Not so much lost as confused by the trains

I had figured out how the buses work after 3 nights of thinking that I will either die of exposure or be murdered. The murder thing was a bit out there but being lost on foot in the dark makes your head go crazy. Buses figured out, Check √. Trains, not so much

Trying to get to France

We as a group of South Africans did not know much about train travel which was evident during our first weekend in Europe. We planned to take the train to Strassburg in France and spend the day there. Sounds easy enough until you figure out that half of your train went missing!

That is what happened. Our day started early as we met up at the train station (luckily by this time I figured out how to use the busses because lo and behold! The original number 7 bus does not go out early or on weekends!). We took the very on-time train, got off at the next stop, very on time. Waited for the next on-time train, which we boarded. The flabbergasting started once we noted that the train did not stop on time as indicated on the ticket. And everything else happened in a very on-time manner. We gave it a few minutes before starting to worry because everyone can be late once in a while.

Train splitting. It’s a thing apparently

We asked a random person if they knew why the train has not yet stopped. The answer stunned us into silence. He told us that we were in the wrong half of the train and that somewhere along the way the other half ‘broke’ of and went to where we wanted to go. I, to this day, cannot comprehend that. How were we supposed to know that can happen? When did this happen?

There we were on a train to wherever. The guy took pity on us and said that he will help us and that we had to get off at the Villingen train stop. When the PA system announced ‘Villing…..’we were all off the train. Turning around at a yell, we saw our helping hand hanging out the train door. He was shouting for us to get back on the train. We were barely on again when it pulled out of the station. We were frazzled and confused. Were we not supposed to get off at Villingen? Yes, he told us, but not that specific one!! So we stood near him until he gave us the OK to get off at the correct Villingen stop.

Here he helped us to get a new Fahrplan to Strassburg. Luckily there were no stops or changeovers. And so our day in France turned into an afternoon. That night on our way back we sat close together, in the same car, because we could not afford to have a train split up with half the group going in another direction. We luckily only had one changeover and were even more lucky to find a family from Tuebingen. We latched onto them and successfully made it back home.

Ticket terrors

The other train stories have to do with tickets. They work on an honesty system, but if they catch you without a ticket you pay a hefty fine, and if you have to exchange from Rands to Euros, the fine will cripple you.

Our second weekend saw us going to Stuttgart. We had a few group tickets. Each ticket was good for 5 people. I wanted to be where the ticket was so that I would not get left behind and I volunteered to be the keeper of one ticket. Some of the other ticket holders partied too hard the night before and left to go sleep it off very early, and in their hazy state left the wrong tickets to the people left behind. That, we only discovered on our way back that night.

Ticket please

Me and my 4 were seated together and the rest around us. And then the ticket checker came. I gave him our group’s ticket and he went on to the rest. They showed him…..a bus ticket. 😱Immediately he sprang into action. Telling them that the ticket was not valid. And said that all of them will get a 40 Euro fine. All panic broke loose.

A few people shouted that they were with me on the ticket and the rest all spoke at once in fast English to the guy. Some spoke very loudly and panicky in languages that he did not understand. And then he was gone. We did not know what happened. Did he go to get reinforcements? Was he coming back? Will he refuse to let them leave the train until payment was made? We did not wait to find out. At the Tuebingen train station, we were out the door before he could change his mind or bring his friends.

The same type of thing happened again. Can you believe it?! We were on a morning trip to the factory store town of Metzingen. It is super close to Tuebingen and we were assured that means that we can use our town tickets to ride the train. That was not the case. We were happily training along when the ticket checker came. I proudly handed him my ticket and he told me that is not the correct ticket. Everybody was loud and confusing again and he walked away. Again, we were off the hook. But he was not a happy camper, and neither were we!

Ii happened again!!

This exact same thing happened a year later. Just my luck! My group was travelling from Dusseldorf to Neandertal. Same story. We were under the impression that our Dusseldorf tickets were valid on the train because it was so near. This time a lady checker checked on us. But she was really nice and understanding when she found out that we were a group of students from all over the world and told us to please next time buy a ticket.

The conclusion I came to is this: don’t use town transport tickets on trains, even if the locals tell you it is allowed. Both times that we followed that advice, we were in trouble. Just buy a ticket and avoid the stress. Not all checkers are as nice as the lady on this last train.

Meanies on the U-Bahn

I am especially referring to a mean ass lady ticket checker on the U-Bahn in Dusseldorf. I can no longer see  Jack Wolfskin products and not feel like a criminal. The story still, makes me feel like crap so I am just going to give the short of it. When you buy a ticket, the fact that the date is on the ticket does not matter. It needs to be stamped as well.

So, if you buy a ticket, get it stamped. Otherwise, some horrible lady and her sidekick might just accuse you of being a criminal and yell at you in front of people who cheer her on.  Then this horrid woman will take your wallet out of your hands, rifle through your stuff and make copies of whatever she finds. Then she will give you a huge ticket. This is really the short of a very bad experience. So, stamp stamp stamp!!

Now I am a crazy lady

This lady has made me obsessive-compulsive when I am on a train, a bus, a tram. I can’t help checking every 5 minutes if I still have my ticket and if it is stamped and dated correctly. No jokes. The dad was once with me on a train. I irritated him with the constant checking of the ticket. And when the ticket lady finally came I gave the dad the ticket to give to her as I was shaking too much in anticipation of having something be wrong on the ticket. Jip that is me. Seeing what I can of the world but dead scared of the ticket people. All because I did not know that stamping was a thing and came across the meanest lady ever to wear a Jack Wolfskin jacket.

Here are my crib notes on travelling by train in Germany, Italy and Ireland.

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