Can I cross Germany on slow trains in 24 hours?

[@waddamahadda]

Er ist der einzige Mensch der je einen pünktlichen Anschluss in Karlsruhe gekriegt hat

[@diknochio7344]

so oft schon gefickt worden in Karlsruhe haha

[@alexp4566]

der einzige Mensch dessen Regionalzug je pünktlich in Frankfurt angekommen ist

[@cg7305]

In Mannheim ist es nicht besser :D muss mir die Shitshow jeden Tag geben...

[@justviniana]

​@@cg7305ich wohne in Karlsruhe und fahre regelmäßig nach Frankfurt. Hatte nie Probleme in BW aber sobald ich nach Hessen kam gab's nur Probleme

[@Rafaela_S.]

Statistisch ist der Regionalverkehr mit 92.5% noch ziemlich gut im Vergleich zum Fernverkehr mit 65,5% Pünktlichkeit. (Stand: Mai 2023, wobei Pünktlich bei den Angaben heißt: Verspätung

[@Whisper632]

Traveling through Germany in 24 hours by regional train is like hitting yourself with a chair in the face over and over again. Even we Germans won't do that.

[@B0R0M1R]

ja ne haben ja nicht millionen von Saufnasen mit dem 9€ Ticket gemacht

[@sanron420]

Bin mit dem 9 € ticket von Berlin bis nach Ingelheim am Rheim gefahren, nur um mit ein paar Leuten Pizza zu essen.... Aber gut, wir Berliner haben eh nen Rad ab....

[@acmenipponair]

Lol... you know us train freaks wrong. I did it several times in my life, from Hamburg to Salzburg. Last time was last July with the 9 Euro ticket.

[@ElektrischInkorrekt]

​​@@duzzl6743Aus Oberbayern sind's auch nur 9+ Stunden mehr... (17:30h, wennste um 6 Uhr in der Früh los fährst. Nur 9 Umstiege... (Ich nehm hier auch Salzburg vom Vorredner mit. Die halbe Stunde ist dann auch nicht mehr die Rede wert.)

[@henryblack323]

ICE First class 😋

[@tryndaweniger8788]

With everything going wrong at DB, the trains, the railways, etc. can we just take a second to appreciate how much of a help DB Navigator is? Like the app is SO GOOD. The real time updates, the planning done for you, all the information They've done a great job developing the app I'm travelling to Austria quite often and I miss having DB Navigator whenever I'm there

[@thornton]

Yeah absolutely GOAT app. Especially the linking with rural buses, e.g. in Bavaria down by the mountains, or in National Parks

[@anianii]

Its data in my experience (upper Bavaria) is terrible, so it's just not useful at all…

[@doridori12]

@@anianii Yeah agreed! I've had trains severely delayed, stuck mid-journey or cancelled completly where the app would still show that it was running smoothly. This also makes it super hard to find an alternative since it just keeps recommending that same train 🙄 As you say, it's definitely a lack of data though, as we called the support hotline in some cases and they also didn't even know that there were any issues. Once it's reported in their system I'd say the app is pretty useful

[@kierai.7627]

DB Navigator is such a good app. I used to use it all the time when I lived in Germany and it helped so much

[@UnscientificChannel]

@@anianii Same in the Rhine region, here it will tell you that train is right on time, meanwhile the DB Streckenagent app already tells you the train is cancelled

[@Felix-cm5fg]

10:11 Wer hätts erwartet 🤷🏻‍♂️😂 That you're losing the challenge on a 5 or 7 Minute Transfertime but a almost 1h Transfertime is a perfect representation of the German transit System 😂

[@edzardluebben463]

What made it extra challenging is that you not only went from the South to the North but also from the West to the East which is notoriously hard to do with German public transport

[@mariolucht]

did it last year with the 9€ Ticket, plain suffering in overcrowded trains.

[@Beooobo]

Why? You need to only change trains four times from Aachen to Chemnitz. Aaachen => Düsseldorf => Kassel => Erfurt => Leipzig => Chemnitz. 12h.

[@sitschi3949]

@edzardluebben463 Yes, I can confirm

[@wumbleisthebest3270]

Travelled from Baden-Württemberg to Rügen last year using regional trains. Almost 2 days.

[@fixh]

​@@BeoooboBut Görlitz ist the City in the East. Change in Leipzig und Dresden.

[@user6343]

If I'm not mistaken the Regio from Halle to Stralsund is the longest Regio in the entirety of Germany as it crosses basically most of the former GDR

[@michaelmuller5856]

I think so, too. According to a Top10 video from BR111 the RE3 line was the third-longest line in 2021 [behind RE5 (Rostock - Elsterwerda; now shorter) and RE2 (Wismar Cottbus; now rearragend and shorter)] m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqvdaYmQfbx6hac&pp=ygUbbMOkbmdzdGUgcmVnaW9uYWx6dWcgbGluaWVu However the RE3 to Stralsund usually begins in Lu. Wittenberg (which is the reason for not being the longest line). Halle-Stralsund should be the longest direct regional connection overall. That direct connection between Halle and Stralsund is only offered Saturday/Sunday/Holidays, once a day and only northbound. *Edit:* RE5 has been shortened as well.

[@Nirtago]

@@michaelmuller5856 Yes, I was wondering what happened to RE5 and if there is still a line as long. But RE5 also seems to have been shortened. I can't find a direct connection without changing in Berlin ;/. So this one could be the longest for 2023. The Alex (RE2) from Hof -> Munich is also an interesting "local" connetion as it incoperates coaches from former long distance trains.

[@michaelmuller5856]

​@@Nirtago Oh right, I was so busy comparing distances that I completely forgot about the RE5 cut in Berlin. Last year's rearrangement around Berlin was massive. I suppose there won't be any exciting competition in Brandenburg before 2025 when they plan to connect the current RE8 fragments (will be Wismar - Elsterwerda then). However this should be shorter as well.

