The functioning of the European train station is different. Most of the train station have an “Open System”. The advantages of this type of functioning are, that you don’t need to show your ticket before you sit on the seat. Also, there’s rarely security check in the train station. There is some security check at times now but there will be more and more in the future because of the anti-terrorist precautions taken. But all these have less influence on the traffic in the train station. So, you don’t need to hold your ticket in your hand when you move from one platform to another platform and catch the next train.
A lot of the tourists who are visiting Europe said, how can I get to my next train when I have only a few minutes from one train to another? Normally the train company system will give you sufficient time for these transfers. The principle, how the system calculates the transfer time, is 160% of the time, which a disabled people, a senior or a child with luggage move from A to B. For example, If you arrive at platform 1 and want to try to go to the platform 6 to get your next train, a disable people a senior or a child with the luggage shall take around 10 minutes from one to six, So the system will give you 16 minutes for the transfers. The passengers who book a ticket and see there are a few minutes for the transfer, they don’t need to worry about as it’s already taken care off.
Now I would like to give you an example with German railways and Italian railways-
The passengers have bought the ticket as following with 3 transfers.
The German railway is different from other train companies, which can see on the ticket that all the ticket showing the platform Information (Gleis). For example, the ticket shows that the train arrived at Mannheim central station at 12:16 at platform 3 and the next train departs at 12:30 from the platform 5 to Augsburg, there are only 14 minutes for the transfer. So, we can check if 14 minutes is enough, and here is the map of Mannheim central station.
All the platform is on the same floor, so even if you walk from platform 1 to platform 24, it takes about a few minutes and direct distance is around 70 meters. So you don’t need to go upstairs or downstairs. Of course, there is a way for you to check the departure board through your mobile phone. For example, you can check the Frankfurt central station departure board just with this following links-
Frankfurt Station Departure Board Information
We would like to remind you that, if you have already booked a ticket on the German railways official website like www.g2rail.com or www.germany-rail.com, you will get mail confirmation. You can click on the train stations name in the Email, they were directly linked to the departure board.
So what about the other countries? Is it also so convenient, like in Germany?
So, now we are using an example for a transfer in Italy
For e.g., if the passenger has bought a ticket as follows:
Departure City/Time Arrival City/Time
⦁ La Spezia Centrale/09:23 Pisa Centrale/10:17
⦁ Pisa Centrale/10:54 Firenze Santa Maria Novella/12:07
⦁ Firenze Santa Maria Novella/12:30 Venezia S. Lucia /14:35
The ticket shows that the train will arrive at Florence at 12:07, So there are 23 minutes to transfer to the high-speed train from Florence to Venice. But there is no platform Information on the ticket, if you’re traveling with it the railways of Italy. France or Spain railways.
The only thing you can see on the ticket that you’re sitting in the Coach 8 with a seat number 8-B and 9-B. There is no platform Information of arrival and there is no Information in regarding of the departure platform. So it is important to check the departure board Information. Even if you can check at the train station when you arrive. But we suggest you check the departure board just before you arrive. So if you book a train ticket for the Italian railways official website www.italy-rail.com, you will automatically receive a mail. Click on the train stations you will get the up to date departure board. And also it will show you if the train will be delayed or not.
The electric departure board on your mobile phone looks like this-
After checking with the departure and arrival board, you can see that your train arrives on the platform 3 and departs from the Platform 1, which takes you only about four to five minutes, you even have time for a coffee to go at the coffee shop close to the platform 1.
So, next time if you’re traveling in Europe with the train, you don’t need to worry about all the transfers.The system will give you sufficient time for all the transfers, even if you have gone in the wrong direction, the time is allowing you to come back to and find the right one.There are some transfer stations which are much convenient for all the passengers to do the transfer. For example, if you book a ticket from Munich to Paris with the transfer in Mannheim, your train from Munich will arrive at platform 3 and on the same platform, five minutes later, there will be another connection from Mannheim to Paris.
What if my first train is delayed and I cannot catch up on my next train?
If your first train is delayed and you cannot continue your trip with your next train, the best way is that to let the ticket inspectors confirm that your train is late and sign on the back side of your ticket and let him help you to find a suitable train to bring you to your destinations. With a sign of the ticket inspector, you can take any other train which brings you to your destination without paying any surcharge.
If you arrived at your transfer station and the last train of the day has already departed, you can ask the inspectors or the Information staffs to arrange a taxi to your destination, if it is within 150 kilometers. If it is more than 150 kilometers, you will get paid for a hotel overnight close to the train station. And your ticket will be valid for the next day.
If you need any help, just go to the website www.g2rail.com and you can contact with us through WhatsApp or telephones.
To check all the ticket price, please use our search engines www.g2rail.com
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