Berlin.
If you want to travel by train on Monday or Tuesday, you have to reschedule. Due to the strike, almost nothing runs on the rails anymore. How can those affected still reach their destination and how can money be returned?
Train travelers and commuters need strong nerves again: the EVG union has announced a warning strike for the start of the week. This should last from Sunday, 10:00 p.m. to Tuesday, 12:00 a.m. If you want to travel by train, you have to reschedule.
Deutsche Bahn has announced that it will completely stop all long-distance traffic for the two days from Sunday evening. Even in regional transport, “mostly no trains will run during the strike”.
Look for alternatives
The rail passenger rights specialist and lawyer André Schulze-Wethmar from the European Consumer Center explains the rights of rail passengers:
Alternative transport: Anyone who absolutely has to travel on one of the strike days will have to change – to a long-distance bus, their own car, a rental car, carpooling or the plane.
Does the train pay for it? If she organizes the alternatives herself, then yes: shared long-distance bus transport from individual train stations or taxi rides would be conceivable, for example if the train stops at the station on Sunday evening and there are still many passengers who have to go one city further.
Goodwill regulation in long-distance traffic
However, if you book a rental car or flight ticket in advance, you cannot hope that this money will be refunded. “You can try to have the advanced costs reimbursed – but if in doubt, the railways will refuse,” is Schulze-Wethmar’s assessment. It would be easier to have the price of the train ticket reimbursed and to take care of the alternative at your own expense.
As with previous warning strikes, the railway also has one goodwill arrangement taken for long-distance travel during the strike. The affected tickets can be used flexibly from now until Sunday, the train connection has been lifted. But if you absolutely have to travel on Monday or Tuesday, this is of course not an option.
Ticket refund: If the train does not run or is expected to arrive at the destination at least 60 minutes late, you can request a refund of the ticket price. This option also exists for the warning strike.
Passenger Rights Form
For tickets purchased online via a customer account, this can be done with an online application at “bahn.de” or via the “DB Navigator” app. Otherwise the only option is to ask for the costs back in writing.
You have to do that for that Passenger Rights Form fill in – under the item “Information about your trip” you tick according to the train then “I didn’t start my journey because of this delay or I canceled it at the following station…”. The form is sent by post to the Passenger Rights Service Center, 60647 Frankfurt/Main.
Deutsche Bahn points out that the application button for online reimbursement via website or app will only appear once the ticket has expired. It is therefore not possible to make the compensation on the way days before the travel date.
Collect multiple cases
And what about season tickets or subscription tickets like the Deutschlandticket? They cannot be used for two days due to the strike. According to Schulze-Wethmar, there are general sentences here.
With a 2nd class Bahncard 100 for example it is ten euros for every train delay of 60 minutes or more. The Deutschlandticket is noisy Bahn 1.50 euros per delay of more than one hour – but because it only pays out compensation amounts of 4 euros or more, travelers have to collect several cases before they can assert their claims at the passenger rights service center.
Meals: If the departure is delayed by more than an hour, travelers can request the train to provide food and drinks – so the theory goes. In practice, the restriction applies that the catering must be available or deliverable on the train or station.
Overnight stay: Anyone who is stuck in another city and cannot get anywhere by train can also request accommodation in a hotel or other accommodation from the railway company.
However, they can only request this if a stay of one or more nights is “necessary”, says Schulze-Wethmar. If there are no trains due to a strike and you are not at home, this may well be necessary.
Organizational obligation of the railway
The railway also has the right to offer other means of transport to the destination instead of an overnight stay – such as an onward journey by bus.
So what do you do when you get stranded? First of all, the railway has an organizational obligation – that means: travelers have to contact them and request accommodation. You may then receive a hotel voucher. The train would also have to take over the transfer to the hotel. Or you just get the offer of alternative transport to your destination.
“If the train doesn’t comply, you can take care of it yourself and advance the costs for the overnight stay,” says Schulze-Wethmar. “Then, at best, only reasonable costs will be reimbursed – you shouldn’t book a luxury hotel then.”
No liability for consequential damage
The important thing is that you should have given the railway company a reasonable amount of time to react. There is no legal deadline here, but depending on the time it can be several hours.
And you should be able to prove the contact. If, for example, no hotel accommodation is organized at the train station, you should write to the railway company by e-mail or using a contact form – this way you have proof that you have contacted us. Receipts and receipts from the hotel and for the trip there must also be kept if you want to claim the costs later.
Missed flight: Anyone who does not get to the plane by train because of the warning strike does not have to be reimbursed by Deutsche Bahn for the missed flight. “The railways are not liable for consequential damage,” says lawyer Schulze-Wethmar.
“Therefore, you should make sure that you get to the airport as early as possible and maybe even before that in the city, so that you risk being left with the cost of the missed flight.” Or you have another option to go to the Airport – for example in a rental car or long-distance bus. (dpa)
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