[@selenabulanart]

Theres one from Leipzig to Nürnberg

[@fixh]

The RE4 from Lübeck to Stettin is also very long.

[@mariusroth4966]

You can also travel to Luxembourg with the 49€ ticket. Within Germany you use the Deutschland-Ticket, and in Luxembourg, public transportation is free. Did a a short holiday in the mosel valley and a daytrip to Luxembourg city just a feww weeks ago.

[@thornton]

That’s a great tip! Thanks :)

[@askuri_]

The train track in the Mosel valley is actually one of the most scenic of all Germany imo. Try getting on the CFL double decker, upper level, and you will have a fantastic trip through the meandering river valley.

[@infestus5657]

Hahaha, same

[@vocassen]

And if you qualify for the German-French exchange ticket (Friendship Passes, for 17-27yr olds), and register for it, you can also travel to france with the deutschlandticket and within france for 7days of the month for free

[@herbertmayer7420]

​@askuri_ The half train track of mosel valley is closed for maintenance work for a few months. I don't recommend to take substitute bus (SEV). On the beautiful half of track actually drives less than every second train.

[@spotstate3548]

I tried this when it was still the 9€ ticket, I went from Oberstdorf to Sylt (southernmost-northernmost train station) and it took me 24h and 22 minutes But the feeling I had when I reached the sea was the same weirdly unjustified pure happiness And I’ve also wet my shoes trying to touch the sea

[@thornton]

Are you me but 1 year ahead ?? 😅😇👏

[@spotstate3548]

@@thornton haha it was the very first thing I thought of doing when I heard of the ticket and it didn’t leave my mind until I did it. Then I did a similar thing later and visited every Bundesland I hadn’t visited during the first trip, also with the ticket. I wish I had filmed it more..

[@dmytrykovalsky9429]

Verdammt... Ich hab's gerade andersrum gemacht. Ich liebe die Berge.

[@xYonowaaru]

I didn't exactly try this but I went from a city almost located by the north sea down to Passau in less than 24h. Then I had 6 hours to explore Passau and then I went to Vienna on a Flixbus. On one hand I did it for the challenge to cross the country but on the other hand my ex (back then my girlfriend) lives in Vienna.

[@rosenclosed]

Oberstdorf Westerland is actually the longest possible rail route in Germany. Chapeu

[@napoleonsdauphin]

Your Amtrak video was pretty great, but I gotta say, Tom, that this may be my favorite video you've done so far. You HAVE to do Salzburg to Sylt!

[@thornton]

That means the world to me 🥺

[@AjimaruGDR]

a good south to north route Kiefersfelden --> Flensburg

[@dabooom1296]

You mean Sylt to the Königssee! That is the only longer possible distance between two points within germany than Basel to Ahlbeck

[@jens5906]

I actually wanted to do this but sadly not yet had the time :'D

[@Luigi-uj5ml]

Albeck (Kärnten)?

[@itryen7632]

The longest possible journey is actually from Essen to Cologne.

[@thornton]

👏 deshalb wohne ich nicht in NRW

[@itryen7632]

@@thorntonDann hast du nämlich glück gehabt

[@theultimatefreak666]

​@@thornton also ich liebe Abenteuer. Deshalb wohne ich in NRW, die fahrt zum Club in der Nachbarstadt ist jedes mal ein Abenteuer an sich 😂

[@twoexem6548]

RE1, RE6, S6 etc

[@itryen7632]

@@twoexem6548 Im RE1 insbesonders sieht es immer aus als wäre man in Indien. Immer alles vollgestopft.

[@asmodon]

Of course things started to go wrong in Frankfurt. For me many a miserable train journey started with changing trains in Frankfurt.

[@ninamarie177]

I hate to admit it but yes, Frankfurt has too few platforms for the amount of trains that go through there. Because of this, as soon as one train is delayed or (god forbid) broken many more trains are affected. I haven’t had too many delays caused by starting a journey in Frankfurt but I’ve been victim to too many spontaneous platform change from platform 2 to 16 less than 5 minutes before the train was supposed to depart.

[@alexisarteev-salazar9247]

Köln aswell

[@andy02q]

Frankfurt ist the most unpunctual train station in Germany. David Griesel made a great video about train punctuality stats: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZqPFanachNuioM0 Also trains are almost always punctual between 4am and 6am.

[@alexandermichel7418]

i searched for that comment

[@rallie1985]

As an international train traveler often going from NL to the Alps I fully recognize the total shithole of a rail system in the Frankfurt area often starting the problems. When traveling home the mess up more frequently happens in the late afternoon between Köln and Düsseldorf though.

[@kodlyoko]

Fun fact: the actual last stop: Świnoujście Centrum, is only used by German trains and it was built like a German station so the signs are different than they are in other stations in Poland. Its construction was financed by Usedomer Bäderbahn (UBB) and it's maintained by UBB Polska.

[@thornton]

That is a fun fact :) have you visited before?

[@kodlyoko]

@@thornton I'm planning on doing it.

[@SuperLysio]

The other fun fact is that German and Polish stations in Świnoujście are located on different islands with no land connection (although now a road tunnel is being built). So to travel between them by train you'd have to go through Züssow and Szczecin making a journey of around 300-350km. All of that to travel only 2km through one small town

[@lilithiaabendstern6303]

just call them Swinemünde und Stettin, my gosh, the polish do it too

[@kodlyoko]

@@lilithiaabendstern6303 i don't know any Polish person who calls Świnoujście Swinemünde

[@llukas0906]

the 49€ is such a cool idea. Absolute insane value if you think about it.

