1. Trains in Germany tend to run on time (it's not 100-percent, but it's awful close to 90-to-95 percent). So when you have to connect, and your first train is only giving you four minutes to go from platform 2 to platform 6....the odds are against you making it. Have an DB app on your smartphone and try to give yourself a minimum of ten minutes between trains.
2. Taking an ICE (high-speed train) with usual high density passenger loads? Get a reservation (it cost more but it's worth having a seat there for you).
3. Bring a bottle of water along.
4. The big stations all charge you 50-cents to 1-Euro for toilet usage. Some will refund half of the Euro in a card for the coffee shop there. The chances of finding a free toilet? They don't exist anymore.
5. Higher prices around the stations (compared to airports)? No. Normal prices exist at train stations.
6. Threats? Pickpockets are threats and just be aware of that. If you go into a metro station (say Frankfurt) and you intend to walk outside of that station, just be aware that it just might be a drug-zone or heroin-zone. So exit the station, and walk direct to wherever you have to be.
7. Use headphones if playing music, and limit your conversation via phones. Germans hate loud noise or chatty people.
8. Keep your ticket in a handy place. The odds of being checked? Always high.
9. Most trains have signs about not eating onboard. No one has an issue on the platform if you are munching on a burger, or pizza.
10. Traveling in bad weather (major storms, or snow)? I strongly advise you to avoid it....wait for twenty-four hours, or have a plan 'B'. You don't want to be dropped off in some one-dog town with 90 passengers and be told at 7PM that there's no advancing on this train, and the track is shutdown for 12 hours. Unlike the air travel folks....the Bahn folks can dump you right there, and tell you patiently wait. There are some rules coming up (via the EU) to encourage the Bahn to refund money if they don't deliver you on time.
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