Charleroi-Luxembourg-Frankfurt trip

[MK Tom]

I'm planning to do this trip, staying in Luxembourg overnight, and would like to know the cheapest possible way to make it work. I'm not bothered about journey time. So far the SNCB website has given me a much better price than RailEurope for the Charleroi-Luxembourg stage but their site confuses me a bit. I'm looking to travel out on Friday 3rd or Saturday 4th of May, then the second leg the morning after.

Thanks to anyone who can help at all!

 

[radamfi]

I would definitely use the SNCB site for any domestic or international journey to or through Belgium. I have had no problems using home printed tickets from their site. The main thing to note is that you use a different website for domestic and international tickets.

The SNCB site may also work for Luxembourg to Frankfurt. But I would also try the DB site as well. Are you actually going to Frankfurt city centre or to Frankfurt main airport or Frankfurt-Hahn airport?

 

[MK Tom]

I would definitely use the SNCB site for any domestic or international journey to or through Belgium. I have had no problems using home printed tickets from their site. The main thing to note is that you use a different website for domestic and international tickets.

The SNCB site may also work for Luxembourg to Frankfurt. But I would also try the DB site as well. Are you actually going to Frankfurt city centre or to Frankfurt main airport or Frankfurt-Hahn airport?

City centre initially, then the airport. I got a €24 single for the charleroi-Luxembourg leg on the sncb site. Is that the walk in fare?

 

[radamfi]

I presume you are under 26 as I can only get the €24.40 ticket if you choose the 18-25 age bracket. The ticket is described as 'Semi-Flex' which means restricted changes and refunds. The 'Full-Flex' (i.e. walk on ticket) is €36.80.

According to http://www.b-europe.co.uk/Travel/Practical/FAQ

Except in the case of high speed trains, it is flexible. When you travel on regular trains your home-printed ticket will contain a date, but not a time. This means you can take an earlier or later train without changing your ticket. For high speed services, your ticket contains a seat reservation, and will display a journey time, which you will be tied to. These high speed sevices are Thalys, Eurostar, ICE and soon Fyra.

so as your trains to Luxembourg are not high speed it suggests you can use any train on that day. I can't however see what the difference between 'Semi-Flex' and 'Full-Flex' is.

 

[Oscar]

Luxemburg-Spezial fares from Luxembourg to Frankfurt start at 19€ - this price is available on Saturday 4th and a 24€ fare is available on the morning of Sunday 5th. The DB website can sell these tickets (shown under "Sparangebote" - savings fares). These tickets can be amended or refunded for a 15€ fee before the day of travel, are subject to yield management and have to be bought at least 3 days before travel. You can enter two breaks of journey of up to 48 hours each and so include your travel from Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof to Frankfurt Flughafen in the ticket.

 

[MK Tom]

Yeah I am under 26 - I'm assuming it's like France in that regard, or do I need a special card or something?

What is meant by 'Luxembourg-spezial'?

 

[30907]

Luxemburg-spezial or Luxembourg-special is the standard international Advance fare, much as in GB: specific train only on the Inter-city leg (which can be any part of the journey, even just the last bit Frankfurt Hbf-Airport if you wish, but you can use any regional train on the legs before and after.

You need to fiddle around with the "advanced choice of transport" bit for each section, but if you put via Trier then via Frankfurt Hbf, Regional trains only for the first two sections and ICE/IC for the last, and specify the arrival time at the airport you want, you can take any Regional train that day from Luxembourg to Frankfurt.

Alternatively, you can choose to travel Inter City up the Rhine valley from Koblenz (I assume you want the scenic route?) and Regional out to the airport. Less flexible but quicker and more comfortable.

 

[MK Tom]

Seeing as Hahn airport is completely inaccessible by rail I think I'll get the Bohr bus there. Could I through ticket from Brussels to Luxembourg and take a huge break in Charleroi or is there a system like in France where you have to complete the journey in a certain time? It's just I haven't decided whether I'll fly into Charleroi airport or get the Megabus to Brussels yet.

