Cologne to Rotterdam with 2 bikes

[yorkie]

This isn't for me, but someone is wanting to take 2 bikes between Cologne & Rotterdam. They are travelling on Saturday 9 September

They've been told bikes aren't allowed on the direct ICT trains and that they have to make 5 changes.

Does anyone know of a way to reduce the number of changes? are there any particular trains that anyone would recommend taking? Also, changes are less of an issue if they are same or cross-platform so any advice in that respect would be useful.

Thanks in advance

 

[AlexNL]

Taking bikes along on ICE International is only allowed under certain conditions and it seems to be impossible to take one across the border.

Taking a few regional trains and changing more often is probably the easiest way to travel: take a train from Cologne to Düsseldorf, then do Düsseldorf - Arnhem by Abellio RE, NS IC from Arnhem to Utrecht and finally an IC from Utrecht to Rotterdam.

An alternative with less changes can be to take Thalys from Cologne to Brussels, and change there for an Intercity towards Brussels. Rules for bike transport can be found here.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Could they get a DB IC in the direction of Hanover/Hamburg/Bremen and change to an IC DB Berlin-Amsterdam somewhere convenient and then an NS train from Utrecht or Amersfoort to Rotterdam?

 

[OwlMan]

€59.80 for 2 Sparpreis Europa BeNeLux
see
https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/q...en.bahn.de/privatkunde/bahnbuchen/hafas.post?

Station/Stop Time Platform Products Further information
Köln Hbf dep 11:46 3 IC 2202 Intercity Direction: Norddeich Mole
Bicycles conveyed - subject to reservation , Number of bicycles conveyed limited , No food or beverages
Duisburg Hbf arr 12:24 12
Transfer time 20 min.

Adjust the transfer time
Duisburg Hbf dep 12:44 10 ABR20020 ABELLIO Rail NRW GmbH Direction: Arnhem Centraal
Number of bicycles conveyed limited
Arnhem Centraal arr 14:15 6b
Transfer time 31 min.

Adjust the transfer time
Arnhem Centraal dep 14:46 11 IC 3150 Intercity Direction: Schiphol (Airport)
Number of bicycles conveyed limited
Utrecht Centraal arr 15:21 5
Transfer time 27 min.

Adjust the transfer time
Utrecht Centraal dep 15:48 8 IC 650 Intercity Direction: Rotterdam Centraal
Number of bicycles conveyed limited (Utrecht Centraal --> Gouda), Number of bicycles conveyed limited (Gouda --> Rotterdam Centraal)
Rotterdam Centraal arr 16:25 14

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Please note
runs daily, 12. until 27. Aug 2017 Mo - Fr; not 17., 18. Aug, 30. Sep, 1. Oct
Border crossing: Emmerich(Gr)

 

[eastwestdivide]

Cologne-Mönchengladbach-Venlo-Eindhoven-Rotterdam for 3 changes, 3h22, but would need Dutch bike supplement tickets I think.

 

[30907]

Cologne-Mönchengladbach-Venlo-Eindhoven-Rotterdam for 3 changes, 3h22, but would need Dutch bike supplement tickets I think.

The interchange at Moenchengladbach into an hourly service is tight but cross platform, once in NL missing a connection isnt a disaster owing to frequencies.

The Arnhem route is potentially cheaper though as OwlMan shows.

 

[AlexNL]

Cologne-Mönchengladbach-Venlo-Eindhoven-Rotterdam for 3 changes, 3h22,

That's four changes.

but would need Dutch bike supplement tickets I think.

Yes, they'll need to buy bike carrying tickets. This not only applies to the Dutch part of the journey, but also to the international part when traveling by regional trains.

- Germany: VRR Zusatzticket
- Netherlands: NS Day ticket bicycle

 

[eastwestdivide]

That's four changes. ...

Start at Cologne, change in M (1), V (2) and E (3) ?
Four trains = three changes ?

 

[AlexNL]

Argh, you're right. I forgot that there was a direct train from Köln to M'gladbach, I had it in my mind that it involved a change at Rheydt.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't count on that specific route. The change in Eindhoven is incredibly tight (2 minutes, not guaranteed) and the only bicycle carriage is on the end of a 9 coach train. There's no step-free access, so it's very easy to miss the connection.

 

[47513 Severn]

If you do miss the connection it would only be a half hour wait for the next train.

Out of interest, when did the Venlo - Den Haag through services stop running? It would only have been two changes in those days.

 

[radamfi]

Out of interest, when did the Venlo - Den Haag through services stop running? It would only have been two changes in those days.

11 December 2016. Replaced by Den Haag to Eindhoven trains running over the high speed line between Rotterdam and Breda, with Venlo now being served by Schiphol trains splitting at Eindhoven with portions to Venlo and Heerlen.

 

[dutchflyer]

You simply need to have INTERnational bike tickets-I think these cost about 10/11 eur each and cover any of the chosen routes. Its really INternational-no need to mess around and buy new ones for the next company etc.
Its likely, if you also use LOCAL =RE) trains Köln-Düsseldorf (thats where ABellio starts) that the route via Arnhem is a litle cheaper if you cannot get lower advance tickets-buy then the NRW daytickets for 2, valid till Arnhem and new for NS from there.
The route via Arnhem though most likely also means changing platforms all times-though most also have lifts. Via Venlo its more cross-platform, but very tight timings.

 

[Groningen]

A biketicket for the Netherlands is 6,10 euro for the whole day.