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News and views from the German-language region of Europe

January 19, 2010

Lidl adds to Deutsche Bahn chaos

Filed under Life in Europe

As if there weren’t enough problems riding the train this winter with ice and snow, discounter Lidl floods the market with cheap train tickets.

At the end of last year German discounter Lidl Lidl ticket offered cheap tickets for travel on the German railway. Two 2nd class one-way tickets between any two points on the rail system for a total of only 66 euros. The only day when travel is not allowed is on Friday, but you can use almost any train including the high speed ICE trains. If your trip takes you far enough, you can save a good chunk of change on the trip, because riding from north to south or east to west the entire length of Germany would easily cost you more than twice as much. However, there is a catch: the tickets do not include a seat reservation. Which is why on the weekends some popular routes are packed with travelers and some of them have to stand the entire way or sit in the aisles. That sometimes happens on the ICE trains, but not very often. But with the Lidl cheap tickets along with weather related reductions in services (including the length of trains), it has happened more frequently recently, as I learned myself. I always book a seat on my weekend trips, so I was not affected, but my heart went out to those folks who had to stand a couple of hours.

Paul Kieffer's blog with personal insights and news from the German-language region in Europe.

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