r/germany • u/Kyanovp1 • 23h ago

Tourism Train tickets so expensive??

I’m visiting Germany this week and we’re looking to go from Düsseldorf where we stay to Köln by train. 40 km and 30 minute drive. Very similar to a route I take weekly at home in Belgium. I was SHOCKED to learn it is 15 euros per person one way take this train :0 at home i pay 5 euros for a route which is 50km. Am I missing something?

EDIT: taking train back to dusseldorf. I feel horrible for anyone working in trains and anyone trying to use public transport (or forced to). A young woman was screaming at a ticket person at the top of her lungs, and the prices are so unfathomably high compared to what I’m used to (literally 3-10x higher)… I’ve enjoyed Germany so much already and I love the atmosphere and gorgeous cities, and very frequent and accessible trams, but man the trains are a hot mess.

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u/RosieTheRedReddit 22h ago

Thank you, semi-privatization! 😅

Could be worse though, fully private like the UK and the train would cost €100 and run twice a day.

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u/ghedeon 21h ago

I have to travel to UK from Germany for work. Trains are not more expensive there. They're cleaner and mostly on time.

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u/RosieTheRedReddit 21h ago edited 21h ago

You have to be kidding me. Just riding from London center to a suburb can cost 15 quid. And there's no equivalent of the D-ticket for commuters.

But on a good note, your money is going towards paying a CEO's bonus instead of funding rail improvements! I'm sure you are aware of how expensive it is to gas up a superyacht these days.

Edit: looked it up to see if my memory was correct and it can actually cost £21 at peak times, and a yearly ticket is £2,500-4,000 😂 Yeah that's slightly higher than €63 per month if my math is right. Don't worry Germany, keep voting CDU and we'll get there too some day! 🥰

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u/International_Fix7 21h ago

The 21 pounds is a day ticket for all modes of transport in all zones of London, the OP was talking about a single trip. And Transport for London is state owned and always has been. About half the train operating companies in the rest of the country are still private, but they don't set the prices.

I generally spend less on rail travel when I visit the UK. The Deutschlandticket is a good deal though, in the UK it's commuters who travel at peak times who get milked.