Ice train germany

[Bigfootstrikesagain]

Hello there

I was wondering if anybody could help me? I’m currently cycling the eurovelo 12 down the danish west coast and hope too make my way over too Hamburg and then on too Amsterdam by train. I was about too book my train tickets but before I made the jump I decided too look about bikes that are fully loaded, as in panniers and the like too see if they are allowed. Looking into it it looks as if only bikes in bike bags may be taken on the ice train! Anyway if anyone has any information on travelling through Germany too the Netherlands on the train that would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry if this has been covered

First time poster , long time idiot

Bigfoot

[glucas]

To my knowledge the ICE trains do not carry bikes. Within Germany one has to use the IC trains (which require a bike reservation) or regional trains when taking a bike.

If you are unsure use the Deutsch Bahn site at www.bahn.com and when searching, under Further options tick the box 'Show connections with available bicycle spaces'. This should also bring up trains with the netherlands as an arrival point or destination, that carry bikes, depending on your search parameters.

[Galactic]

Of the ICE trains, only the newer ones (ICE4) take bikes (it costs 9€ or thereabouts for a bike reservation - valid for the whole journey).

In the case of Hamburg-Amsterdam, you can actually take a bike on the ICE (first leg of journey, to pick up the IC to Amsterdam in e.g. Osnabrück). But do reserve your bike as soon as possible - there's not many spaces available on each train!) As Glucas says, check the bahn.com website, and click on change other data then Show connections with available bicycle spaces.

eg, Hamburg to Amsterdam for a random date and time: https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query ... 1657953152

If you can't find a bike space on an ICE at the time you want to travel, go back to those other options, choose Types of transport and unclick high speed services to hide the connections with ICE and (hopefully) more of the other connections.

PS These examples are from Hamburg, but if you were to travel from Niebüll (just over the border when you come down the west coast of Jutland), then you can just as easily avoid using the ICE.

PPS If you're getting local trains (RB, RE) in July and August, remember they may be so packed with day-trippers that you can't get your bike on because of the 9€ ticket. Best to avoid rush hour and, at weekends, leaving cities in the morning or heading towards cities in the late afternoon.

[Will]

If you want to book your bike on the train from Germany to Amsterdam, then you cannot do it online. A domestic Inter City bike ticket costs €8, but you require an International Bike Ticket (€9) to go to Amsterdam and they are not available via the DB website.

Also, if booking a single ticket from Hamburg to Amsterdam then it is advisable to ask for a longer connection than standard at Osnabrück. The trains from Hamburg arrive at the upper platforms at Osnabrück, and the train to Amsterdam departs from one of the lower platforms. Trains in Germany are frequently late, and if your train from Hamburg is late then you might find yourself with not enough time to make your connection.

There are ICE4 trains that go from Hamburg to Osnabrück (8 bike spaces) as well as IC trains (16+7 bike spaces). The Berlin to Amsterdam service has 16 bike spaces. You are required to have a bike reservation on IC/ICE services.

ICE4 bike spaces: https://www.vagonweb.cz/fotogalerie/fot ... 194848.jpg
IC bike spaces: https://www.vagonweb.cz/fotogalerie/fot ... G-0973.jpg

You can also get from Hamburg to Bremen using the Metronom train and from Bremen to Osnabrück using a DB Regional Express (RE9). Both these services have really good bike provision, but you cannot reserve a space and there are reports of local and regional trains in Germany being packed due to the monthly €9 tickets. and bikes being turned away.

There is also a train service (Eurobahn) from Osnabrück to Hengelo in the Netherlands that has good bike provision. From Hengelo you can get a direct dutch IC service to Den Haag (if you are heading to Hoek van Holland).

Will

[Galactic]

If you want to book your bike on the train from Germany to Amsterdam, then you cannot do it online.

Damn, I keep forgetting that you can't book DB international bike reservations online. You can't even do it by phone anymore!

So unless the OP is going through Germany on the way to Jutland, they won't have a chance to try to make a reservation before.

Could the OP perhaps book the journey through Dutch trains ns.nl? Otherwise I guess the only option would be to take local trains or, if it take online bike bookings, the Flixtrain (which doesn't run so often but isn't run by DB).

[Will]

If you want to book your bike on the train from Germany to Amsterdam, then you cannot do it online.

Damn, I keep forgetting that you can't book DB international bike reservations online. You can't even do it by phone anymore!

So unless the OP is going through Germany on the way to Jutland, they won't have a chance to try to make a reservation before.

Could the OP perhaps book the journey through Dutch trains ns.nl? Otherwise I guess the only option would be to take local trains or, if it take online bike bookings, the Flixtrain (which doesn't run so often but isn't run by DB).

I think the best thing the OP can do is head to Niebüll and book tickets at the railway station (the station has a travel centre).

The OP could try doing searches online to see what services have available bike spaces before heading to the station to book. It is not possible to see if there are spaces between Germany and Amsterdam, but you can check to see if there are bike spaces up to Bad Bentheim (the last stop in Germany). If this shows that there are free bike spaces then it is unlikely that they are occupied between Bad Bentheim and Amsterdam.

One thing that is making things a bit more complicated is that there is currently engineering work between Osnabrück and Rhein, and trains (including the Berlin-Amsterdam service) are being diverted via Münster. The Eurobahn trains are currently only running between Rhein and Hengelo, so the option of picking up that service in Osnabrück is no longer available. The engineering work can also result in different options for getting to Bad Bentheim/Amsterdam from Hamburg Hbf being offered (such as changing at Münster, whereas you would normally change at Osnabrück).

