Can two people use a Baden-Württemberg-Ticket at the same time going in different directions?

score:8

Accepted answer

Taken from the German-language version of the Baden-Württemberg-Ticket site of DB:

Können meine Mitfahrer auch an späteren Stationen meiner Fahrt dazu steigen?
Ja. Das Baden-Württemberg-Ticket kann als günstiges Gruppenticket genutzt werden und ihre Mitfahrer können auch unterwegs dazu steigen. Wer und wie viele Personen mit Ihnen reisen, wird jedoch bereits beim Kauf der Fahrkarte festgelegt – der Austausch Ihrer Reisebegleiter ist daher nachträglich nicht zulässig!

Weshalb müssen auf dem Baden-Württemberg-Ticket die Namen aller Reisenden eingetragen werden?
Das Baden-Württemberg-Ticket ist ein Angebot für Einzelpersonen und Gruppen, die einen Tag lang günstig durch Baden-Württemberg reisen möchten. Der Weiterverkauf oder auch das Verschenken eines benutzten Tickets ist nicht gestattet. Darum ist das Baden-Württemberg-Ticket nur gültig, wenn die Namen und Vornamen aller reisenden Personen auf dem Ticket eingetragen sind. Personen, die unterwegs zusteigen, sind unmittelbar nach Ihrem Zustieg mit Name und Vorname auf dem Ticket einzutragen.

Die Eintragungen können wie nachfolgend beschrieben vorgenommen werden:

  • Bei Baden-Württemberg-Tickets, die in DB Reisezentren und DB Agenturen gekauft wurden:

    • Die erste Person in der dafür vorgesehenen Zeile auf der Vorderseite
    • Die Mitfahrer auf der Rückseite
  • Bei Baden-Württemberg-Tickets, die online gekauft und als Online-Ticket ausgegeben wurden:

    • Die erste Person wird bereits automatisch eingetragen
    • Die Mitfahrer an geeigneter Stelle auf der Vorderseite
  • Bei Baden-Württemberg-Tickets, die am DB Automat sowie im Zug gekauft wurden:

    • Alle Reisenden in den dafür vorgesehenen Zeilen
  • Bei Baden-Württemberg-Tickets, die bei kooperierendem Verkehrsunternehmen (z.B. im Bus), gekauft wurden:

    • Alle Reisenden an geeigneter Stelle auf der Vorder- oder Rückseite der Fahrkarte

(formatting modified from the original version to better fit SE) Translation:

Can my co-travellers also board at later stations?
Yes. The Baden-Württemberg-Ticket can be used as a cheap group ticket and your accompanying travellers can also board along the way. Who and how many people travel with you (emphasis mine) is, however, determined when buying the ticket — you are not allowed to subsequently change your accompanying travellers!

Why must the names of all travellers be written onto the Baden-Württemberg-Ticket?
The Baden-Württemberg-Ticket is an offer for single travellers and groups who want to travel through Baden-Württemberg inexpensively for a single day. Onward-selling or even gifting the ticket to somebody else is not permitted. Therefore, the Baden-Württemberg-Ticket is only valid if the first and last names of all travellers are written onto the ticket. Travellers boarding en route are to be entered immediately after joining with both first and last names onto the ticket.

The preferred ways to write names is as follows:

  • For Baden-Württemberg-Tickets bought in DB travel centres and agencies:

    • The first person in the space provided on the front
    • The accompanying travellers on the reverse side
  • For Baden-Württemberg-Tickets bought online and printed as an Online-Ticket:

    • The first person is entered automatically
    • The accompanying travellers in suitable locations on the front side
  • For Baden-Württemberg-Tickets bought at the ticket machine or on-board:

    • All travellers in the spaces provided
  • For Baden-Württemberg-Tickets bought at cooperating transport companies (e.g. on the bus):

    • All travellers at suitable places on the front and reverse sides of the ticket.

The first FAQ question I quoted is rather clear that the principal traveller (in this case: you) must always participate in the journey. Thus, it is fraudulent behaviour if you email the PDF to a friend without ever being on-board the train with them, even if they correctly (as per the second question) enter their name. Furthermore, I would assume that once DB staff scan the online ticket, they will be notified whether it has been used before or not. If the machine says used but the ticket has not been stamped, you will run into a problem.

Note that Karlsruhe and Friedrichshafen are in different directions from Stuttgart. The legal way to use the ticket for you both is first travelling to Karlsruhe together (which should be the quicker journey, anyway), dropping off your friend there and then travelling on alone to Friedrichshafen.


In practice, most people buy their Länder-Tickets (of which the Baden-Württemberg-Ticket is one) at ticket machines. Many will not enter their name and hope they don’t get checked. And then, once they finished their journey at a major station, they will attempt to sell their ticket onwards. DB has taken quite a few measures to prevent this practice, including requiring IDs to be presented in question. It is at the discreetion of the staff member performing the check to decide whether a ticket without a name entered is considered fare dodging or not.

Upvote:8

@dan1111 already provided excerpts from the rules, but after searching the "DB Service Community" (https://community.bahn.de) it seems that travelling together is not necessary any more. Instead, you list the names of all those who want to travel on the ticket, and any subgroup of those persons can travel - but they will have to present the original ticket, of course.

The following scenarios would be possible:

  • Full distance travel together: Both you and your friend travel from Stuttgart to Friedrichshafen
  • Someone gets on late / off early: You travel from Stuttgart to Friedrichshafen, your friend gets on or off the train in Ulm (it doesn't matter if you change trains in Ulm or not)
  • Even a combination would be possible: You travel from Stuttgart to Friedrichshafen, your friend gets on in Ulm and leaves in Ravensburg.
  • Your friend travels from Karlsruhe to Stuttgart, you meet there and he gives you the ticket for you to travel to Friedrichshafen.
  • Your friend travels from Stuttgart to Karlsruhe where he hands the ticket to a trustworthy person to take it back to Stuttgart, after you get the ticket back you travel to Friedrichshafen.

However, it is not allowed to travel on two different trains at the same time.

I also noted that you want to give you friend "a copy of the PDF of the ticket that you get", so I assume that you want to book the ticket online. I just noticed that it is not necessary any more to specify a token of identification, instead the traveller has to present a photo ID. Unfortunately, I can't find any information how this translates to the Baden-Württemberg ticket, i.e., whether it means that the rules for tickets bought at the station (as presented above) are different from those of online tickets (e.g. the other group members can't travel without the "main traveller") or if you just found a loophole in the new rules..

Upvote:19

It seems clear from the conditions that the ticket is only for multiple passengers on the same journey (even if this isn't stated outright in the page available in English).

  • The fare structure (23 EUR for one passenger, 28 for two, etc.) only makes sense if you are all travelling together.
  • You have to book the ticket under one name, and that person may be asked to show ID.
  • The language assumes you are all on the same journey:

Baden-Württemberg-Tickets entitle individual accompanying passengers to join the group at a subsequent station after the number of passengers has been determined and the corresponding Baden-Württemberg-Ticket has been purchased. Please note, however, that it is not possible to change passengers once a journey has started.

  • The fact that you are only given a single ticket should be a clue, as well!

I think all this adds up to there being no doubt about the allowed use of this ticket. If you aren't convinced by all this, I suggest calling their booking line.

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