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Hamburg Central Station on Friday: Train cancellations and delays after storm damage to the railway lines
Photo: Christian Charisius / dpa
The good news on the day before Christmas Eve and after storm "Zoltan" has swept across the country: "Regional traffic is running on schedule again and long-distance traffic is returning to normal," said a spokesman for Deutsche Bahn (DB) in the morning. The damage caused by the storm has largely been repaired.
Due to the upcoming holidays, however, the long-distance trains are "very busy". In addition, according to the railway, there are travelers who had to postpone their arrival to the weekend because of the storm.
Long-distance routes in the north were particularly affected by the effects of the strong winds. Fallen trees have blocked routes and damaged overhead lines. Among other things, trains were cancelled on the routes from Hamburg and Hanover to Frankfurt am Main and Stuttgart as well as in the direction of Munich.
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In view of the disruptions, Deutsche Bahn has published special goodwill rules for passengers who wanted or want to be on the road from 21 to 23 December - regardless of whether their own connection is affected by the consequences of the storm or not. These go beyond the statutory rights of passengers. After that, the train connection of saver fare and super saver fare tickets will be lifted for these days.
"The ticket is valid for the journey to the original destination, even with a changed route. Seat reservations can be cancelled free of charge," it says on the corresponding website. Those who can no longer or do not want to travel at all can have the fare refunded without deductions.
DB advised passengers who want or need to take another connection to find out about the capacity utilisation of long-distance trains via the DB Navigator app or on "bahn.de" before starting their journey. Many connections on Friday and Saturday are already very busy due to the upcoming Christmas holidays. The advice: If possible, switch to connections that are likely to be less busy, for example at off-peak times.
In the event of delays, passenger rights apply
Apart from goodwill on the part of the railway, passenger rights according to the EU Rail Passenger Rights Regulation also apply in the event of a train cancellation or delay. After that, you can claim a refund of 25 percent of the fare if the train arrives at its destination more than an hour late. For more than two hours, that's 50 percent.
Compensation and other claims can be initiated online or in the app for tickets purchased via a customer account. Or: fill out a passenger rights form and send it by post to the Passenger Rights Service Center in 60647 Frankfurt/Main. In some cases, compensation is also available directly from the DB Travel Center.
Anyone who is stranded on the road due to a route closure, for example, is entitled to assistance. First of all, these are meals and refreshments in a reasonable proportion to the waiting time in case of delays of more than an hour or train cancellations.
If it is clear that it will not be possible to continue on a given day, the railway company must arrange accommodation in a hotel or other accommodation and organise the transfer. If you book a hotel on your own, you should have the railway confirm in advance that it is not possible to continue your journey and that they cannot help you with accommodation.
abl/dpa