Frankfurt to Brussels - midi. Why does dbahn split this:

[Ian99]

Any thoughts on why DB splits this journey when just staying on the ICE 316 would get one there 5 mins earlier?




Also, any estimates of the % chance of getting on the 1420hrs Eurostar to London with the later connection that arrives in at 1335hrs?

 

[signed]

Any thoughts on why DB splits this journey when just staying on the ICE 316 would get one there 5 mins earlier?

Because you probably chose Brussels Central when choosing the station. There are 3 main stations in Brussels, North, Central and the main station is Brussels Midi/Zuid (where Eurostar run).

 

[Ian99]

Yes, of course, thank you.

 

[Teebs]

Also, any estimates of the % chance of getting on the 1420hrs Eurostar to London with the later connection that arrives in at 1335hrs?

Poor I'd think (unless you're in business premier with the later cut-off). The cut-off for check-in is 30 minutes, so 13.50. That gives you 15 minutes, which would just about be ok at Brussels Midi if you were guaranteed no delays. I don't think that DB service has had great reliability and DB Fernvehrkehr in general has poor punctuality. Given any delay would mean you missed your train, I wouldn't risk it.

 

[ainsworth74]

Whilst I agree it's a sub-optimal connection due to DB's unreliability, in the event of a missed connection would not HOTNAT apply as both DB and Eurostar are Railteam members?

Hop on the next available train (HOTNAT) - Railteam

www.railteam.eu

 

[Ian99]

Whilst I agree it's a sub-optimal connection due to DB's unreliability, in the event of a missed connection would not HOTNAT apply as both DB and Eurostar are Railteam members?

Hop on the next available train (HOTNAT) - Railteam

www.railteam.eu

Thanks for the inputs.

It would be interesting to know if HOTNAT would apply.

Surprisingly the train before is 2 hours earlier. Unless there is a different route I could take - I recall the Man at Seat61 saying that there was an alternative route?

 

[mad_rich]

Thanks for the inputs.

It would be interesting to know if HOTNAT would apply.

Surprisingly the train before is 2 hours earlier. Unless there is a different route I could take - I recall the Man at Seat61 saying that there was an alternative route?

There are ICE and Eurostar competing on Cologne-Brussels, at alternating hours. If you book Cologne-Brussels-London on the Eurostar website, then you'll definitely have missed connection protection from Eurostar.

You can also go Frankfurt-Paris-London, with a short walk from Paris Est to Paris Nord.

 

[30907]

There are ICE and Eurostar competing on Cologne-Brussels, at alternating hours. If you book Cologne-Brussels-London on the Eurostar website, then you'll definitely have missed connection protection from Eurostar.

At the cost, usually, of an extra hour's wait (though this weekend with the French engineering works that might be no bad thing!)

You can also go Frankfurt-Paris-London, with a short walk from Paris Est to Paris Nord.

Though not with a ticket via Brussels, of course!

 

[YorkshireBear]

There are ICE and Eurostar competing on Cologne-Brussels, at alternating hours. If you book Cologne-Brussels-London on the Eurostar website, then you'll definitely have missed connection protection from Eurostar.

You can also go Frankfurt-Paris-London, with a short walk from Paris Est to Paris Nord.

For my recent trips to Europe, I have always paid the extra (usually only about a fiver) for a through Eurostar ticket using the old Thalys Network. Just takes the stress out of it.

Although hopefully with the new trains it will become less of a lottery.

 

[Ian99]

I wasn't thinking of booking any trains as I have an interrail pass - I was planning on just taking the ICE #16 from Frankfurt at 1014hrs scheduled to arrive Brussels Midi at 1335hrs. Would HOTNAT apply for a scheduled 1420hrs departure from Brussels to London?

The train prior to the 1014hrs appears to be 0814hrs which is a bit early for me as I expect my hotel will be one with breakfast included.....

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Oct 2024 ==

I could alternatively stay somewhere else other than Frankfurt - I'm planning on coming from Tirano on Friday via the Bernina Express, having travelling on Thursday from Rimini.

I'm quite flexible but those are my current plans. The E* is fixed (unless I miss it...)

