U-Bahnfreund
Member
The guard doesn't know (much) more than the app and that's not always a good prediction
-
Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
Brussels - Cologne problems
- Thread starter BahrainLad
- Start date
- Status
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
wellhouse
Member
We're all a bit on the dark with the current disruption. The good news is that reservations are not compulsory on DB, but the further good news is that if you go on the App or the website, you can do a dummy seat reservation, and if you then go to the seat selector, you will see how many seats have been reserved, and how many are still free.
If you have no reservation, you can try your luck in the BordRestaurant.
It seems some Brussels services are on a diversionary route from Frankfurt, while others are just operating a shuttle to Aachen. I'm working on the assumption that the timekeeping of the shuttles will be more reliable
If you have no reservation, you can try your luck in the BordRestaurant.
It seems some Brussels services are on a diversionary route from Frankfurt, while others are just operating a shuttle to Aachen. I'm working on the assumption that the timekeeping of the shuttles will be more reliable
Or the BahnBonus seats (see the train composition in the app). These are never reserved.
That is a good assumption.
I would assume that you would miss ICE16, unless it waits for the RE, but that gives you two backups.HiI am due to travel from Bremen - Brussels on December 19th. I am booked on the 18:51 eurostar to London, so aiming to be at Bruxelles-midi by 17:45. I haven't done this journey before so am a bit nervous ensuring i get to brussels in time. Does anyone have any experience or advice?
My current plan is to depart Bremen at 07:44. Do you think this allows enough buffer time with the delays?
Bremen - Cologne. ICE105.
Cologne - Aachen. RE1 or RE9.
Aachen - Bruxelles-midi. ICE16/ICE314/ICE14.
Thank you in advance!
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
And would you recommend making seat reservations on multiple connections to be safe? Are they often very busy/full?
Thanks!
I would consider taking the direct Duesseldorf-Moenchengladbach-Aachen RE4 though it would definitely miss ICE16.
On the basis that you will be delayed an hour anyway, you could consider travelling an hour later and aiming for ICE314.
Alternatively you could take the stopper to Liege whence there are plenty of fast trains to Brussels which aren't IME busy..
I wouldn't reserve Aachen-Brussels BTW.
duesselmartin
Established Member
that close before Christmas its going to be busy. An alternative that might even safe time is changing at Düsseldorf into RE4 to Aachen. That train is also not as busy usually.
Hi,
I'm a new forum user - just joined to find out some info about this disruption. For context - I'm from Australia and currently doing a family holiday hopping around Europe using trains to get from place to place and we have an upcoming leg Brussels to Cologne impacted by this disruption. This thread seems to have the most information out there at present ...
We were originally booked on a Eurostar train from Brussels to Cologne around midday on Sun 15th Dec. That train was cancelled and we were offered a late evening train - not ideal as we get into Cologne around 8pm instead of around 2pm, but it is what it is. So I took that and we are now booked on Eurostar 9459 from Brussels to Cologne, departing 1725 arriving 2000. This is stated as a direct train with no changes on the Eurostar app, so I assume they are re-routing the train?
If we want to get there earlier, I've looked at DB's trains and we can book a DB train and get there earlier, but their app now shows the train change at Aachen onto an RE (ICE from Brussels to Aachen) - previously it didn't show this.
There are four of us travelling and we have four large suitcases, so to me it seems we either stay with Eurostar and don't need to change trains (easier with luggage etc) and just get into Cologne later, or I cancel the Eurostar booking and go with DB and take an ICE Brussels to Aachen and then an RE Aachen to Cologne and deal with luggage hassles.
Is my summary of the situation correct?
I'm a new forum user - just joined to find out some info about this disruption. For context - I'm from Australia and currently doing a family holiday hopping around Europe using trains to get from place to place and we have an upcoming leg Brussels to Cologne impacted by this disruption. This thread seems to have the most information out there at present ...
