Aimyyy
Traveller
0 comments
Posted 14 years ago
Hi everybody,
Please I have one question and don't find the answer anywhere. My country is Belgium. I have to do Bruxelles- Köln (Cologne) and Köln-Bruxelles. Is the pass valid? If not, how do they calculate the 50%? Nobody knows the rules of the pass in Belgian stations...
Thanks a lot!!!!! 8)
Peter
Traveller
9337 comments
Hi.
It depends on the train you will use.
If you use the direct and expensive THALYS train it will be like this:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/brussels-cologne-thalys/f4234[/u]
You then have to use 2nd class (P2) - as your InterRail pass do not cover Belgium. Price: EUR 44.
If you want to use cheaper IC and Regional trains, you will have to buy a ticket from your starting place in Belgium to a border (Germans, Netherlands or Luxembourg one...) where you leave Belgium. On this ticket you get a 50% discount.
From the border to Cologne, you travel for free.
Example:
Bruxelles Midi/Brussel Zuid Dep: 0824 | by IC train
Liège-Guillemins Arr: 0919
Liège-Guillemins Dep: 0933 | by IR train
via Hergenrath / Aachen Süd (which is the border station)
Aachen Hbf Arr: 1026
Aachen Hbf Dep: 1051 | by Regional train
Köln Hbf (Cologne) Arr: 1144
Fare for the part in Belgium till the border: EUR 19,40 - on this price you get the discount of 50% = EUR 9,70
The part in Germany from Aachen to Cologne is free with InterRail.
But if you want to stay some days in Cologne, I recommend you to buy a standard ticket for the part Aachen-Cologne and not to use your InterRail pass.
So you can save some of your travel days on your InterRail pass and let it start some days later when you depart from Cologne.
Fare for Aachen-Cologne on the Regional train is: EUR 14,80 - ask at the Belgium station for a direct ticket Bruxelles - Cologne without Thalys, should be cheaper than buy both as single tickets.
And that's also a reason why we ask to buy your InterRail pass at our partner: we have the information and a lot of work searching for them and answering everything - and if you purchase your ticket online via [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] we get a small commission - you support us and not only an anonymous big company. :)
Have a sunny trip, Peter :)