Amsterdam to Köln via Wuppertal

[scragend]

Hi,

On Monday 15th April I will be travelling from Amsterdam to Köln. My plan is to call at Wuppertal on the way (all I want to do is have a ride on the Schwebebahn).

At the moment I intend to catch the 10.38 from Amsterdam Centraal, arriving at Düsseldorf 12.46, then to take the 13.12 to Wuppertal, arriving 13.31. I've seen a fare of €29.90 for that journey.

I would then travel on from Wuppertal to Köln later in the afternoon. But this is where I get confused with the VRS & VRR tariff areas, and what is valid where.

Any advice on the best ticketing option for the trip would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Denis103]

VRR covers the area as far south as Solingen Hbf on the route to Köln from Wuppertal. VRS covers the area south thereof.
https://www.vrsinfo.de/fileadmin/Dateien/downloadcenter/SVP2019_Gesamtnetzplan.pdf
https://www.vrr.de/imperia/md/conte...chnellverkehrsplan_print_2018_ohne_marken.pdf
There’s a site that covers the NRW area which gives ticket details for regional train tickets.
https://www.vrr.de/en/index.html
The day ticket also covers all public transport i.e. busses, underground, schwebebahn, trams etc and is valid from 0900 weekdays and all day on a weekend.

 

[swt class 450]

I believe that the Wuppertal Schwebebahn is currently out of use for engineering works and repairs. Replacement buses are currently in use. It closed around November 2018 and is not expected to be back in use until around July 2019 this summer.

 

[paddington]

user1234 is correct that the Schwebebahn is closed due to an accident in November.

When it is working again, the best ticketing option would be to use the DB intermediate stops feature from Amsterdam to Cologne via Wuppertal Oberbarmen, all for the same price i.e. 29.90 if the cheapest Sparpreis is available. You need to get a single on the Schwebebahn for 2.80 but you can use the train back.

You can also set the start point to any train station in Amsterdam and the end point to any train/bus/tram stop in Cologne, to avoid needing to pay for local transport (you can buy tickets on board trams in Cologne in any case).

If you enter the right parameters, the DB site will actually offer you a ticket which involves the Schwebebahn, but this is a bug and it will result in the ticket's validity ending at Wuppertal instead of Cologne - as I found to my detriment in November (and the Schwebebahn was closed so it was a waste of time and money ).

Don't worry about VRR. You may need a VRS ticket for later in your trip. VRR and VRS have an overlapping area, for which the rules have a kind of complexity onlyGermans could come up with.

 

[scragend]

I believe that the Wuppertal Schwebebahn is currently out of use for engineering works and repairs. Replacement buses are currently in use. It closed around November 2018 and is not expected to be back in use until around July 2019 this summer.

Damnit. I've been wanting to visit it for ages, and thought I had the perfect chance this time. Oh well. I never have any luck!

user1234 is correct that the Schwebebahn is closed due to an accident in November.

When it is working again, the best ticketing option would be to use the DB intermediate stops feature from Amsterdam to Cologne via Wuppertal Oberbarmen, all for the same price i.e. 29.90 if the cheapest Sparpreis is available. You need to get a single on the Schwebebahn for 2.80 but you can use the train back.

You can also set the start point to any train station in Amsterdam and the end point to any train/bus/tram stop in Cologne, to avoid needing to pay for local transport (you can buy tickets on board trams in Cologne in any case).

If you enter the right parameters, the DB site will actually offer you a ticket which involves the Schwebebahn, but this is a bug and it will result in the ticket's validity ending at Wuppertal instead of Cologne - as I found to my detriment in November (and the Schwebebahn was closed so it was a waste of time and money ).

Don't worry about VRR. You may need a VRS ticket for later in your trip. VRR and VRS have an overlapping area, for which the rules have a kind of complexity onlyGermans could come up with.

Great information. Thanks!

 

[DelW]

Damnit. I've been wanting to visit it for ages, and thought I had the perfect chance this time.

It may not be much consolation, but if you are pausing in Dusseldorf, you could ride the modern hanging railway (aka Skytrain or H-Bahn) which links the airport station to the terminals. It's a much shorter and less scenic ride than Wuppertal though.

 

[Groningen]

Wikipedia says that the Schwebebahn will again run somewhere in the summer, but certainly a date is not given.

 

[duesselmartin]

It depends on the solution found to the November incident. A section of electric track fell off so the whole route is being checked for fauktye insolators ect and a solution is needed to prevent it from happening again.