[@thornton]

really cool isn't it! I made multiple videos using the Bavaria Ticket or Saxony Ticket before, which were 25 euros for 1 day hahaha

[@palworld-23]

yes its very good regular we have to pay 120€ + u cant cross whole germany

[@makssachs8914]

Yeah it’s pretty good

[@Shyftus]

its such a godsend for me as a german student on a budget. it saves me so much money, and its so cheap that my employer covers it because of work commutes. so i basically pay 0€ for unlimited public transport.

[@makssachs8914]

@@Shyftus also I can use it to go to the alps for free

[@FantasKanal]

Quick knowledge for you guys: Last year, due to the recession and rising fuel costs the government implemented a 9€ ticket for a few months. Said ticket was so popular that they put a new version in place at 49€. Many think it should have stayed at 9€ to get people out of cars, some think high-speed should be included in the 49€ ticket. The main takeaway is, people still drive just as much, the ones who love it are those that already had permanent tickets. The monthly ticket in Schleswig Holstein for example was ~200€ per month, so its a large reduction in price in addition to beeing able to use it nation wide. Overall it made travel a lot easier.

[@NFSHeld]

At least I am using the train a lot more than my car. I am working nearly fully remote. So my travel radius is usually around town to the stores and my girlfriend, plus about once or twice per month I need to go to the office, and about as often I need to go to my parent's house. So far, I had always done the latter two by car. As I said, my everyday public transport usage used to be just the local tram lines, for which the monthly ticket (even with reduced validity period per day) would've been around 80€. That was already higher than the combined fare of all one way tickets I would need per month, so I never purchased the monthly ticket. And for the journeys to work or parents, going by train required a 24h ticket for 37€, or two 21€ tickets if I wanted to come and go on different days. Both journeys would take 1.5 to 2 hours of travel time per direction. Compared to going by car which takes around 1.2 hours per direction and costs around 27€ in gas per round-trip - not worth it. But now I am purchasing the 49€ ticket, because that is cheaper than the sum of all one way tickets, and now, since I already have that, I try to go by train when I commute or visit my parents. So it's not like the 49€ ticket "converted" me from doing trips by car to doing trips by train directly, but it is the only way going by tram and train ends up being cheaper than going by tram and car. And I have subscribed to it because I believe that Germany needs such kind of tickets, and by "use it or lose it" I want to make clear that politicians will not have an easy time silently abolishing it again when the experiment eventually ends.

[@Ned-Ryerson]

Nope: According to the latest I read ( a few weeks ago), 10 Million people have already got the ticket, us included. We already used it on a trip to Basel (funny coincidence), and, while my ladies went to Rust and the Europapark, I crossed over into France from Breisach, all of which would have previously been done by car. So, people are definitely driving less. (Also, I have no company ticket or other rail or ÖPNV ticket, normally, and would do everything - out of necessity - by car here).

[@MartialGlobe]

"the main takeaway is, people still drive just as much" source: trust me bro

[@SolidBlueBlocks]

No. People don't drive as much. I use the public transport for weekend travels all the time now!

[@holtropsfinest1641]

200 per month? bro was geht bei euch in schleswig holstein

[@steve-marsh]

This is exceptional, not just the challenge but the quality of the video. Wayyy beyond my abilities on both counts, but so enjoyable to watch! Early mornings and crazy connections, the ONLY way to travel eh!? 😂 Well done!

[@thornton]

Hey thanks Steve, that's really kind :) I always enjoy your channel so that means a lot to me!

[@ChokyoDK]

Now we need to see you do the same trip Steve! 😂

[@thornton]

@@ChokyoDK @steve-marsh the people have spoken

[@DerKarlsruher16]

13:00 This direct connection between Halle and Stralsund at 05:51 AM is a single extension of the RE 3 line which operates only on weekends and public holidays. At other times (and days), transferring in Wittenberg is mandatory as that is the regular end of the line.

[@nakfan]

I live on the Island of Bornholm in the middle of the Baltic Sea… Could almost hear your sigh of disappointment - and relief. Thanks for taking us with you on this journey 👍

[@thornton]

Oh that's cool! I would love to go there one day

[@FlorianBriegel]

somehow still laughing at 17:10. that dry „oh“ after 48h of DB regio madness just to get your feet and shoes soaked on the beach on a cold and rainy day. haha, great edit!

[@unakade]

During the €9 ticket phase, I did a lot of crazy trips across Germany starting from Munich and covering Kiel, Hamburg, Berlin, Feiburg, Cologne and many other places, all without ever booking accommodation! What an incredible experience it was!

[@mOOny187]

Und wo hast du dann geschlafen?

[@tanmayagarwal8981]

@@mOOny187 db station

[@unakade]

In most places in Germany, regional trains don't operate between midnight and 4 am. I used to sleep then at train stations

[@Sonyboj]

@@unakade Nice of you to stink up the trains

[@Judy-zs4gz]

that's great! i plan to have a rail trip too, because last time, my friends told me a way to get bigger discounts for rail trips

[@l.f.32]

Crossing the Harz on a steam train is also pretty fun. The most part of the HSB narrow gauge network is included in the 49€ Ticket. It is probably the most scenic journey with the 49€ Ticket. Combining the Harzquerbahn and Selketalbahn takes some time but it is worth it.

[@rockerjim8045]

I’ve done that journey. The Mountain is “Bagger” in German , Brocken. One of my ancestors had this surname so had to see what it looked like. A stunning day out.

[@acmenipponair]

I tried that - and on that day last year a car had to hit the train before us and so we got stranded in the Harz and only could go back to Wernigerode...

[@l.f.32]

@@acmenipponair that's unfortunate! Hope you can try it again sometime.

