Rail touring in Germany with a 9-euro ticket

[Railway World]

Back in the DDR

TRAVEL BARGAINS don’t come much more generous than the German Government’s decision to get people back on public transport over the summer by pumping €2.5 billion into the state’s rail and bus serv…

railwayworld.net

TRAVEL BARGAINS don’t come much more generous than the German Government’s decision to get people back on public transport over the summer by pumping €2.5 billion into the state’s rail and bus services and offering a €9 ticket that gives an entire month’s travel across the country.


Ever on the look-out for cheap travel opportunities I decided to buy a €9 ticket for the month of August and, in the first of two planned trips over that month, spend a few days re-visiting the remarkable Harz (HSB) narrow gauge system, on which the €9 ticket is valid for all services except those up the Brocken mountain....

 

[306024]

Thanks for posting that report. Plenty of other interesting foreign stuff on the website too.

 

[Railway World]

Back in the DDR (part two)

It seems unlikely that there will ever be a travel offer again as generous as the month-long €9 ticket offered this summer on German public transport, so having bought one for August in order to re…

railwayworld.net

Arriving fairly late in the day at Berlin Brandenburg (BER) Airport on 23 August 2022, I was not keen on spending over three hours on a succession of regional services getting to my destination (Radebeul Ost) using the €9 ticket, so opted for a €17.90 super sparpreis ticket on a direct InterCity train from BER (21.01) to Dresden Neustadt, from where it is an 8-minute ride on a S1 suburban service.


Working locos during my three days in the area were 99-1793 on the Weißeritztalbahn, 99-1749/60 on the Zittauer Schmalspurbahn and 99-1761 on the Lößnitzgrundbahn. Like their metre-gauge counterparts on the Harz (HSB) system, all the locos are immaculately maintained and timekeeping was pretty good, considering the exceptionally high passenger numbers....