Starting short on a London-Spezial Ticket (Today)

[itfcfan]

Hi everyone,

I'm in Maastricht today and due to catch a train to Liege and then onwards to London via Brussels this evening.

I hold a London-Spezial ticket from Cologne to London but due to a change in plans I'm in Maastricht instead.

I've purchased a single to Liege and intend to "start short" on my London-Special from Liege. Is this permitted? The connection to ICE14 is only a minute so I may take the regular IC a few mins later instead - is it also permitted to take this train on a London-Spezial ticket?

I tried asking at the ticket office at Maastricht station but the response was "not sure".

As I read the ticket the main ticket is valid on any trains on the route whereas the reservation part is the only part that is valid only on a single train. Is there anything about a print-at-home London-Spezial that invalidates this?

Thanks in advance for any help,

John

 

[TCDD]

I stand to be corrected, but I doubt you'd face any problems at all 'starting short'. I doubt that you could get away with using another train than the ICE, as the ticket is I think tied to the specific long-distance (ICE, IC etc) trains printed on the ticket even without a reservation.

 

[itfcfan]

To answer one of my own questions, I was able to use the ticket on the Belgian IC between Liege and Brussels. I asked the conductors on both the 15:53 and 16:00 ICs from Liege and neither could see any problems.

As a bonus, I saw set 4002(?) of the new Eurostar (Siemens Valero) in a siding just north of Leuven (attached).

 

[30907]

It's a definite advantage of DB -Spezial fares (it applies to internal Sparpreis too) - so long as you stick with the booked IC/EC/ICE(s) on the section you actually travel (and the relevant Eurostar), the rest doesn't bother them.

The Ts&Cs on the website are confusing - they say "no break of journey" but you can build in a break of journey, and last time I looked they said you had to use the ICE right through to Brussels (but that doesn't bother SNCB at all, as you discovered!).

For most routes (Italy is the exception I know of) "booked train only" applies only within Germany.

 

[Oscar]

You can certainly build an IC between Brussels and Liège into a London-Spezial itinerary using the DB site (excluding ICE trains / "via: Leuven"). You just have to use the ICE for the Liège - Aachen section.