After a slightly sub-optimal rail journey from Lübeck to Hamburg, I had a thirty minute wait before taking another train from Hamburg to Hanover.
I haven’t been to Hamburg for some years and I’ve forgotten whether I ever visited the railway station, but it feels modern and functional.
The station was busy and lacking in obvious seating, but at least my train was operating nearly to time.
The 21:28 was my train and it was a joint service between the Swiss and German rail networks. I was a little confused as it was stating that NJ741 required a reservation and IC60471 didn’t, but it transpired that reservations were only needed for those crossing over into Switzerland. As reservations were around £5 on top of the ticket, I hadn’t bothered getting one as I like a little uncertainty in life.
I did wait in the queue to ask the Deutsche Bahn information desk about the reservation system, but they were overwhelmed and understaffed so I gave up after around ten minutes.
The train arrives which was a promising development for those of us who had invested emotionally in whether we had a seat.
I had wondered if I’d get a seat as I hadn’t reserved a ticket, but I found this seat by a table and power point, so I was content and felt that I was in a civilised location.
These two seats were reserved and they changed hands over ten times as there was chaos with people confused over reservations. I didn’t much care, I had my seat, but the system is clearly flawed somewhere.
I felt that the reservation system was clear, but there we go….
There was a family of four here and I was quite worried as they, along with half the carriage, were told off by the guard and had to pay more. I don’t know what was happening, maybe they had the monthly pass that was for regional trains only. I showed my ticket and the guard looked pleased, so that was a relief as there are few pleasures in life greater than being judged administratively adequate by a German train guard.
And safely in Hanover, the first time that I’ve visited this city. All told, I was very pleased with the whole journey, the train was clean, the service was friendly, the ticketing was clear and I was very happy that Deutsche Bahn got me in on time. It wasn’t the cheapest ticket at around £20, but that wasn’t unreasonable. After the earlier journey between Lübeck and Hamburg, arriving in the right city at the right time and with no need to sit on a staircase felt almost decadent.