight, and on weekends from 12am to 3am the next day. And from the land of North Rhine-Westphalia on a regional ticket, you can go to Holland and return back. Its price is twenty-six euros for the first passenger. And on the "Bavarian ticket" they go even to Austria. Travel from Munich to Salzburg and back is quite possible for twenty-four euros. There are also night tickets. They allow you to navigate within the area of your action between 6 pm and 6 am.

Where to buy tickets

In Germany, this can be done in several ways. You can just go to the railway ticket office at the station ("Reisentsentrum"). In the main trains tickets in extreme cases can be purchased from the controller (but at a full rate and without discounts). In regional rail transport, it is better not to do so. If you find that you are without a ticket, you will be severely fined. In an exceptional case, you must find the controller yourself and inform him that you could not purchase a travel document. You can also use the most advanced online booking system in Europe - the website "Deutschebank". It is there that it is profitable to buy discount tickets "Shparprays". But for this it is better to register in the system. The ticket purchased via the Internet is printed on the printer. His identity card will need to be presented to the controller. If you are not registered in the system, you will not be able to buy a ticket for another person. In this case, you will have to show the controller also a credit card with which you bought it.

Machines

But there is the easiest and cheapest way to travel in German trains. For this you need to buy tickets in the vending machine at the station. There you can buy travel documents at a discount, and regional, and even not only on a credit card, as in most European countries, but for cash, which is often convenient for foreigners. In addition, when buying tickets in a vending machine, you pay two or five euro less than at the ticket office. The main thing is to understand how they act. But after that you will immediately feel their benefit. In addition, at night or at small stations tickets can be bought only in vending machines. They are usually six-lingual. The bonus is that you can choose the most convenient route and print it for free in the same machine.

Discount cards and travel cards

Sometimes, especially with frequent and regular trips, it is advantageous to buy special offers from DeutscheBank. This card is 25, 50 or 100. The numbers represent the percentage of the discount from the normal ticket price. For example, if the cost of the trip is ten euros, then with a card 25 you pay seven and a half, with a BahnCard 50 - five, and 100 - you can travel all over Germany without a ticket. Cards are valid for a year and are nominal. They can be used only by one person - the one on which the document is issued. The 100 cards are very expensive and cost at least four thousand euros. But you can not combine BahnCard discounts and weekend or regional tickets. The purchase of such a card makes sense if the total cost of your tickets without discounts is several hundred euros for twelve months. There is also a pan-European travel card, called Interrayal. To use it for traveling through Germany is expensive, but if you plan to travel to other countries or use rail often, it may suit you.