With the Passenger Rights Act, standardised passenger rights apply to rail transport in Germany. They grant travellers the same rights with all railway companies and apply to all trains from the S-Bahn to the regional train to the ICE, regardless of which railway company operates them. They also apply to travel chains consisting of trains operated by different railway companies that are used with one ticket. Passenger rights do not apply to subways, ships, etc.
If your arrival at the destination station is delayed by 60 minutes or more, you will receive compensation of 25% of the price paid for a single ticket.
If your arrival at the destination station is delayed by 120 minutes or more, you will receive compensation of 50% of the price paid for a single ticket
In the case of return tickets, compensation is calculated on the basis of half the ticket price.
Season tickets for local and long-distance journeys (e.g. weekly or monthly tickets, regional day tickets, day ticket for Germany) are reimbursed at a flate rate for delays of 60 minutes or more at the destination station. However, delays of 20 minutes or more can be collected and submitted for delays totalling 60 minutes or more.
In the case of season tickets for short-distance services, please submit the cases of delay to the Passenger Rights Service Centre once the period of validity has expired so that the minimum payment amount can be reached or exceeded.
You have 3 months to submit your documents for a passenger rights application.
For tickets with a “significantly reduced fare” in accordance with § 3 Para. 2 in conjunction with Para. 4 EVO. Para. 4 EVO, the passenger rights do not apply in full (e.g. Länderticket, Deutschland-Ticket).
Passenger rights do not apply in the event of extraordinary, unavoidable events that are beyond the railway company’s control, such as extreme weather conditions, people on the tracks or cable theft. This does not include strikes.
Compensation amounts of less than €4 will not be paid out.
| 2nd class | 1st class | |
| Local transport season tickets | €1.50 | €2.25 |
| Long-distance season tickets: | €5.00 | €7.50 |
| BahnCard 100 | €10.00 | €15.00 |
Compensation amounts of less than €4 will not be paid out. This means that holders of season tickets for for local and long-distance transport must claim at least two (1st class) or three (2nd class) delays and submit these together. In the case of season tickets, a maximum of 25 per cent of the ticket value will be compensated.
In the event of compensation, the passenger will receive a bank transfer of the amount of money.
If a delay of more than 60 minutes is to be expected at the destination station, the passenger can withdraw from the journey and be reimbursed the full fare, or the unused part of the fare if a section of the journey is used - if the journey has become pointless due to the delay and is therefore cancelled, the fare for the route already travelled and, if necessary, for the return journey to the departure station can also be reimbursed.
If a delay of at least 20 minutes is expected at the destination station, the passenger can use another train that does not require a reservation. The passenger must first pay for the additional ticket/product transfer required and can then claim the costs. This rule does not apply to heavily discounted tickets (e.g. Länder-Tickets, Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket, Deutschland-Ticket, etc.).
If a delay of at least 60 minutes is expected at the destination and the scheduled arrival time is between midnight and 5 a.m., the passenger has the right to use another means of transport, such as a bus or taxi, if the delayed transport company does not offer alternative transport. The costs for this are reimbursed up to a maximum of 120 euros.
This also applies if a train is cancelled, provided it is the last scheduled connection of the day and the destination station cannot be reached by midnight without using another means of transport.
If an overnight stay is necessary due to a train cancellation or delay and it is not reasonable to continue the journey on the same day, the passenger will be reimbursed reasonable accommodation costs.
Holders of tickets issued by a transport association are requested to enquire with the respective association about the regulations on passenger rights applicable there.
In addition to the statutory passenger rights, BRB also offers you customer guarantees in accordance with our conditions of carriage for relation-related tickets if the delay or cancellation was caused by Bayerische Oberlandbahn GmbH or Bayerische Regiobahn GmbH:
From 15 min. delay at the destination station, you will receive 25% of the ticket price of a normal journey.
If you are 30 minutes or more late at your destination station, you will receive 50% of the ticket price for a normal journey.
If you are 60 minutes or more late at your destination station, you will receive 100% of the ticket price for a normal journey.
Season tickets are reimbursed at a flat rate of €1.00 (2nd class) or €1.50 (1st class) for each case of reimbursement from a delay of 15 minutes.
Flat-rate tickets (e.g. Bayern-Ticket, Guten Tag Ticket) will be reimbursed at a flat rate of €1.00 (2nd class) or €1.50 (1st class) from a delay of 15 minutes per reimbursement case.
Should differences of opinion arise between Bayerische Oberlandbahn GmbH or Bayerische Regiobahn GmbH and the traveller in relation to the provision of services by the transport company, Bayerische Oberlandbahn GmbH or Bayerische Regiobahn GmbH declares its willingness to participate in a dispute resolution procedure before a consumer arbitration board.
The passenger can contact a consumer arbitration board recognised by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection. In local public transport, this is the arbitration board for public passenger transport e.V. It can be found at the following link: www.soep-online.de/en
Independent agency for passenger and traveller rights (apf)
Passengers who do not agree with the company’s decision can contact the apf in Austria.
Please submit your documents using the complaint form at www.passagier.at. If electronic transmission is not possible for you, please send the documents by post to: Agency for Passenger and Passenger Rights Railway Department Linke Wienzeile 4/1/6 A-1060 Vienna
Further information at www.apf.gv.at/de