We were originally booked on a Eurostar train from Brussels to Cologne around midday on Sun 15th Dec. That train was cancelled and we were offered a late evening train - not ideal as we get into Cologne around 8pm instead of around 2pm, but it is what it is. So I took that and we are now booked on Eurostar 9459 from Brussels to Cologne, departing 1725 arriving 2000. This is stated as a direct train with no changes on the Eurostar app, so I assume they are re-routing the train?
If we want to get there earlier, I've looked at DB's trains and we can book a DB train and get there earlier, but their app now shows the train change at Aachen onto an RE (ICE from Brussels to Aachen) - previously it didn't show this.
There are four of us travelling and we have four large suitcases, so to me it seems we either stay with Eurostar and don't need to change trains (easier with luggage etc) and just get into Cologne later, or I cancel the Eurostar booking and go with DB and take an ICE Brussels to Aachen and then an RE Aachen to Cologne and deal with luggage hassles.
Is my summary of the situation correct?
According to DB that will get you to Brussels at 1335! The Bremen-Koln leg should be ok, it doesn't get to the Ruhr until after the morning peak so it should be reasonably on time. I wouldn't be at all worried about getting to Brussels on time if you are starting that early
wellhouse
Member
I have a few posts upthread on my recent experience travelling from Brussels to Wuppertal via Cologne on Wednesday 4th December.
ES9132 from London arrived in Brussels slightly late, and as the convenient short cut to the platform for Cologne connections is currently closed, we reached Platform 8 just in time to see ICE317 depart.
Eurostar stamped our reservations to permit travel on any suitable later service as long as we checked with the train manager before boarding.
We joined ES9459, which was running through to Cologne but it arrived 25 minutes late and lost further time en route. We eventually left it at Rheydt to continue to Wuppertal on local services, changing at Monchengladbach. If you read upthread, you will see that we would have reached our destination earlier had we changed at Aachen
Returning yesterday, Thursday 12th December, we took the hourly local service from Cologne Hbf to Aachen, where we joined ICE16 to Brussels. It was held about 25 minutes for connecting passengers from other local services who rushed to board. (There are more frequent local services from Cologne that involve changing en route). Aachen Hbf has lifts to the platforms, so luggage is manageable, but there are no escalators, so a tight connection is likely to be stressful, although it did seem that the ICE was held long enough for everyone who used the lifts.
In the event, we had plenty of time to make our London Eurostar at Brussels, although that eventually departed late owing to an IT problem at Passport Control.
My advice is to stick.with DB rather than Eurostar from Germany to Brussels, but the DB schedules can chop and change somewhat day by day, so you do need to keep checking. On Thursday, ICE315 had been rescheduled to operate about 2 hours later than usual from Cologne (Ehrenfeld rather than Hbf), but on the day it reverted to it's original timing. The meant the online live departure board, which shows revised departure times of delayed trains in a white box, showed a revised time for ICE315 of 2 hours in the past!
If you make reservations for your full itinerary for that day (including non-reservable local services) DB will email you should rescheduling make any connections cease to be viable.
Good luck!
ES9132 from London arrived in Brussels slightly late, and as the convenient short cut to the platform for Cologne connections is currently closed, we reached Platform 8 just in time to see ICE317 depart.
Eurostar stamped our reservations to permit travel on any suitable later service as long as we checked with the train manager before boarding.
We joined ES9459, which was running through to Cologne but it arrived 25 minutes late and lost further time en route. We eventually left it at Rheydt to continue to Wuppertal on local services, changing at Monchengladbach. If you read upthread, you will see that we would have reached our destination earlier had we changed at Aachen
Returning yesterday, Thursday 12th December, we took the hourly local service from Cologne Hbf to Aachen, where we joined ICE16 to Brussels. It was held about 25 minutes for connecting passengers from other local services who rushed to board. (There are more frequent local services from Cologne that involve changing en route). Aachen Hbf has lifts to the platforms, so luggage is manageable, but there are no escalators, so a tight connection is likely to be stressful, although it did seem that the ICE was held long enough for everyone who used the lifts.
