Exactly where can you go with a single-trip ticket in Berlin?

2/21/2020 9:58:25 PM

Don’t sweat the fine print too much.

In practice, you can take any train or bus within the travel zone and the 120 minute validity period – provided you don’t go back to where you came from. The is no limit on the number of changes or stopovers.

The ticket inspectors do not know your destination, nor can they tell how often you have changed (or plan to change) trains on your trip, nor do they care.

While the language of the rules suggest that they’d like you to buy a ticket for each individual “trip”, that is something that isn’t enforced in practice (and can’t be under the current system).

2/21/2020 4:24:16 PM

In practical application the question is, at the time you ticket is checked are you travelling clearly towards the station where your ticket was originally stamped. If the answer is yes, then it looks like you are doing some kind of return trip which is not allowed. In all other situations you are ok. So doing a bunch of unnecessary changes is fine as long as you are travelling roughly in the same direction.

2/21/2020 5:39:03 PM

The validity of the single tickets is, as described in VBB’s terms and conditions:

Diese Einzelfahrausweise berechtigen zu einer Fahrt mit beliebigem
Umsteigen in Richtung auf das Fahrtziel über den reiseüblichen oder
durch die Fahrplanlage bedingten Weg.

My translation:

The single fare tickets allow a trip with any number of changes in
direction of the destination via the usual route or via a route required
by the current traffic/schedule situation.

So, following the wording in the T&Cs you are required to take the ‘usual route’, which in practice will mean the shortest, fastest or most convenient route. Any route suggested by BVG’s trip planner will be ok and any detour beyond those suggestions will at least be open to interpretation. I don’t have the impression that the ticket inspectors are particularly picky, but you shouldn’t try to exploit the room for interpretation too much.

The other option ‘or via a route required by the current traffic/schedule situation’ applies in case of schedule interruption or delays, in which you are allowed to take a detour if it helps you reach your destination faster.

To your specific question, I would say:

  1. Taking U6 from Wedding to Tempelhof takes 18 minutes, while the Ringbahn takes 30 minutes and is therefore a significantly longer trip, both in travel time and distance. The T&Cs explicitely excludes ’round trips’, which are defined as ‘… trips, which along a different route lead to a destination, which could have been reached on the outward trip’. My interpretation is that you in this situation are required to take the U6.

  2. In this case, the BVG trip planner will suggest both routes and there should be no problem to use either of them.

  3. This is indeed a case of interpretation, but I would guess that the route with a number of unnecessary changes is ok. It is tedious, but you are not making a significant detour and are always moving toward your destination.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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