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Comment by hotdog97 | Hacker News Reader

I rode that train (Munich to Berlin) after I got stranded in Munich during the 2014 Bardarbunga, Iceland volcano eruption. It was kind of slow for an ICE at the time, and quite expensive (IIRC like 150 EUR in second class).

It was one of the nicest train rides I've ever taken though - you got to see so much of Germany. The onboard restaurant was awesome.

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For ICE trains, if you buy within one week for that distance you pay 120-150E. But if you buy 2 weeks or more ahead of time there are steep discounts. Prime time likely 80E, I did similar distance for midnight or the 4-5am trains for 30-60E.

This is the new line, the old line is quite a bit slower.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that. Seems like it's 3h 55m now; when I did it was at least six hours, I think.

I hope you don't miss out on seeing the incredibly scenic Bavarian landscapes and villages. I could do without looking at the mostly industrial landscape further up north though.

Yeah so the line from Munich to Berlin is new. There aren't any industrial landscapes as such on the direct way, so I kinda wonder what way via ICE you ended up taking ;D

Probably Bitterfeld.

I thought train systems were heavily subsidized by the state across Europe. Why are tickets so expensive? The distance isn't far at all, by American standards I'd expect to pay roughly $20-30 for a train ticket across that distance. 150 EUR you should be able to fly for that price.

German/UK/French trains are less subsidized than in the U.S. That is to say, the government subsidizes the capital costs, but not the operating costs. 150 euro is not expensive for that distance. That's almost as long as DC to Boston, which is a $200+ Amtrak ticket (Northeast Regional, not even Acela) during business hours on a weekday.

The systems in Germany, Switzerland and Austria are only cheap if you get a discount card or book tickets ahead of time. Once you have a discount card they are very cheap though.

150 EUR you should be able to fly for that price.

Taking the train between major cities is often more expensive than flying in Europe. People choose the train because it's comfortable and convenient, not because it's cheap.

Also 150 EUR is a full price ticket. If you book a few weeks in advance, and are willing to take the 'slow' train you can probably get a ticket around 30 EUR.

Depending on the route, often even on the day before. On more popular routes, prices rise more quickly though.

Long-distance services run with no or little subsidies. Regional services, especially in rural areas, are fairly heavily subsidized.

Assuming similar prices for the new train, that's quite a bit of revenue for six months, is that typical for a single route train?

It's regular price but if you book in advance a certain train it's often cheaper (~20-80€ depending on the time of departure...)

Here are some details (only found a german link: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verkehrsprojekt_Deutsche_Einhe...) - costs for the whole track was around 10 billion euro.

On the new line you don't see much more than noise barriers and tunnels though.

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