Can I take my bicycle into all German trains?
- By
- Aparna Patel
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- 28 Jul, 2023
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Short answer: you can take your bicycle into most German trains, but not all (but you can reach any destination in Germany). For some fast long distance trains it may not be possible, or it may be difficult to get a reservation.
Many trains in Germany carry bicycles. This is particularly true for local trains, but also most intercity (IC) trains. However, the most common train for long-distance travel is the high-speed InterCity Express or ICE. Older ICEs take no bicycles at all¹. Newer ICEs take a small number of bicycles, with advance reservations required. In summer 2021 I was told these reservations have to be made at least 24 hours in advance, but from personal experience, on popular routes at popular times, they may sell out weeks or even months ahead of time.
On the website of the German railways, you can search specifically for trains carrying bicycles. Select carriage of bicycles required in the advanced search dialogue. Taking a bicycle on a long distance service costs extra. For local trains, the cost varies depending on the train operating company.
For example, from Norddeich to Basel, if you need to take a bicycle, the fastest journey is 12 hours, 13 minutes, with 5 changes. If you don’t need to take a bicycle, the fastest journey is 8 hours, 51 minutes with 1 change.
So in a nutshell: you can probably reach any station in Germany while travelling with a bicycle, but bicycles cannot always be taken on high speed trains. Therefore, travelling a long distance with a bicycle may take considerably longer and likely require more changes than travelling without one, as well as more advance planning (due to reservations requirements).
(As for your second question; I don’t know if there is such a service)
¹An exception is when the bicycle is folded or otherwise taken apart; a folded bicycle can be taken as ordinary luggage on any train. There are reports of people successfully taking bicycles on the older ICE, but formally this is against the rules. Your experience may vary depending on how full the train is, on train staff, and on how convincing you are.
Short answer: you cannot take your bicycle into ALL German trains!
- when you are using long-haul trains (IC, EC, City Night Line, EN, D,
CNL) you have to make a reservation. It costs 9 EUR (6 EUR if you
have DB-card). - when you’re using regional trains it depends on the federal states. On DB Bahn Website (German) you can find information about the regulation in every federal state.
- when you’re using ICE trains, there could be also a possibility to take you bike. From DB Bahn beförderungsbedingungen:
7.1 Traglast
Neben Handgepäck darf der Reisende ein Stück Traglast mit sich führen. Traglasten sind Gegenstände, die – ohne Handgepäck zu
sein – von einer Person getragen werden können. Im Übrigen kann der
Reisende Gepäck als Reisegepäck gemäß den hierfür geltenden
Bestimmungen aufgeben.
8.1 Mitnahmemöglichkeit
In Zügen der Produktklasse ICE ist die Mitnahme von Fahrrädern ausgeschlossen.
So if you put your bicycle in a package and can carry it, it should be no problem to take it on the ICE train. I know it’s not the best way to transport your bike, but it could be better than using slower trains.
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Credit:stackoverflow.com‘