anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments
Posted 11 years ago
Hi everyone ,
just have a simple question
First of all , where do we get reservations for the trains that require reservation? ( for example , night trains )
can it be done at the station by looking at the time-table and picking the train we ll take , and informing the officer , or it has to be done on the internet ?
Thank you for your help !
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
The standard procedure to get reservations is at a station. Usually you can get at all domestic reservations and at least reservations for routes to neighbouring countries.
For some trains it is also possible to get reservations online.
[u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation[/u]
Flo 8)
rascal
Traveller
5 comments
Hi Guys,
Along the same lines as the original post, and I apologise in advance for sounding stupid but I'm unsure on reservations. I would like to travel on the night train from Amsterdam to Prague, Where should I purchase a reservation? I notice from your post, Flo, that reservations can be made at the station. Would this be applicable to my situation bearing in mind my departure will not be Germany? I have attempted to buy a reservation on bahn.de however this has been unsuccesful.
Many thanks in advance for your help :)
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hi.
Yes, you can buy it as well at the station.
If you want to buy it online in advance (recommended for the summer months), you can do it like explained here. Either departure or arrival station has to be in Germany: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/amsterdam-prague-cnl-457/15[/u]
Then book like explained bellow the map via [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux] - it's the Bahn-railcc shop engine: same prices for you, same trains, same special fares, etc. As railcc is official online partner of DBahn. :)
And if you travel with an Interrail pass and you want to support the information and forum on railcc, please buy your official one via our partner link: [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux]
Thank you. Peter :)
rascal
Traveller
5 comments
Many thanks Peter.
To compound my stupidity I missed the step by step guide given on the Amsterdam - Prague page :D
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Might happen as there are often so much details, which you can't see all at first sight. ;)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi,
as Peter explained you can only buy online reservations for CNL trains at [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux] if either departure or arrival station are in Germany. What you could do: Get a reservation Amsterdam - Bad Schandau (last stop in Germany) and explain to the conductor that you want to travel all the way to Prague and tell him about the flaw of the online reservation. It should be no problem for you to stay in your cabin as reservation prices do not depend on distance travelled. And in case there is a problem you could change to the regular seated carriages at the front of the train.
It is also no problem to buy reservations at a station abroad (usually you can get at least reservations for trains to and within bordering countries) however avoid getting reservations at stations in the Netherlands as NS Hispeed charges ridiculous booking fees (~10€).
Flo 8)
rascal
Traveller
5 comments
Many thanks for that tip, Flo! I thought us Brits were bad for reservation fees but that's a ridiculous fee to put on top :o
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Yeah...it is really bad, especially since service quality is rather bad as well - the NS Hispeed office at Amsterdam Centraal always is a mess... :/
On the other hand, the UK is a great country for InterRailers (this wont help you, I know...) ;)
engineer_tom
Traveller
25 comments
[quote]On the other hand, the UK is a great country for InterRailers (this wont help you, I know...) ;) [/quote]
If they aren't running bus replacement services for engineering works, haven't had a trip in the last 2 years that hasn't broken down or had at least one section being worked on, then again i only travel on weekends and often late at night.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
OK, if you are a regular user it probably again is different to a tourist like me - last summer everything went smoothly for me. :)
engineer_tom
Traveller
25 comments
Yeah, round here we have a grudge against the train company, mainly due to petty stupid reasons; Cost (£5 to travel about 10 min, £20 to travel about 4 hrs) rarely get a seat (it is mainly London commuters at rush hour) and the customer service can be shocking but once you get north of London or anywhere on a longer distance line, it suddenly becomes a lot better.
Basically the local company is shocking, and so we have a biased view of the train system here. but then again our views on the local bus service are worse lol
Also i tend to travel at worst time for delays.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
South West Trains? Or Southern? Or both? :D
engineer_tom
Traveller
25 comments
South West mostly, but southern now and again, we also get first great western but never have much problem with them
anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments
Hi! I use this same conversation :) Just a small question: how often international trains are full, I mean do I have to do my reservations days earlier or is it enough to do it at the station just before the train leaves? My interrail is starting from Helsinki 29.4., route is Stockholm-Kopenhagen-Gent (Belgium)-Luxemburg-Austria-Slovenia (Ljubljana maybe?)-Germany and to home.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi,
well this is difficult to predict. ;)
On your route you wont need many reservations anyway so you can hop on the train on most of your journeys.
I would get reservations beforehand if there is only one or two trains each day on your route and/or you want to take a night train. For instance, the Kopenhagen - Amsterdam night train tends to be full rather quickly since it consists of just four carriages. On the other hand, from Stockholm to Malmö there are hourly Snabbtag (express trains) so you normally get a seat on one of these trains without troubles.
You might also try to avoid Friday and Sunday afternoon when trains are usually packed with commuters going home for the weekend. ;)
If you have a look at [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation[/u] you will see that you wont encounter many trains with compulsory reservation in the countries you are travelling through (and those trains that do, like Thalys, can be easily avoided), so you can just hop on every train and look for a free seat. :)
Flo 8)
anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments
Thank's a lot! :D