[@Bi6M4C]

ausser das viel zertoert ist im harz, durch borkenkaefer und co

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

In the early 19th century, the Brothers Grimm lived in Kassel! They collected and wrote most of their fairy tales there! Kassel used to be spelled Cassel until 1926. The Franzbrötchen is said to be named in the style of the French model, or croissant (französisch). The croissant became popular in Germany after Napoleon's troops had occupied Hamburg between 1806 and 1814. According to a different historical tradition, they produced a longish Franzbrot which resembled the baguette. Legend has it, a baker in Hamburg had once seared such a Franzbrot in a pan of fat, which is considered the origin of the contemporary Franzbrötchen. Maybe the real journey to the Baltic Sea...were the friends we made along the way. Yes the German railway network certainly isn't perfect, but I'm glad their government did this because this is an absolute steal that I hope encourages more people to take trains! You did your best! It is unfortunate that the trains had delays and it was not possible to make the route as planned. But those who travel always encounter setbacks. The important thing is to have a plan B, a C, a D to use whenever the need arises. But pretty sure the longest possible route would have been from Oberstdorf in southern Bavaria (Germany's southernmost town) to Westerland on the island of Sylt which has Germany's northernmost train station

[@seb2549]

Epic! That was a great idea. Nicely done, great video. I witamy w Polsce :)

[@thornton]

❤️🇵🇱

[@birkenelch]

I actually tried this last year with the 9 €-ticket. I started in Freiburg (Breisgau) and only made it to Offenburg. In Offenburg there have been so many people in the train so nobody could enter it. That was a really short "Deutschlandtour"

[@thornton]

hahaha oh dear, try it again with the 49-er :)

[@Hihihihihihi147]

Damn I did the same thing 😂 startet in freiburg and wanted to make it to Köln in a day. Ja Pustekuchen 😂 We made it halfway to offenburg (ca. 25min in) when things turned sour. A fellow traveler (Swiss guy) was stuck there as well..with a delay of about 2h and no chance of making it to Karlsruhe in time. More time passed and the info in offenburg was clueless so he decided to take a train back to basel 😅😂 We eventually made it to Karlsruhe HOURS late and ended up spending the night in Mainz. We came prepared. We had a tent 😂 it was gloriously chaotic

[@Loettl]

You could have purchased an ICE ticket to anywhere and get it reimbursed. A lot of people don’t know about that

[@mOOny187]

😂😂

[@UndercoverDog]

​@@Hihihihihihi147lol same but the other way around, wanted to travel from Cologne to Freiburg, but then I thought nah thats waste of time lol

[@tedg4171]

It was a good effort and I have to say I enjoyed this video a lot.

[@DasunBuwanekaLiyanaarachchi]

Going through Frankfurt or Stuttgart without delays is not common. Btw enjoyed this

[@thornton]

Thanks :)

[@hannahklein9420]

Last summer, I used the 9€-Ticket to travel from Cologne to Dresden, basically from west to east. It took 12 hours. Would do it again.

[@cameroneridan4558]

Once did just part of that, Berlin-Cologne, or maybe Cologne-Berlin can't remember anymore but it was all on a FlixTrain and it took 10 bloody hours anyway xD

[@a.h.2615]

I traveled from Karlsruhe to Berchtesgaden with the 9€- Ticket. Took about 9h and honestly wasn't that bad

[@simonro9168]

I did Munich-Berlin. Would do it again for 9€; would not for 49€, I have to admit. It is a great option however when you already need the ticket for commuting or something. But instead of improving capacity to handle tourists and day-trippers, they just made it so it's not worth it for just that anymore.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

As a regular rider of the Long Island Rail Road, after watching this...I'll never complain about having to transfer at either Babylon or Jamaica again. 😂 You may not have done it in one day, but your ambition to do this in the first place despite knowing what could go wrong is something we admire! RESPECT! It's pretty cool how that part of the German-Polish border is not just a monument but also a boardwalk! Now that's a fun way to embrace being a part of Schengen! But here's a fun fact about the French-German-Swiss tripoint...that monument dedicated to it, Dreiländereck....doesn't actually mark the location of the tripoint! The monument is fully in Swiss territory about 150 meters away from it, as the ACTUAL tripoint is in the middle of the river. The Three Countries Bridge also doesn't go across the tripoint. My favorite tripoint is how the tripoint of Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary...is just a triangular table and some small benches! The respective countries are marked with their coat of arms on the table! And even though the station you started in was in Switzerland, Badische Bahnhof is an enclave of the EU Customs Union with German rules applying to its rail traffic and infrastructure. Thus the Swiss weren't involved! This is thanks to a treaty from 1852 between Baden and the Swiss Confederation.

[@Marzelmusik]

As for the train switch in Kassel: You can actually ask the train attendant to file a request to the specific train you need to catch, to wait for you (and possibly others). If they respond positive, they will delay their departure and wait for the passengers of your train.

[@lb2791]

And people wonder why DB has so many delays..

[@alisonhell84]

nice video as always. greetings from gießen, mittelhessen. honestly not suprised that this was the part where you had the most trouble in your journey :D

[@thornton]

Hahaha you could have warned me :)

[@renerpho]

@@thornton Greetings from Marburg. And yes, I just came to this comment section to do just that. Well, and to say hello. :)

[@dianaw248]

I love your channel..Tom. You are an excellent and very likable and authentic presenter. Thank you for taking us along ..greetings from the USA!

[@kevinklls]

actually, the first train from basel to freiburg is also almost completely under the control of the german railways, because the „basel badischer bahnhof“ is actually a partnered train station between the sbb and the db, which is just located in basel for better connectivity

[@unleashy6164]

Wow, Corinthians shirt at 8:55? I did not expect that in this video at all! :)

[@florianrichter7174]

Awesome video. I really like how you enjoy traveling through Germany. :)

[@thornton]

It’s a cool country (when things are going well)

[@MegaCooliam]

I love the scenery. please do some city tours of the nice cities!

[@Netprints]

Good Video Tom. Great attempt to do it in a day.

