Interrail will not be banned on ICEs Netherlands-Germany this summer
NS International and Deutsche Bahn have decided that seat reservations for ICE trains between the countries will be mandatory between 17 June and 18 August this summer. Overcrowded trains caused problems last summer and a ban of Interrail passengers was considered, but this will not be followed through.
By requiring all passenger to make a seat reservation, NS and DB hope to avoid the same situation as in the summer of last year, when even passengers with seat reservations were left on the platform in Utrecht and Arnhem due to the overcrowded chaos. In the normal situation, it is possible to buy a ticket for the ICE international without a seat reservation, which means depending on the business on the train, travellers can find a seat or not. A seat reservation usually costs 4 euros for the ICE trains, but from April 14 it will be added for free automatically when buying a ticket for the summer period.
Earlier this year, NS announced that part of the possible measures was prohibiting passengers with an Interrail pass to travel on ICE international trains, which led to some backlash. Dutch travellers’ association Rover said it was “surprised” by the possible move. The organisation says it was unhappy with NS International’s solution last summer. “Travellers should assume that trains for which they bought a ticket are running and that they can take it”, they said.
Most trains in Europe covered by an Interrail Pass do not require seat reservations, as Interrail states on its website: “we’re all about flexibility”. In some cases, a reservation is however required, and now this includes the ICE trains between Germany and the Netherlands this summer.
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