Also, could anyone tell me what the Brussels-Charleroi walk-in fare would be?

 

[30907]

Seeing as Hahn airport is completely inaccessible by rail I think I'll get the Bohr bus there.

Sorry, didn't realise you meant Hahn. Ticketing advice for Germany stands though, just finish short at Hbf. (Perfectly Legal). or the ticket wd get you back to Mainz where I think you can get a bus to Hahn instead of all the way from Frankfurt.

 

[87015]

If you are only going to Hahn there is a bus from Bullay, which is on the route from Luxembourg to Koblenz, direct to Hahn. About an hours run and six euros when I did it a year or so ago.

 

[MK Tom]

Okay thanks a lot guys!

Can anyone tell me the Brussels to Charleroi walk in fare? I can't tell if the sncb results are advance or not and I don't want to tie myself to a specific service in case my coach to Brussels is late.

 

[Oscar]

SNCB/NMBS don't offer "Advance" fares. The fare is 9.20€ (or 6€ as a Go Pass 1 ticket - for under 26s available online only).

 

[radamfi]

SNCB don't do Advance-type fares for domestic journeys on non-high speed regular trains so fares using any IC train on that route will be walk up.

If you are so inclined, TEC also run a local bus from Brussels to Charleroi and have a day ticket for all TEC bus services which is pretty cheap (something like €7), which covers the whole of the French speaking part of Belgium, plus travel to Brussels on TEC. If you have the TEC day ticket, you can go to the airport for free as that is also run by TEC, if that is where you are going.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Did L/emberg - Charleroi some years back - an easy change at Namur , - can I just say as a destination or arrival point , it has few charms. Mind you I only paid 1 euro for the flight to Stansted......

 

[MK Tom]

No I do actually want to visit Charleroi itself for various reasons!

Is the Go Pass something you can just walk up and get or is that more like a railcard?

Also I'm a bit thrown by TEC's zones and fares as I'd like to make use of the ''metro'' whilst in Charleroi.

Many thanks to you all, you've been even better than when I've asked stuff before.

Also if I home print a ticket from SNCB for a journey that runs into Germany, would they accept it on DB services?

 

[Oscar]

"Go Pass 1" refers to a single ticket bought online available to anyone under 26.

 

[radamfi]

Also I'm a bit thrown by TEC's zones and fares as I'd like to make use of the ''metro'' whilst in Charleroi.

I went to Charleroi a couple of months ago and all I did was do two metro rides and a bus ride to the airport. I couldn't figure out the zone system so I played it safe and got a day ticket.
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Also if I home print a ticket from SNCB for a journey that runs into Germany, would they accept it on DB services?

I've got a SNCB home printed ticket from Amsterdam to Bremen for two weeks time that doesn't even go into Belgium and is only going to be used on DB trains! It has the train numbers of the reserved trains printed on it so I don't have any worries.

 

[Oscar]

I went to Charleroi a couple of months ago and all I did was do two metro rides and a bus ride to the airport. I couldn't figure out the zone system so I played it safe and got a day ticket.

Does this link help?
1-2 zones - "Next" fare
3+ zones - "Horizon" fare
You only pay for a zone once even if crossing it multiple times.

 

[MK Tom]

Does this link help?
1-2 zones - "Next" fare
3+ zones - "Horizon" fare
You only pay for a zone once even if crossing it multiple times.

Bit strange how it just jumps from 2 to 7 then 18. That map shows the Gosselies line which I didn't think was open yet...

So am I right interpreting that as €8.00 day ticket for the whole Metro?

 

[radamfi]

Bit strange how it just jumps from 2 to 7 then 18. That map shows the Gosselies line which I didn't think was open yet...

So am I right interpreting that as €8.00 day ticket for the whole Metro?

The €8 ticket would give you the whole TEC network across the south of Belgium. The question is whether the €4 ticket for up to 2 zones would be good enough. It does appear that you need more than 2 zones to do the whole network, so you would need the €8 ticket.