[@lb2791]

This reminds me back in the day when there was the "Schönes-Wochenende Ticket", where you could travel a whole day on the weekend with 4 other people for a ridiculous amount (like 12 Euros for the whole group or something in that ballpark), but were only allowed to use local trains (Nahverkehr), so no Inter City or even ICE-trains. Me and a group of friends used it to travel from Switzerland to Berlin, switching trains every 1-2 hours. Was fun as a cheap student adventure, great memory. 10/10 would never do again XD

[@maltebechtold6488]

I enjoyed watching your video and seeing some familiar places a lot! I'm a big fan of them giving out the 49€-ticket! For longer distance you probably have to be a relaxed person that is able to change plans flexibly :D Great video material by the way! I love the idea of making the "border crossings" the start and end point as it's so nice to see this completely open and free borders. I'll be looking out for new content on your channel!

[@thornton]

Thanks, really glad you liked it :)

[@NortherlyK]

For Amtrak trains (US) running 30 minutes late is nominal. The reason we suffer so many delays is the freight trains get priority/ right of way. The Amtrak monthly pass is "10 rides (segments) over 30 days to your choice of over 500 destinations. At just $499". That's more restrictive and 10x the cost. Oof.

[@GordyThomas]

Hi @North K Have you seen Tom's most popular video: "NYC to LA BY TRAIN | A 3000-mile no-fly travel film inc. Amtrak California Zephyr in coach in winter"? he's had some significant experiences with Amtrak in America. Cheers!

[@thornton]

I’m just going to act like I don’t go on the Amtrak rail pass website once a week and dream up another USA vacation 😇😅

[@elsyvien]

yes but Amtrak is long distance this is only regional services. Deutsche Bahn has the same for high speed long distance services but it's costs 2-3k dollars a year. it's called the BahnCard100. What is probably more similar to the Amtrak pass is Interrail/Eurorail for EU citizens.

[@NortherlyK]

@@elsyvien understandably, but we don't have a regional rail equivalent. Some cities have local trains, but Amtrak is the only train operator city to city that I'm aware of. Brightline has a line in Florida up to Miami and soon Orlando, but that's very new. It's why we're so car centric. The automotive industry crushed the train systems so they could create a monopoly.

[@VieleGuteFahrer]

⁠@@NortherlyK More people were able to afford cars and therefore the demand for trains went down over time. While car travel has its disadvantages, it overall beats train travel, especially outside of urban areas. You don’t rely on a schedule and someone else to bring you somewhere, you can transport more stuff, and you’re not bound to a few routes.

[@mx338]

Frankfurt am Main always is troublesome in my experience, but in many other regions it often works fine.

[@seadogg0]

frankfurt and the entirety of NRW in my experience

[@jan-lukas]

Also Hamburg and Berlin as well as the Rhine valley. Just avoid everywhere the Rhine goes except for the first and last part that are in Switzerland and the Netherlands

[@batonnetdecannelle]

Most likely regions to mess up a long-distance train journey through Germany: the "black hole" between Mannheim and Frankfurt, as well as the entirety of NRW, indeed.

[@gobanana2.073]

Living exactly between Frankfurt and Mannheim, while have to got to work in Frankfurt jusing the train, I absolutely degree with that. Sometimes I,m at the platform and the train is so hard delayed, that I turn around and think “ok, today is home office day” 😅

[@DaGuys470]

yeah, knew from the beginning the trouble was gonna happen in Frankfurt. Wasn't too worried about the other stops.

[@Pizza_2112]

The RE3 normally goes every 2h from Lutherstadt Wittenberg to Stralsund. But the last train in the evening from Stralsund goes until Halle. And the first in the morning then from Halle to Stralsund. I don't know why, but for you it was good!

[@jan-lukas]

Probably because it's parked in Halle

[@jennywright9063]

The cinematography is amazing, yet again Thornton, another great one from you, look forward to the next ❤️

[@thornton]

💚💚 Jenny Ultras FC

[@PM-vv3uc]

I had a similar ride from southern bavaria to Berlin only with regional trains and I can really feel your struggle and pain while sitting in those long term regional trains and the feeling it takes forever :D Good job! Great video

[@thornton]

Thanks! Yeah it’s not exactly luxurious I guess :)

[@CocoLicious]

I did that quite regularly as a student in a LDR when I couldn't snatch a Discounted ICE Tickets via last minute Tickets. Sometimes I Took the Bus, but it was also very long. Don't miss this part.

[@Lensmaster1]

You did prove you can travel around the country on regional trains with the 49€ ticket. It won't be as fast as the ICE, but if we have the time, it is a big money savings. We rush too much in life anyway.

[@thornton]

A good philosophy :)

[@hippohoppo1833]

Have you ever been on a train in Germany? Taking the ICE is definitely not a rush 😂

[@A-Grat-A]

Staying anywhere overnight will destroy your 'saved' money. Better to take ICE to save both time and hardly earned €€€.

[@zsoltpeterdaniel8413]

Do you have disability -90% over there? Just askin for a family member who could use it

[@lilawaffel186]

@@A-Grat-A this, the cost will still be the same unless you find an hourly hotel to not pay a full night whereever you stranded, in thast case I would just get a ICE ticket and save having to spend time on slower trains + transfer + wait for other trains. In this video the journey might have been possible if the trains was on time but does it really safe money? If you have a lot of time then sure but for the longest possible journey it's rather wasted time

[@andreab9784]

Awesome adventure, Tom! Looking forward to the next crazy story on the railways

[@patrick_test123]

Pretty epic. My butt hurts just from thinking about sitting on those seats for that long. As the crow flies the distance to Rügen seems a hair longer, but of course doesn't come with the 3 countries perk.

[@mika_mdf]

15:28 It's so cool seeing you there! I literally rode my bike along the road behind the train station on my vacation with my grandma a couple of weeks ago.

