Reader Question: Can I take an ICE train in Germany with a €49 ticket?

On Monday, the much-anticipated nationwide monthly €49 travel ticket was introduced. 

Also dubbed the Deutschlandticket (or D-Ticket) it allows for journeys on all local and regional transport across Germany, excluding long-distance travel such as on ICE, EC or IC trains. 

READ ALSO: €49 ticket goes on sale across Germany: What you need to know

However, there is a key exception when D-Ticket holders can still hop on board one of these trains.

Namely, when a passenger faces a delay on a connecting regional train, they can take a long-distance train not normally permitted on their monthly travel card. 

Holders of the Deutschlandticket can use a long distance train “starting at an expected delay of the regional train of at least 20 minutes,” a spokesperson for Deutsche Bahn told The Local on Thursday. 

But there's a catch: the traveller then needs to buy a separate ticket, for which they can get their costs refunded, said the spokesperson.

They simply need to bring the purchased ticket to the Service Center of the relevant transport association.

Here's how it works

Let's say you're a €49 ticket holder in Berlin who wants to travel to Lübeck on a regional train. 

Your connecting train to Hamburg is running 25 minutes late so you purchase a ticket on an ICE, which you can later get reimbursed through the BVG, Berlin's ticket authority.

It helps when you bring evidence of the delay - be it a snapshot of the time display or a screenshot of the regional train schedule.

The €49 ticket is currently being sold - online, through an app and in-person - in preparation for its official launch in May. 

The follow up to last summer's popular €9 ticket, several states have already began introducing their own discounts for low-income earners, students and employees.

READ ALSO: Who benefits the most (and least) from Germany's new €49 ticket?

Vocabulary 

connecting train - (der) Anschlusszug

delay - (die) Verspätung 

long-distance travel - (der) Fernverkehr

refunded - erstattet

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