Will

[pal]

If you want to book your bike on the train from Germany to Amsterdam, then you cannot do it online.

Damn, I keep forgetting that you can't book DB international bike reservations online. You can't even do it by phone anymore!

Good news: the DB phone bike booking thing is working (again?) -- or was a couple of weeks ago, at least. I called the standard English-language enquiry line (+49 30 311682904) and sorted out a bike reservation from them (as well as the international bike ticket): I paid on the phone, and I've been given a reference number which I can use to pick up the ticket from a machine. (They were also willing to post it to me, but there would have been another charge for this).

I've also made international bike reservations over the phone with the Netherlands Railway: again, payment is over the phone, but their system is that they email you a ticket to print out.

[Will]

If you want to book your bike on the train from Germany to Amsterdam, then you cannot do it online.

Damn, I keep forgetting that you can't book DB international bike reservations online. You can't even do it by phone anymore!

Good news: the DB phone bike booking thing is working (again?) -- or was a couple of weeks ago, at least. I called the standard English-language enquiry line (+49 30 311682904) and sorted out a bike reservation from them (as well as the international bike ticket): I paid on the phone, and I've been given a reference number which I can use to pick up the ticket from a machine. (They were also willing to post it to me, but there would have been another charge for this).

I've also made international bike reservations over the phone with the Netherlands Railway: again, payment is over the phone, but their system is that they email you a ticket to print out.

I think the level of service you get from the (DB Berlin) English language enquiry line depends on the time of year. I tried phoning them in February and waited over an hour without being answered. I think they prioritize the German language lines when they are busy. Given that many people in Europe don't speak German, but have English as a second language, they are missing out on a lot of potential customers.

One improvement that that line now has (or at least had in February) is that you are no longer subjected to Iggy Pop singing 'Passenger' on an endless loop.

Will

[pal]

One improvement that that line now has (or at least had in February) is that you are no longer subjected to Iggy Pop singing 'Passenger' on an endless loop.

Will

I got some amazing jazz-funk stuff for the on-hold music -- I was so taken with it that I even recorded a snippet for posterity! (But you are right about variability of wait times, esp. if there are any problems [strikes, weather, etc] affecting the German rail network.)

[foxyrider]

When i did a similar journey i got the RE from Niebull to Hamburg then from Hamburg it was IC to Muenster then the RE to the Dutch border at Arnhem where you transferred to the NL railway system. I was headed to Rotterdam so from Utrecht i went through Gouda. I only booked from Hamburg but did so through The Bahn London office but if thats no longer possible it can be done at any manned DB station, Niebull for example. (there are faster trains to Hamburg from Flensburg)

I split my journey in Hamburg, its possible to do it in one day but you might struggle if you are catching a ferry the same day!

[Will]

When i did a similar journey i got the RE from Niebull to Hamburg then from Hamburg it was IC to Muenster then the RE to the Dutch border at Arnhem where you transferred to the NL railway system. I was headed to Rotterdam so from Utrecht i went through Gouda. I only booked from Hamburg but did so through The Bahn London office but if thats no longer possible it can be done at any manned DB station, Niebull for example. (there are faster trains to Hamburg from Flensburg)

I split my journey in Hamburg, its possible to do it in one day but you might struggle if you are catching a ferry the same day!

I assume the OP is intending to cycle EuroVelo 12 to Hamburg, but it is possible to get an IC train from Niebüll to Münster, and then change there onto an IC to Amsterdam - the whole journey takes less than 6 1/2 hours. When the current engineering work is complete (on 05/08), the change would be at Osnabrück (as normal).

DB do a really weird thing at Niebüll with the northbound IC trains heading to Westerland (Sylt). They split off the front two or three carriages and attach them to a small local train (called neg) that then drags them to the small ferry port at Dagebüll Mole. The neg train then does a runaround and drags the IC carriages back to Niebüll so that they can be attached to the rear of the southbound train (that has been to Westerland (Sylt) and back). The section of train that goes to Dagebüll Mole includes the control car carriage (with 16 bike spaces); the section that goes on to Westerland (Sylt) includes a carriage with 7 bike spaces. If you get the IC section from Dagebüll Mole then the train number is usually referred to using a Regio number (such as RB65), but if you get it from Niebüll it has an IC number (such as IC 2311).

Will

[albal1]

Currently on a train with bike. I asked the lady in pasing ticket office. I,d like the next train from here to Paris.? No. Was her answer.

Only to kehl. Ok no probs.
Just not on the ice trains. So : i, board train at pasing.
to change at ulm, Stuttgart Karlsruhe appenweier & finally kehl. Just hope the transfer s go smoothly! Ha. Doubtful.
I assume i can get from Strasbourg to Paris without issues?

Anyone know?

[Jdsk]

I assume i can get from Strasbourg to Paris without issues?

Anyone know?

TGV or regional?

Thanks

Jonathan

[mjr]

TER N° 839172 at 16:19 is direct from Strasbourg to Paris costing about €74 arriving 21:23. Free bike spaces, first come.

TGV INOUI N° 2058 at 14:48 is faster, arriving 16:35, but costs €107 plus a €10 bike ticket if any remain. TGV INOUI N° 2070 at 20:47 is the same price and journey time.

[albal1]

So far , it's going ok. Currently near baden baden. Don't arrive kehl until well after 1700hrs. Trust me to book on a holiday weekend!. Been a few delays, very busy.
Had a quick scan on SNCF. No bike spaces until tomorrow 1700hr. Or am i on the wrong site?

I,m going to go straight to cherbourg, so looked at the train tomorrow to Rouen , again no spaces until late afternoon.