[@namenamename390]

As bad a reputation as German trains have in terms of punctuality, regional trains are often pretty good. Of course they're far from perfect, but it's the Intercity trains excluded from the Deutschlandticket which are usually the ones that get massive delays. I once took an ICE from Frankfurt to Zürich and looked up how often they get delayed on average, and they are on time only 24% of the time, which is ludicrous. I don't think any German regional train is that bad.

[@thornton]

Very true! I've taken the RB between Leipzig and Dresden a few times recently, it just bounces between those two Hbfs so there's no way for things to go that wrong. It was ICEs in NRW that made me lose the faith in DB. Especially Brussels-Frankfurt made me completely give up with how many times it was suddenly cancelled in Köln! Like, surely somebody knew this would happen when we boarded 2 hours ago...

[@KompleksnyeChisla]

Thank you for popularizing this king of journeys! In the previous year, we've made a train trip from Eindhoven to Copenhagen with a night in Hamburg. And german part of this trip was done with 9 Euro ticket. Only local trains from Venlo to Flensburg. It was pretty punctual btw, never missed a connection. Actually, danish railways had disappointed us: we had missed a connection somewhere within the country, and also arrived to Copenhagen 2 hrs late .

[@GZBro]

Awesome experiment. Have waited for someone to do such a mad journey through our Train-Loving country haha The Deutschlandticket is perfect to discover the country not to travel big distances in one shot.

[@markvolstad9380]

Tom, I watch your videos because I enjoy your positive attitude and sense of humor, and you never disappoint!

[@thornton]

🫡🥹

[@TheTravellingScotsman]

Great original video Idea Tom!

[@thornton]

Thanks mate!

[@rollingtroll]

First video I'm seeing of yours, awesome editing skills! Very atmospheric. Till the next one!

[@blueeyedsoulman]

Thanks for doing it. At least it's possible and relatively safe. My great grandfather is from Poland. The rest of me is quite British.

[@thornton]

☕️🫖

[@blueeyedsoulman]

@@thornton So funny. I was just about to go and have a splash when I saw this. I'm making Ginger Tea with real ginger root. Cheers!

[@driliz]

I'm quite impressed that only a single connection did not work out. That's so much better than I would've expected! Thanks for the nice video :)

[@thornton]

Yeah, it definitely must be possible!

[@taraedge]

I did the same thing from Aachen to Munich, which is only takes 11 hours but I was surprised how well the connections were. Had no issues, not even on the way back. Everything went so smoothly. I really was pleasantly surprised.

[@wastedwizard5112]

NRW just sucks ass with ICE trains, trying to get anywhere from Aachen is a pain

[@preclarus6672]

Just watched the video to find my city where I was raised. And you showed the beautiful Adolfsturm on your ride from Frankfurt to Kassel. Friedberg

[@EnnoThees]

3:28 u can’t drink that water out of the fountains 😂. It isn’t fresh and probably full of bacteria

[@dominikr8428]

I did not expect that ending 😅 amazing trip & amazing video as always!

[@wookie2222]

Im a Hessian and burst out laughing, when your struggle in Frankfurt began, since RMV is in my experience one of the worst networks in Germany. 😂 Once again, they made it. Reminds me on my last weird experience with them, when I took an Intercity from Giessen to Kassel and for whatever reason that IC stopped at the same stations where normal REs would stop... but was of course far, far more expensive. Oh, and Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe is in my eyes also not the best station that one can build as a hub for rapid changing of trains. Distances between tracks are rather long, there are no escalators and only a few elevators (at the most distant point of the tracks, far away from the building), but instead some long and somehow awkward ramps and a few hidden stairs. It happened to me many times that even with transfer times of 4 or 5 minutes, i wasn't able to get to my train in time. Wikipedia tells me that the station was planned in this way, so cars could drive right to the train tracks, which is super weird.

[@thornton]

The cars win again, man

[@wookie2222]

@@thornton The cars have it, the cars have it!

[@cajoreturnz8351]

I really enjoyed watching this Video, great work Tom! :)

[@thornton]

Ah thanks so much!

[@Racer4308]

The moment i saw my daily route the RE98/RE30 i knew this plan was doomed :D The only thing missing was a: "Dieser Zug fährt aufgrund der Verspätungen nur bis Warbern" XD

[@timor64]

Great video, and your voice over is really lovely to listen to as well. And yeah, Ostsee ist kalt!

[@maxbopp7732]

Great video! I’m also actually pretty sure that you could have made it from Kassel to Sylt (arrival at 23:35, 5 changes >10 minutes) or Flensburg (arrival at 22:40, 4 changes >10 minutes) on the same day with an alternative route. Your chosen route was definitely a big challenge though!

[@acmenipponair]

Absolutely true. I normally need 17h WITH delays from Hamburg to Salzburg and to Sylt it's just 2 1/2h later (but you should prefer Flensburg, as the last train to Flensburg leaves HH at midnight :D)

[@RinaRavyn]

OKAY. Im at 8:10. You just dropped me the literal best joke of the video and im sitting here crying from laughter. The Honks you heared there are the sounds our Security System makes when you have to pull the ATTENTIVE-lever that a speed limit signal or expecting stop signal would require. If the Conductor felt the need to pull it this angrily, you can pretty much assume the man is ABSOLUTELY DONE with his day, and either the system is acting up in some way, and he wants to make absolutely sure he doesnt get shot down and emergency breaked from the security system, or something else is pissing him off. Idk if this is as funny to someone whos not a train conductor, but the man is in pain, and i am really deeply empathising. This was very funny and i thank you for it.

[@DanAmsterdam]

I’ve really enjoyed widespread beautiful sceneries across Germany! Quite a beautiful video. Travelling is amazing indeed. Wish I lived in the EU, I’d travel the heck out of it

[@schusterlehrling]

You could also visit the four towns of the Zipfelbund (the western-, eastern-, southern- and northernmost towns in Germany) in four days. Could be less stressful, but you would see a lot of Germany with more time to enjoy it :-)

[@thornton]

Awesome idea! Thanks :) I just made an Oberstdorf video this winter, but I’d love an excuse to go back.

