If my 00:22 Deutsche Bahn train is cancelled and the following train is inconvenient, can I leave earlier?

Question

Our DB ICE train was cancelled. It was already after midnight; the next available leaves at 1:30 AM and is inconvenient for us. My question is, since we can use other trains, can we take a train the day before so we still arrive at our designated time?

Answer 1

Yes. If your train is cancelled or if one of the trains in your itinerary is so delayed that you can assume to arrive at your final destination more than 20 minutes late, the ticket can be used on any DB train in the same or lower train category. With your ICE ticket, that includes all trains. Also on trains departing before your initial travel plan.

If there is mandatory reservation on the new departure, you will need a new reservation and may get a refund for any old reservations you are not able to use. With some further caveats and restrictions, it may also be possible to use trains run by other train operators or other means of transport as an alternative.

Answer 2

Just for information. After explaining at the Reisen Centrum that I needed to be in Heidelberg at 10am the next day and even though the "suggested" replacement for my 0.22am train would make it in time (departing Berlin at 1.54am) and the next suggestion of leaving earlier this evening (dep 9.27 arrive 3.45 was both "not convenient", I asked if I could travel now, 9am, and the answer was "yes, sure, that would mean you make it in time". The Reisencentrum have discretion, wrote an indecipherable note on a printed version of my original ticket and sent me off to catch the train of my choice. Apart from the 20 minute wait to do that, nothing about it was difficult, much stress dissolved. Thanks all. J

Answer 3

Regardless of DB terms and conditions, which are fiendishly complicated, you are in any case entitled to EU rail passenger rights:

If you are delayed due to a cancelled train, meaning you would arrive at your final destination with a delay of more than 60 minutes, you have the right to choose between:

• a refund of your ticket within 30 days – this may be a full or partial refund (covering the part of the journey not made), and a return journey to your initial point of departure, if, the delay due to the cancelled train prevents you from fulfilling the purpose of your trip, or
• continuing or re-routing your journey under comparable conditions to reach your final destination at the earliest opportunity, at no additional cost, or
• continuing or re-routing your journey at a later date of your choosing under comparable conditions, at no additional cost. This includes alternative transport to get you to your final destination when the train is blocked and the service is suspended.

(emphasis mine)

Some travel companies may send you a new ticket for a different train, others cancel your ticket and issue a refund, but in the case of DB, they will notify you via e-mail and/or the DB Navigator app telling you that your Zugbindung is cancelled, and you can figure out for yourself a different connection for which you can use your ticket. Clearly, travelling an hour earlier should count as a journey under comparable conditions, so this will certainly be allowed.

It could be a bit more muddy if you need two trains, your first train runs, but your second train is cancelled, and you want to take an earlier initial train to catch an earlier second train. Within Germany this should work, but when I tried that with a journey starting in Switzerland (and the German connection being cancelled), I was told I couldn't do that (which I doubt is correct, but I'm not sure if EU passenger rights apply in Switzerland).

In case of doubt, you can always ask the Zugbegleiter*in (train supervisor). They have substantial freedom to authorise your travel or not. They can and often will let you travel even in cases where it normally wouldn't be allowed, if you have a good reason (which you do).