No more family reservations on the train

Deutsche Bahn is abolishing family reservations. This much-criticized change takes effect this Sunday. Other measures will also come into effect then – not all of which are likely to annoy passengers.

Starting this Sunday, parents will no longer be able to reserve any number of seats for themselves and their children for a flat rate on long-distance train journeys. Deutsche Bahn has abolished the so-called family reservation with the minor timetable change. Therefore, anyone wishing to reserve seats will now have to pay for each seat individually for each family member.

Deutsche Bahn is also increasing the price for second-class seat reservations by 30 cents to €5.50 per seat. First-class reservations now cost €6.90 instead of the previous €6.50. For a family of four, reservations will therefore cost twice as much as before.

The abolition of family reservations has sparked numerous outraged reactions and criticism from politicians and associations in recent days. The German Environmental Transport Club (VCD) even launched a petition to prevent the plan. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport also expressed doubts about the federal government's decision on Friday.

The federally owned company nevertheless stuck to its policy, pointing out that children up to and including 14 years of age accompanied by an adult are exempt from paying for train tickets.

With the timetable change on Sunday, several regulations come into effect that are beneficial for passengers. Flexpreis tickets can again be canceled free of charge up to one day before the first day of validity. In addition, several discount promotions have begun.