Stuttgart railway station

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Nedrow
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Stuttgart railway station

Post by Nedrow »

My wife and I are doing a 16 day organised cycling tour of Bavaria commencing in Nuremburg. Our plan is to join it by cycling from Europoort to Köln and then travelling by train. We change trains in Stuttgart with only 9 minutes to get from Platform 6 to 15! A tough challenge with two loaded bikes. I can't find any info about station plans etc. and wondered if anyone could point me to info. or has personal recent experience.
Thanks
glucas
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Re: Stuttgart railway station

Post by glucas »

Hi,

There are other European experts on here :) who have probably been there, but a quick google can reveal:

https://www.bahnhof.de/en/stuttgart-hbf

This shows departures, arrivals etc in English and a station plan here:

https://www.bahnhof.de/downloads/station-plans/6071.pdf

There is no translation of the plan, but it's pretty understandable and there are pictorial icons. There are 2 levels. The lower level showing escalators from the underground.

Getting from platform 5 to 16 doesn't look like a tough task!

Graham
Jdsk
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Re: Stuttgart railway station

Post by Jdsk »

Quite a lot on TripAdvisor:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=trip+advisor+ ... rt+station

Jonathan
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Audax67
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Re: Stuttgart railway station

Post by Audax67 »

Short walk. The second level is for the Strassenbahn. It's marked U on the plans because although it runs on the surface it dives under the station.

FWIW, although most of Germany isn't, Stuttgart & environs are covered by Google Streetview.
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MrsHJ
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Re: Stuttgart railway station

Post by MrsHJ »

I don’t know stuttgart but it sounds a bit tight on general principles. Bikes off last and then lots of others ahead of you. Is there a back up plan if you miss it? I see that Bahn have a setting on their website to extend the time to change trains which is neat and might be useful.
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Re: Stuttgart railway station

Post by Vorpal »

It's been a few years since I've been though Stuttgart, but as I recall, it's relatively easy to go between platforms for the regional / inter-Europe trains. With loaded touring bikes, though I think it depends on time of day. If it's off peak, you should be fine. If it's busy, there won't be any time to spare.

Also, be aware that if there are delays, you are not typically entitled to compensation or or new tickets unless there is at least 20 minutes between trains in a change. This is because the European regulations only award compensation for delays of 20 minutes or more. So, if your train is 15 minutes late, and the next train has left, you just have to buy tickets for the next train, or find another way to travel. This is riskier with bikes if you are travelling on a route where reservations are required, or bikes are not allowed on all trains.

Some of the European rail companies describe this explicitly in their terms & conditions. Deutsche Bahn do not. But because of this, I generally allow 20 minutes or more between changes on routes where advance booking is required, or tickets are more than I want to pay on the spot, if things go wrong.
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Nedrow
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Re: Stuttgart railway station

Post by Nedrow »

Thanks all. Some useful info. there. Hopefully the linked plan is current but I have read that the station is undergoing a major refit to make it a non terminal station.
We booked our tickets in March and struggled to find trains with available bike spaces. Unfortunately they have changed the departure time for the train leaving Stuttgart and so we now have a shorter time to transfer.
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Re: Stuttgart railway station

Post by Vorpal »

Nedrow wrote: 23 May 2023, 11:35am Thanks all. Some useful info. there. Hopefully the linked plan is current but I have read that the station is undergoing a major refit to make it a non terminal station.
We booked our tickets in March and struggled to find trains with available bike spaces. Unfortunately they have changed the departure time for the train leaving Stuttgart and so we now have a shorter time to transfer.
I might call the rail company and ask?
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Jdsk
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Re: Stuttgart railway station

Post by Jdsk »

MrsHJ wrote: 23 May 2023, 11:10am ...
Is there a back up plan if you miss it?
...
With what we know at the moment I'd want one. But then I'd always want one! Or more...

Jonathan
Will
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Re: Stuttgart railway station

Post by Will »

Deutsche Bahn trains are notorious for being late. If you are lucky then the train to Stuttgart will be on time, and the train to Nürnberg will be late, thus giving you more time to make your connection. There is always the option of getting the RE90 Regional Express from Stuttgart to Nürnberg, but it has a frequency of 2 hours. so you might have a bit of a wait.

Nürnberg is not the easiest place to get to with a bike at the moment, but things will improve in a few years time, with both ICE3 Neo and ICE-L trains (8 bike spaces each) being planned to call there:

https://www-deutschebahn-com.translate. ... E-10637928

A ICE3 Neo was spotted in Belgium earlier this year. It was being tested in order to gain authorization for use in Belgium. The plan is that the ICE3 Neo will replace the current ICE 3 trains (class 406) that don't have any bike spaces on the Brussels-Frankfurt and Amsterdam-Frankfurt routes. This will make getting down to Bavaria with a bike much easier.