[@DieFischbude]

I love how this all fell apart with the RE30 between Frankfurt and Kassel because it is the train I used to commute for years and it seems to be late everytime I have to use it...

[@GordyThomas]

Thanks Tom. Nice idea. I remember riding some local trains there from 1977 to 1982. I imagined it might be fun to create trips using the slowest multiple-stop trains, just for fun. Two ideas: Would it possibly be possible with a different departure time, traveling a literal 24 hours but not necessarily on the same day? (apologies if I missed that was what you were attempting). also, could this be renamed "the length of Germany" and have you make another video traversing "across" the country on an East-West or West-East route? Cheers!

[@thornton]

Good ideas 👏

[@TomMRF]

Across the country might not be too different from this route, at least if he actually wants to go to the wider parts of the country. A likely route would be Saarbrücken (near French border) -> Frankfurt -> Kassel -> Leipzig -> Dresden -> Görlitz. So from Frankfurt to Leipzig it would be the same route as on this trip.

[@inthepub]

The DB journey planner creates some itineraries Sylt-Garmisch-Partenkirchen which are almost exactly 24 hours, but they tend to involve waiting for 3 hours at Würzburg in the middle of the night.

[@yooviyo]

Fun Fact: After your expected arrival time was 30+ min. after the originally planned time, you could have bought a high speed train ticket and later claim a full refund via the Fahrgastrechteformular. I think this makes this 49,- € per month ticket an even more incredible value, since it’s not at all impossible to complete your challenge on time! EDIT: I appreciate the many comments pointing out a recent amendment to this rule. After examining the new Eisenbahn-Verkehrsverordnung, the new railway regulations, it seems the changes effective from July 7th have indeed limited the availability of this option. Yet, Tom's scenario throws a curveball - even under the revised guidelines, opting for the ICE would have remained a viable alternative given his intent to take the last scheduled connection of the day!

[@thornton]

Do you need a job as a travel consultant? (paid in pretzels and beer)

[@SwNero]

At least in NRW 20min+ expected arrival at your destination already allows that. More information via “Mobilitätsgarantie NRW”.

[@1337dingus]

@@davieee1168 Not anymore, rules were changed recently. Because the Deutschlandticket is officially considered "heavily discounted", this particular rule doesn't apply. Don't be surprised if Deutsche Bahn refuses to refund the ICE ticket.

[@furkankurtuluss]

⁠@@1337dingusthat’s not true and you don’t the refund from Deutsche Bahn, you get a refund from the public transport company responsible for the delay.

[@vollelektrolysierer5773]

@@SwNero Also, Mobilitätsgarantie NRW is explicitly not limited to "heavily discounted tickets".

[@lisalilo7848]

That was such a good video, thank you !! I used to take the train from Frankfurt to Kassel so often, it was so nice to see my hometown and the landmarks I grew up with

[@thornton]

aw that's nice! did it also remind you of the delays? :)

[@lisalilo7848]

@@thornton when I saw that you had to go from Frankfurt to Kassel I already started laughing before I even knew what would happen later haha RE30 forever ❤️

[@Jablicek]

Ooh, I was thinking about doing one of these myself. I'll be based in Leipzig myself for the summer - was thinking maybe Flensburg on the Danish border to somewhere on the Swiss border. Last summer I tried going from west of Cologne to east of Hannover on the €9 ticket and it was a nightmare 7 hour journey with all the regional trains. Can't wait to do more of them this year! All power to you, enjoy the freedom these tickets give us :)

[@thornton]

Sounds good, hope you enjoy it :)

[@DieAlteistwiederda]

Definitely much more reasonable to do this trip with Leipzig as the starting point. Leipzig after all is more situated in the middle of Germany and to get to Stralsund you would only need to get to Halle and then only have to make that change over in Wittenberg.

[@Jablicek]

@@DieAlteistwiederda Oh, thanks, will keep this in mind! I really enjoy planning itineraries, so looking forward to the next few weeks :)

[@Snork086]

Oh, that feeling when you're stepping in the last leg train knowing that you don't need to scroll down DB Navigator every 5 mins to get the delay info! I did many similar journeys with 9 and 49 euro tickets

[@Judy-zs4gz]

Another Tip: I just found out that buying train cards saves more!! There will be coupons available to drop

[@Why-D]

Nice travel. Good to see, what the Deutschlandticket makes possible. And with enough time, you could go to the whole rest of Germany, for the whole month!

[@caioalmeida7452]

THE CORINTHIANS T-SHIRT ❤ I literally couldn't believe when I saw. I loved the video!

[@blessingsoutlaw]

Excellent you brought us all along, danke! 🎉 I could see you as a wonderful vegan tour guide for Germany. I’d sign up! 🌱🌱

[@narayantrex2226]

I've had so many trains recently that are stuck in 2003 as well! Funny to see that it's the same case in other regions of Germany, too :D

[@lawabidingcitizen5153]

It was the same in Austria too lol

[@Krudesis]

I guess you used up you DB luck way to early on the first day, rookie mistake :P Instead of Salzburg -> Sylt you could do Berchtesgaden -> Sylt, I think that one is slightly longer, in terms of air distance. (Though the difference compared to this journey is < 5km over roughly 200km total distance for both of them.)

[@thornton]

I do need an excuse to revisit Berchtesgaden, tbh 😍

[@red.aries1444]

It's maybe slightly longer, but the local train connections are worse. If you start in Berchtesgaden in the early morning, you have to change 12 times the local trains, sometimes with only few minutes. If you start in Salzburg you need to switch only 7 times, with mostly more stopover. So it is more likely to miss a connection if you start in Berchtesgaden.

