German trains: Intercity (IC)

• Q. Are lockers and luggage storage services available at the train station?

  A. Most major train stations have a left luggage facility offering either self-serve luggage lockers or staffed luggage facilities.

  Keep in mind that there is a fee to store your luggage at a train station. Typically, stations will charge a flat rate to rent a luggage locker that you’re free to fill. For staffed luggage facilities, you may incur a “per bag” fee. In either case, the fee is usually under 10 Euros. If you do leave your bags, be sure to keep some money in your pockets for the luggage lockers.

• Q. What should I do if my train ticket is lost or stolen?

  A. If your paper ticket is lost or stolen, you’ll need to purchase a new one in order to travel.

  If you purchased the Rail Protection Plan™ and your ticket is covered, you may be eligible for reimbursement if you meet the requirements of this plan, this includes filing a police report within 24 hours of the loss or theft and purchasing replacement train ticket.

• Q. Do you offer e-tickets?

  A. Yes, on certain rail lines. There are two types of e-tickets:
  Print at home and Print at the Station

  Let’s begin with Print at Home e-tickets, of which there are 3 different types.

  The first type of e-tickets are those issued as a PDF’s which will be emailed to you and can be downloaded via a link contained in your Rail Europe email confirmation. You must print the PDF (using a printer) and bring your ticket with you to board the train.

  The second type of e-tickets are those that are individually emailed to you. You must print the email (using a printer) and bring it with you to board the train – this is your train ticket. Each ticket will be in a separate email, so if you booked more than one ticket, please be sure you print all tickets that were emailed to you.

  The last type of e-tickets are those which have a unique e-ticket confirmation code that is printed on your Rail Europe confirmation email. You must provide the e-ticket confirmation code along with your id to the conductor on board the train.

  Next, Print at the station e-tickets!
  You will receive a 6 or 8 alpha-numeric e-ticket confirmation code (also known as a PNR or Passenger Name Record) in your Rail Europe confirmation email, which you then enter into a self-service kiosk at the train station in Europe to print out your actual train ticket.

  Use this e-ticket confirmation code at a self-service kiosk at the train station to retrieve your ticket. Not all rail lines offer these e-ticket options. Once you have selected a ticket on our website, you’ll be able to choose from its available methods of issuance at checkout.

• Q. How early should I arrive at the train station?

  A. We advise travellers to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to departure. This allows you time to clear any security checks and locate the platform where your train will be departing. If you are departing from a larger train station (typically a city’s main station) and need to activate your rail pass prior to boarding, you will want to arrive even earlier to make sure you have enough time to get your rail pass activated and avoid doing a luggage-hauling sprint through the station.

• Q. Can I choose whether my tickets or rail passes are delivered as paper documents or electronically?

  A. All available delivery options for how your train tickets, rail passes, and/or reservations can be issued will be presented to you during checkout.

• Q. My print at station e-ticket was lost or stolen after I printed it. Can I print it again?

  A. Unfortunately, print at station e-tickets may only be printed once from the kiosk. In the event of a lost ticket, go to a ticket counter and ask if they can reprint it. If they are unable to, a new train ticket will have to be purchased.

  If you purchased the Rail Protection Plan™, you may be eligible for compensation.

• Q. How are sleeping compartments kept secure?

  A. Overnight trains have conductors on duty throughout the duration of the train ride. In addition, sleeping compartments have locks on the doors that you control.

• Q. Why are e tickets not available for certain trips?

  A. Availability of e-tickets depends on two factors: whether the rail company operating the train offers e-ticketing, and if it does, whether Rail Europe was granted technical access to their inventory to enable e-ticketing on their behalf.

  Not all European rail companies offer e-tickets. But when they do, we work with them to make this option available on our website. And we’ll continue to do so in order provide more e-ticket options for your convenience.

• Q. Can I add products to an earlier booking and avoid paying the shipping or booking fees?

  A. Unfortunately, once a booking has been finalized it’s being processed and we’re unable to alter it.

• Q. I misplaced the printout of my print at home e-ticket. What now?

  A. No problem. You can simply reprint your train ticket from any printer, as long as you can still access the pdf provided to you at the time of booking.

  You can find links to the pdf in the confirmation email sent to you. Or if you’ve registered for an online account, you can access the booking in which the pdf link was contained in your dashboard.

  The only exceptions are if you purchased a Thalys or NTV-Italo print at home e-ticket. Those pdf’s are sent in separate emails and can’t be retrieved online at this time.

  If you request to have your train ticket reprinted at a station ticket window, there may be a local service fee.

Browse our FAQ

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 ...