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plancashire
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Re: Stuttgart railway station

Post by plancashire »

The official plan is here: https://www.bahnhof.de/downloads/station-plans/6071.pdf. I assume this is current. Stuttgart is being rebuilt at vast (and disputed) expense. So far as I can see from various maps the works will not affect changing long-distance trains.

Stuttgart is a terminus, so you must always go to the end of the platform and back. A huge advantage is that there seem to be no stairs or lifts. First class is likely to be at the front. If you are unlucky, you will have to walk the entire length of both trains. Do not depend on any predicted carriage layout: Deutsche Bahn is notorious for changing carriage order. Watch the signs like a hawk for things like "geänderte Wagenreihung" but you may get only an announcement (the systems are not coupled). If you see any German people with bikes, ask them for help. Cycling on the platform is forbidden but not always enforced.

When the ticket collector checks your ticket, ask him or her for advice. They are usually very helpful and on the express trains understand some English (I think - never tried myself). They may know about connections and the location of cycle stowage or can find out for you. In fact one of the "ticket collectors" is the train manager, who has priority over the driver. I believe they may be able to ask connecting trains to wait. Worth a try! Don't be afraid of German rules and formality. They (we) love a challenge.

If you have only 9 minutes to change trains the risk of missing your connection is extremely high. [Who advised you to book this?] German long distance trains are often late, particularly later in the day. If you see any predictions of delay add five minutes as DB always rounds down to the next 5 minute point; thus 5 minutes reported is between 5 and 10 in reality, never less than 5. A few trains are sort of guaranteed to connect so they may wait for you.
I am NOT a cyclist. I enjoy riding a bike for utility, commuting, fitness and touring on tout terrain Rohloff, Brompton M3 and Wester Ross 354 plus a Burley Travoy trailer.
Vorpal
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Re: Stuttgart railway station

Post by Vorpal »

plancashire wrote: 24 May 2023, 10:38pm A few trains are sort of guaranteed to connect so they may wait for you.
I was told once some years ago that they will not wait for you unless your booking had at least 20 minutes between trains. It is possible that this interpretation has changed. I could not find anything on the DB website.
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Nedrow
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Re: Stuttgart railway station

Post by Nedrow »

Thanks to all for the helpful replies and links. We booked the tickets back in March and there were very few trains available with unoccupied bike spaces. The train we have booked from Stuttgart is the RE90. There is another 2 hours later and in hindsight this would have been a better option. With our planned connection time being so tight I don't think a refund will be possible and so I guess we just have to give it all a go and pay our way out of whatever happens! I'll aim to post an update on how it went. Thanks again to you all for posting.
Galactic
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Re: Stuttgart railway station

Post by Galactic »

Since you're getting a regional (ie not long distance: IC or ICE) train from Stuttgart to Nürnberg you're not tied to any particular train for that leg of the journey (see https://www.bahn.de/service/ueber-uns/i ... -sparpreis : "Im Nahverkehr herrscht keine Zugbindung.").

That means you can just get a later (RE or RB) connection on that day and don't need to buy another ticket. With very few exceptions (RE90 isn't one as far as I can see) you can't reserve bike places on RE and RB trains, so you may have the bad luck to find 10 other cycles on the platform, but that would be the case with your timetabled connection too. Just try to avoid rush hour if you can (rush hour often starts and ends a little earlier in Germany than the UK).

So you're in the comfortable position of being able to decide whether to make a run for it, or to just avoid the stress and go and explore Stuttgart / sit in a cafe and sample the cake for 90 mins before getting the next RE90.

I hope you enjoy your trip!
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plancashire
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Re: Stuttgart railway station

Post by plancashire »

The regional RE and RG trains vary enormously in where bikes are accommodated. The double-decker types have them at one end only, the opposite end from the locomotive and first class, which is marked (on all regional trains) with a yellow band. My wife and I have occasionally been flummoxed by the train coming in with the carriages reversed, so we have to run the entire length. We now wait in the middle and move as soon as we see the thing approach.

If you are lucky you will be on one of the much newer trains with cycle spaces along the entire length. Although these are always marked with a bike symbol, they are in fact multi-purpose also for buggies, wheelchairs and such. Take long bungees to fix the bikes to the rings. The belts provided (below the tip-up seats) usually do not work as they twist and jam or the hooks are stamped flat. Keep the yellow hatched area in the middle clear.

If you have time, you could ask at the Service Point (language = Denglish!) where to stand with your bikes. The SP is always in the main concourse.

Once you have the train journey behind you, you will enjoy cycling in Germany. Gute Reise!
I am NOT a cyclist. I enjoy riding a bike for utility, commuting, fitness and touring on tout terrain Rohloff, Brompton M3 and Wester Ross 354 plus a Burley Travoy trailer.
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