[@richardandrews5972]

Well done Tom for making it from Zurich to the Baltic sea thoroughly enjoyed your video thanks again

[@jurriaandejongh8677]

There was actually a petition for this sort of ticket also to come to the NL, sadly it got rejected instantly by our gernerous goverment. Excellent video!

[@thornton]

That sucks, I bet it would do really well in NL... there are already discussions about expanding it in to France, so idk why it wouldn't work in the Netherlands... :(

[@Brauiz90]

Didn't know you live in Leipzig. I lived close to Leipzig (up north, a small city called "Schkeuditz") for 16 years before I moved to Salzburg, Austria last year. I didn't need the Deutschlandticket so far. I'm thinking about getting it. So I can get to Munich and other places in the area.

[@mxmlnbnr7268]

The good thing about the regional trains is that they are actually quite punctual most of the time with not many of a delay of 10 minutes or more The most Problems about delay is the ICE Service which cause a lot of delay not only for the ICEs but aswell for the regional trains

[@TVClipsDeutschland]

7:20 Did you time travel? The date on the clock says September 2003 :D

[@cehaem2]

In the mid-2000 I would sometimes do that and take local trains from Duisburg all the way to the Polish border. The trip would take approx. 10h straight.

[@peter-ei8xt]

oh i think you are supertomm.! that's what i love about europe, you can cross 3 borders in one day and feel free. I was in Świnoujście with the campervan 2 months ago, well done supertomm

[@johnhawks5035]

Kind of brilliant. I guess you'll need to perfect the art of "Cat-napping".

[@thornton]

😴😴😴

[@rasmuskelm7152]

last year during the summer of the 9 euro-ticket i made a journey from my hometown close to stuttgart to the danish border. but i made it in three days with little reroutes and visits to ppl i know along the way. its absolutely a great idea even tough 49 euro is a little more than i would have preferred. thx for the fun video

[@the_vehicle_spotter]

Very impressive video I really enjoyed it, I’m hoping to do something similar but at a shorter distance. Keep up the awesome work 👍

[@thornton]

Thanks!

[@haraldselke]

Nice video and nice trip! Salzburg to Sylt would certainly be nice as well. I once went by train from Sylt to Oberstdorf, but not just on regional trains. It was in fact a three-day trip from Wuppertal where I lived at the time to Sylt, then to Oberstdorf, next to Berlin and back home. This was more than forty years ago, when these were more or less the most northern, southern, and eastern railway stations of the country.

[@Scarecrow94rn]

I very much feel you. I went to Göttingen last weekend and managed to miss the RE9 to Halle TWICE bc of delays. And first one was actually last train of the day :/ Also, greetings from Leipzig to Leipzig^^

[@thornton]

aaagh, I sympathise with that for sure...

[@esperanza9934]

i laughed so hard when you said "there's one good thing: it's actually 2003"

[@Mergatroid]

I had planned out a very similar trip (except ending at the northeasternmost point of the German rail network rather than at the Polish border) back when the 9 euro ticket was a thing but never wound up doing it. Super happy to see someone actually tried this! Great video

[@tarusina]

such a great video!

[@thornton]

Glad you liked it!!

[@JeremiahKF]

This just shows how functional are German trains. I decided to make a similar schedule (which I obviously won't take) for Bulgaria. And I would have to start in 5am close to the tripoint with Greece and Macedonia and end it at midnight the next day on the border with Romania at the Danube.

[@thornton]

Another level of adventure

[@luka2050]

Did a similar trip last year and it was really cool. I drove from northern Bavaria (Nuremberg region) to basically the same destination as you

[@benni1951]

I travelled from Duisburg to Stuttgart yesterday with the Deutschlandticket. It took me 11 hours because I literally missed every single connection. Watching this video was a mixture of enjoying the video and PTSD from my trip yesterday.

[@thornton]

Maybe a bit too soon after surviving such an ordeal... I won't take it personally if you have to come back in a few weeks time

[@denydeny8610]

how does it work in germany? the trains dont wait at each other? here in slovakia when i see that our train has delay and im missing a connection, i just ask train conductor or somebody in train, they will call to the station where i will change trains, and they would wait for our train. they wouldnt wait only if the delay is that big that there is another train (like if im hour late and trains are going every hour on that line)

[@LiftsInGermany]

@@denydeny8610 they usually dont wait if its longer than a few minutes as that would cause even more delays for that train, and the connection on another station which then also has to wait and so on. Especially between high speed trains and regional trains they usually dont wait.

[@Pilotman10real]

14:38 You didnt need to worry the UBB does wait for the RE3 in case of delay by max of 10 minutes because thats the only connection the UBB has in Züssow I know this cuz my grandparents live there

[@arikaczmarek3930]

Love how he went the entire video without attempting to pronounce "Świnoujście" :P

[@TheCuke]

I found this video weirdly relaxing. Really well done!

[@thornton]

Awesome, thank you!

[@jogolock1190]

Am I correct you can travel for about £50 anywhere on the slow trains for a whole month throughout Germany at the moment?

[@thornton]

someone should make a vlog about it

[@jogolock1190]

@@thornton Ha ha., yeah obvious really, just seems to good to be true, I only read about this recently, can you image if there was something similar in the UK, would never happen.

[@eechauch5522]

@@jogolock1190 all regional trains, metros, trams, buses and some other things classified as public transport (ferries in Hamburg, monorail in Wuppertal, etc.) in the entire country, yes. It absolutely feels almost too good to be true and way too many Germans complain its too expensive.

[@klausfohl1028]

​@@eechauch5522 Complaints are mostly not because of the 49€ (there was a 9€ ticket last summer) but because it is subscription now. Last year it was turn up, buy, go.

[@dernochjungenoergler]

Great video! Thank you! For me, a person from the neighbouring Czech Republic, is such a challenge very appealing. :D