Rowald
Traveller
4 comments
Posted 11 years ago
Hi,
I'm from Belgium and next week I go on a interrailtrip to Budapest, Belgrade and Zagreb. I leave 15th September by taking the ICE train Brussels-Frankfurt.
I understood that the interrailpass doesn't include the trip in your own country.
So my question is: do I have to buy a ticket for the ICE train all the way to Frankfurt or to Cologne? Or can I just hop on the train without a ticket (just the interrail)?
Thanks in advance
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hi Rowald.
Yes you have to pay until the border. You can have a look for special offers for this part (up to Aachen) if you want to use the direct ICE. Either at [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux] or [ux]https://rail.shop/beurope[/ux]
An option could be as well the Go Pass 1 for persons under 25. See B-Rail website for the special (standard is not for border-crossing). What time you want to travel?
Thank you for supporting railcc - I set your profile to premium. :)
Peter :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
There is a special Go Pass 1 Aachen for 7,80€ for a one way trip to Aachen from any SNCB station. Attention, this ticket is not valid on the ICE trains as far as I know (or you might need an extra supplement). But you can also go to Liège and change there for a IR to Aachen and continue from there to Cologne - Frankfurt.
EDIT: The ICE supplement should be 6€.
Flo 8)
Rowald
Traveller
4 comments
The problem is that I take the ICE train sunday at 0625 in Brussels.
I can't take a national train, like an IC or an IR train to Liège or Aachen, cause then I'll miss the ICE train there.
In order to keep my schedule, I'll have to take the ICE train at 0625.
Flo, at the end you said that the supplement costs 6 euro. So if I buy the GoPass 1 Aachen and pay an extra 6 euro, it's all fixed?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
OK...I just checked again. It seems that the Go Pass 1 (Aachen) is valid for regular (IC, IR, P) trains only, however you can also use ICE trains with a supplement which is currently 8€.
The question remains whether the trip to Aachen on the ICE is still considered as a domestic journey (service intérieur) or not - the border tariff point is at Aachen Süd (Gr) already.
The combo Go Pass 1 Aachen plus supplement would be 15,80€.
A regular international ticket Bruxelles - Aachen Süd (Gr) is 31€ however since you get a 50% discount on regular tickets in your country of residence with your IR Global Pass it should be just 15,50€ so cheaper than the other option and hassle-free.
You should get this reduced ticket to the border at any staffed SNCB station - it might be advisable to take your IR ticket with you to show that you have a valid ticket from the border onwards.
Hope that helps - please tell use how it all turned out. ;)
Flo 8)
Rowald
Traveller
4 comments
Today, I went to the train station in Ghent and bought the international trainticket Brussel - Aachen, for 17,50 euro. So that's 2 euro more than expected ;)
I asked if it would be possible to buy a GoPass 1 Aachen with the supplement for ICE, but that wasn't possible.
Never the less, I got the tickets, and there relatively cheap (in comparison to other options).
Thank you very much guys!
Rowald :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
OK - the ticket was more than expected since you bought it to Aachen instead of Aachen Süd (Gr). ;)
Anyway, have a nice trip!