Passenger rights in rail transport

As a passenger in rail transport, you have legally established rights. These apply to all railway undertakings. The following information is based on the details provided by the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV).

• From a delay of 60 minutes at the destination station, you are entitled to compensation amounting to 25% of the ticket price.
• From a delay of 120 minutes, to 50% of the ticket price.
• For season tickets, the respective provisions of the railway undertakings' terms and conditions of carriage apply.

If a delay of more than 60 minutes at the destination station is to be expected (e.g. due to a severe delay or cancellation of your train), you may cancel your journey or refrain from travelling if the journey has become pointless for you. In that case, you can have the ticket price refunded.

Alternatively, you may also make the journey at a later time, including with an altered route.

• If the railway undertaking does not offer you an alternative for onward travel within 100 minutes of the scheduled departure time of the delayed or cancelled train, you are entitled to continue your journey with another railway undertaking, by coach or by bus. The necessary, reasonable and appropriate costs incurred by you as a result must be reimbursed to you.

• In addition, from a delay of 60 minutes or more, you have the right — with the prior consent of the railway undertaking — to continue the journey with another transport provider against reimbursement of costs by the railway undertaking.

• In the case of a foreseeable delay of at least 20 minutes at the destination, you may use any other train, if necessary also a long-distance train, but not trains subject to mandatory reservation. For this you may first need to purchase a ticket. You can have the costs reimbursed. This provision does not apply to the Deutschlandticket as a considerably reduced fare.

• You may also use another means of transport (if necessary also a taxi) if:

• your scheduled arrival time falls within the period between 0:00 and 5:00, and it must reasonably be assumed that you would otherwise arrive at your destination at least 60 minutes late, or
• you wanted to use the last scheduled connection of the day and you cannot reach the destination station by 24:00 without using the other means of transport.

The expenses incurred are reimbursed up to an amount of €120.

From a delay of more than 60 minutes, you must be offered a free hotel overnight stay if this becomes necessary. Furthermore, meals and refreshments must be offered, provided these are available.

In the event of delays, you must be informed about the estimated departure and arrival times.

The railway undertaking does not have to pay you compensation if the delay or train cancellation was caused by:

• Exceptional circumstances outside of railway operations. These include, for example, extreme weather conditions or major natural disasters (not "ordinary" storms)
• Conduct of the passenger
• Conduct of a third party (e.g. cable theft, emergencies on the train or police operations)

When selling tickets, railway undertakings must inform you, upon your request, of the following among other things:

• connections with the shortest travel time or the lowest fare
• the general terms and conditions of carriage of the railway undertaking
• the accessibility of facilities for persons with disabilities or reduced mobility
• the availability of spaces and the access conditions for bicycles

During the journey, the railway undertaking must inform you of delays as well as important connecting trains.

• There is an entitlement to carriage without a surcharge.
• Railway undertakings and station operators must, on request, provide information about the accessibility of rail transport services.
• If the corresponding need is registered no later than 24 hours before the start of the journey, they must provide free assistance with boarding and alighting and during the journey, insofar as trained personnel is available. For cross-border journeys, the statutory advance notice period is 36 hours.
• A single notification suffices, even in the context of carriage on a journey involving several railway undertakings. The registration is to be addressed to the Mobility Service Centre of DB AG.

Passengers have a claim against the railway undertaking for compensation in the event of death or personal injury, as well as in the event of loss of or damage to luggage.

In the event of a rail accident in which a passenger is injured or killed, railway undertakings must pay an advance covering the immediate economic needs of the passenger or their relatives.

Railway undertakings are obliged to establish a procedure for handling complaints. They must provide passengers with at least one means of barrier-free electronic communication for compensation and reimbursement claims.

In addition, claims for compensation or reimbursement against Deutsche Bahn AG and a large number of other railway undertakings can still be asserted via the:

Servicecenter Fahrgastrechte, 60647 Frankfurt, Telephone +49 (0)30-586020920

Deadlines:

• The application must be submitted by you within 3 months of the journey.
• The railway undertaking must compensate or reimburse within one month.

Source: Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV), "Fahrgastrechte im Eisenbahnverkehr": https://www.bmv.de/SharedDocs/DE/Artikel/E/schiene-schienenpersonenverkehr/fahrgastrechte-zug.html