 

[RT4038]

Thanks for the inputs.

It would be interesting to know if HOTNAT would apply.

Surprisingly the train before is 2 hours earlier. Unless there is a different route I could take - I recall the Man at Seat61 saying that there was an alternative route?

I have always found E* helpful in this regard, but HOTNAT is for the next available train, not necessarily the next train (which may be fully booked). There are alternative trains on the same or similar route (Thalys or DB/SNCB local trains), but Thalys is compulsory reservation and Thalys tickets only (or a supplement with Interrail) and DB tickets are likely not valid on the SNCB portion of local trains. Any alternative route will be quite circuitous.

 

[Ian99]

Does anyone have any thoughts on an alternative re leaving Rimini after 0930 on Thursday through to departing Brussels at 1420hrs on Saturday. I'd need two places to stop of course. I'm keen to avoid interrail reservation fees, not travel before 0930 or after 2030. I've done the Bernina Express before but would be happy to do it again. I've stayed in Domodossola before. Interested in scenery rather than the train itself.. Any thoughts welcome...

 

[signed]

through to departing Brussels at 1420hrs on Saturday

Is it Brussels only? Open to going via Paris? You could reasonably end up in Lyon by Thursday (via Milan and Geneva) and then head into Paris on the next day

 

[nwales58]

Does anyone have any thoughts on an alternative re leaving Rimini after 0930 on Thursday through to departing Brussels at 1420hrs on Saturday. ... Interested in scenery rather than the train itself..

Hmm. Where do we start on scenery? Just back from doing as much Switzerland as possible.

In the good weather this last week, fog in valley bottoms and the flatter lands particularly in the mornings means higher is better. Eg. views around Andermatt were good but Luzern was under the cloud belt most of the time.

Sunset around 1700 means I'd start well before 0930 in order to end earlier.

Avoiding all reservations in Italy means getting taking 5h to get to Milan instead of 2h+. Interrail IC reservations are cheaper (than Frecce) and a bit faster than the RVs along there. Presumably you know the R80 to Chiasso/Lugano to avoid the EC reservation into Switzerland.

If you're OK with a bit of RRB to do the MGB you could go via Göschenen/Andermatt then down to Brig. Col de Bretaye is included in Interrail so go up for views. Campanile in Martigny is cheap by swiss standards (i.e. not cheap). Or carry on to Spiez then the new gauge-changing MOB trains over to Montreux.

If you need to get above the fog for views, Martigny-Chamonix has a couple of RRB stretches at the moment unfortunately.

Or shoot through the Alps on the Gotthard to do the Schwarzwaldstrecke Donaueschingen-Offenburg (Donaueschingen-Freiburg i. B. is pretty good too) on the way through reservation-free but delay-prone germany.

 

[30907]

It's probably worth splashing out on the FR as far as Milan, then take your pick of routes through Switzerland and aim to be in Koeln on Friday evening instead of Frankfurt.

Alternatively, you could use the Brenner route: 0859 RV Rimini-Bologna, then pay the supplement on the RJ into Germany. An interesting variant might be to take a devious route as far as Trento and then via the Brenner.
Or to make use of the Fortezza-Lienz route towards the Tauern then on to Salzburg and across Germany.
A variant is to head up to Gorizia on the Italy/Slovenia border, then use the secondary route to Jesenice and on to Villach and the Tauern.
Only risk the tight connection in Brussels if you can still get home with a 3- or even 5-hour delay.

 

[Ian99]

Thanks both for your inputs.

I'm happy to pay the €13 reservation cost here in Italy - not least because they generally don't need much booking in advance.

I'm going to have an early breakfast tomorrow, get the first fast train north that I can and make a decision on the way...

I'll need to re-read both your suggestions tomorrow when I can get my phone re-charged (Italian sockets being slightly smaller than French, Greek, Spanish, etc. 2 pin sockets, but the ones on the train are okay).

What does MGB stand for please?

 

[Wandering Pom]

The MGB is the Matterhorn-Gotthard Bahn: the narrow-gauge line running Zermatt - Visp - Brig - Andermatt - Disentis, plus Andermatt - Goschenen.