The zone numbering probably covers the whole TEC network, not just Charleroi, hence the apparent odd numbering.

 

[MK Tom]

Is it necessary to flag down trams on the Anderlues line? Some of the stops towards the end seem to be little more than a flag by the side of the track.

Also are these tickets available from machines on the platform?

Just found out the Gosselies line is opening the day before I'm there!!

 

[radamfi]

I got my day ticket from the machine at the bus station at Charleroi-Sud. I think all metro stations have machines and some also have manned ticket offices. If you are at the bus station the easiest thing is probably just to buy it from a bus driver on any of the buses loading.

I only went on the blue line where all the stations have proper platforms and we stopped everywhere. I don't think you had to press a button to stop the train so it must have had to stop everywhere in case someone wanted to get off. Maybe it is different on the red line but I doubt it.

I found this old map of the wider Charleroi region

http://www.tec-charleroi.be/Files/TECCH/NetPlan/Agglomération.pdf

which is out of date but might give a bit of an idea of the zone system. I can't find anything newer.

 

[johnnychips]

Tom, if you are spending a day in Charleroi, can I recommend an excursion by train to Thuin, which has its own preserved tramway? It's a lovely place as well. Google it.

 

[MK Tom]

Tom, if you are spending a day in Charleroi, can I recommend an excursion by train to Thuin, which has its own preserved tramway? It's a lovely place as well. Google it.

Yeah I know about it, but I'm told it only runs on Sundays? I'm there on a Saturday!

Also am I right in assuming there's no early morning peak period on the metro, especially on a Saturday? Or other fare anomalies I should be aware of? I basically have until midday to try to cover the entire network. All being well the Gosselies line will have opened, it's planned to on May 3rd from what I hear. Not a huge issue if it gets delayed though.

 

[Oscar]

Also am I right in assuming there's no early morning peak period on the metro, especially on a Saturday? Or other fare anomalies I should be aware of?

There appears to be no peak pricing.

Peak pricing for walk-up single and return fares is rare outside of Britain and limited peak pricing is practised in other ways. In other European countries one factor influencing the price of advanced purchase booked train only tickets is of course the perceived popularity of the train and in Germany, Austria and Switzerland there are for example day tickets only valid after 09:00.

 

[johnnychips]

Yeah I know about it, but I'm told it only runs on Sundays? I'm there on a Saturday!

That's a shame. If any other readers are interested, here's a link to the website showing days of operation:

http://www.asvi.be/en/index/index.htm

 

[MK Tom]

Totally random question about the Charleroi Metro, but why are the Solielmont and Chatelet lines left-hand running when the rest of the system is right-hand?

 

[Oscar]

Totally random question about the Charleroi Metro, but why are the Solielmont and Chatelet lines left-hand running when the rest of the system is right-hand?

Were they originally part of the heavy rail network, which has left hand running (like Britain, Switzerland and Italy and unlike The Netherlands and Germany)?

 

[MK Tom]

No that's the weird part really. The Charleroi Metro is a direct descendant of the SNCV, the old right-hand running countrywide tram system. The two lines to which I refer are newer metro-style lines (as is the Anderlues line as far as Petria, but that's right-hand running). As you come off the city centre loop onto the Solielmont line (and as you would on the Chatelet line were it operational) the two tracks physically cross each other. Normally I'd think they were making the system compatible with main-line trains but it's metre gauge and has no physical connection with the rail network anywhere anyway.

This image is taken from Wikipedia:

 

[toerist]

The left hand running tracks where owned by a different operator than the right hand running tracks, In Charleroi you had 2 operators at the time: NMVB/SNCV (Nationale Maatschappij Voor Buurtspoorwegen/Société Nationale de Chemins de fers Vicinaux) the country wide interurban tram network and the STIC (Société des Transports Intercommunaux de Charleroi) the local city transport company. Which track belonged to which operator I can't recall