DB passes for regular commuters?
Through a series of unexpected circumstances, I may find myself living in Mannheim for a few years, starting next fall. If that is the case, I will probably need to make frequent trips to Belgium, and I would probably prefer to ride the rails than drive. I'm very familiar with NMBS, but less so with DB. Does DB offer any kind of pass (or savings) for regular commuters?
Tom
Somewhere Else, Not in USA 11/7/09
Send Private Message
DB has lot of passes, you can find a list on their website. Commuters can buy monthly and weekly passes that give your family free rides on the weekends. You can check the Offers for Commuters page at the DB website (in English) for starters.
You can also buy whole day tickets for various regions, and advance purchase tickets than can save you 25% to 50%. The site has all the information in English, and even more if you can read German (or use Google Translate to help).
My husband and I have a Bahn Card which gives us 50% off of our train fare in Germany. You usually get a good discount for trips out of the country too, especially to those near by, like Belgium. I think I paid 240 euro this year for mine and my husbands was 100 euro.
You can chose from different kind of BahnCards (25%, 50% or 100% discount for either 1st or 2nd class) and there are also EuropaSpezials which tend to be even cheaper on routes from German train stations to neighboring countries. As holder of any valid BahnCard you get a discount on Mannheim's public transport as well (busses, trams, S-Bahns). E.g. instead of paying €2.20 for a regular single ticket you only pay €1.70...
Thanks, that was just the information I was looking for. BTW, are there direct ICE trains between Frankfurt and Brussels? I know Thalys does not service Frankfurt, and as I remember from a previous visit, Mannheim is a very short ride from Frankfurt.
Yes, there is direct ICE service from Frankfurt to Bruxelles.
Your fastest route from Mannheim, with only one connection, is Mannheim-Koeln-Bruxelles on ICE trains. The regular 2nd class fare is over €100; but if you book well in advance (up to 90 days allowed) at www.bahn.de, you can get a Europa-Spezial Belgien fare as low as €39.
Go to the DB site and click on the drop-down flag menu for English. After you get summary timetables for Mannheim-Bruxelles, click on the arrow to the left of each departure time to see the connecting points.
So, let me see if I understand correctly (as the DB website doesn't make this very clear)... With a Bahn Card, depending which level I bought, the usual 100 euro cost for Mannheim to Brussels would be discounted 25, 50 or 100%? Is that how the card works?
BTW, it looks like a near certainty that I'm moving to Mannheim next year.
Sounds like we will have to have a "Welcome to Deutschland" party for you when you get here.