In the event, we had plenty of time to make our London Eurostar at Brussels, although that eventually departed late owing to an IT problem at Passport Control.
My advice is to stick.with DB rather than Eurostar from Germany to Brussels, but the DB schedules can chop and change somewhat day by day, so you do need to keep checking. On Thursday, ICE315 had been rescheduled to operate about 2 hours later than usual from Cologne (Ehrenfeld rather than Hbf), but on the day it reverted to it's original timing. The meant the online live departure board, which shows revised departure times of delayed trains in a white box, showed a revised time for ICE315 of 2 hours in the past!
If you make reservations for your full itinerary for that day (including non-reservable local services) DB will email you should rescheduling make any connections cease to be viable.
Good luck!
So if I'm booked on a Eurostar service from Brussels to Cologne will we still be changing trains en-route despite the Eurostar booking still claiming to be direct? Or will the Eurostar train still go all the way to Cologne, just taking a longer route?
Sorry, bit new to this whole concept of different train operators (vs what we have in Australia, which is very simple)
Sorry, bit new to this whole concept of different train operators (vs what we have in Australia, which is very simple)
wellhouse
Member
My experience was that the direct Eurostar took much longer than a change at Aachen, and others seem to have found diverted through services subject to delay and/or rescheduling.
If you have onward connections I'd certainly recommend DB with the Aachen change.
If you have onward connections I'd certainly recommend DB with the Aachen change.
Yes, you will be diverted. Arrival time in Cologne was mostly around 20:30-20:45 over the past week.
You've already chosen to rebook instead of a refund, so whether you can still cancel your Eurostar tickets depends on the conditions of the fare you booked.
Thank you. I can cancel the tickets, but also trying to have the simplest connections …
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
Well just to update we stuck with Eurostar service and arrived into Cologne at 730 local time, around 30min earlier than scheduled.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
Well just to update we stuck with Eurostar service and arrived into Cologne at 730 local time, around 30min earlier than scheduled.
Last edited:
ThisIsSurbiton
Member
- Joined
- 16 Aug 2017
- Messages
- 455
Brussels always was the worst of the Eurostar stations to use. Now with that (censored) shop, they seem determined to make the travelling experience as terrible as possible
duesselmartin
Established Member
to be honest I hate St. Pancakes for its overcrowing. Brussels with only one destination is much more relaxed.
I'm going to Dusseldorf in the New Year, would you say going Brussels - Aachen - Dusseldorf and return is safer than going via Koeln ?
The timetable currently shows normal operation from 23/12, as had been announced.
duesselmartin
Established Member
RE1 runs via Cologne, RE4 via Neuss. I would take whatever turns up first.
onebagger
Member
Hello,
I have recently been travelling between Brussels and Colonge, both there and back on an interrail pass. I travelled out on Friday 13th of December, and back on Tuesday 18th.
We travelled on the ICE to Aachen, then took the RE onwards to Cologne. I got a seat reservation for the ICE, but it wasn't terribly busy. The RE was moderately busy.
The connection at Aachen was a little tight (13min both ways, but we made it in time, with no delay on the way there and the RE arriving 3 min late to Aachen). I used the RailEurope app to determine my journey - I did notice for some periods (Tuesday evening) the RE local train wasn't running, and all of the alternatives required a paid reservation (I think TGV/Thalys services)
I have recently been travelling between Brussels and Colonge, both there and back on an interrail pass. I travelled out on Friday 13th of December, and back on Tuesday 18th.
We travelled on the ICE to Aachen, then took the RE onwards to Cologne. I got a seat reservation for the ICE, but it wasn't terribly busy. The RE was moderately busy.
The connection at Aachen was a little tight (13min both ways, but we made it in time, with no delay on the way there and the RE arriving 3 min late to Aachen). I used the RailEurope app to determine my journey - I did notice for some periods (Tuesday evening) the RE local train wasn't running, and all of the alternatives required a paid reservation (I think TGV/Thalys services)
- Status