1. Be prepared for just about anything to occur, from routes being shutdown, to trains stuck for three hours between stations.
2. Traveling in July and August? Air conditioning is 50-50 on working, and don't sit in a car that has zero AC going on....for more than 30 minutes. My experience for the past decade....probably one out of every six cars has some kind of failure going on. It's acute suffering from noon on....if you try to survive and stay on your route.
3. Train stations used to be fairly safe places to wander around. Today....be vigilant and watchful....don't linger more than necessary.
4. Don't go on last minute trips with zero hotel reservations at your end-destination.
5. On high-volume trains (they can actually warn you about these)....don't ride unless you have a reservation.
6. Put the Bahn App on your phone, and use it when your train or route fails....for the alternate trip.
7. In a 12-hour railway trip.....you might bump into five or six nutcases....so prepare yourself. Major stations will always have cops on a patrol around the station. Lesser stations will have nothing.
8. Always carry change on you....for the station WC (toilets).
9. On long-distance trains.....the first-class cars are typically one-third occupied. I'm not saying it's wise to buy first-class tickets, but it's not as hectic or stressed.
10. Trains run on timed changes. So if you are 8 minutes late at the station where you were supposed to hop to the next train.....it's pretty good odds that you will be waiting there for a minimum of two hours....maybe even four...to catch the next train. It's best to find a bar and just chill out while waiting.
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