Multi-person train tickets between Berlin / Kostrzyn

You are talking about a Brandeburg-Berlin-Länderticket:

http://www.bahn.de/regional/view/regionen/berlin_brbg/freizeit/brandenburgticket.shtml?dbkanal_007=L01_S01_D001_KIN0014_lt-bberl_LZ01

It might be more expensive now, and some states changed the rules (basic price plus addition for every additional traveller (up to max5), but Berlin-Brandenburg seems to have still one price for the ticket including up to 5 people.

On the link you can also find a Streckenkarte.pdf, which shows you on which routes you can take the ticket.

the terms and conditions of DB German Railways prohibit this sort of ticket-sharing, you'll be risking a fine if you attempt doing this.

Not exactly #2,
it is totally legal to find some people at the train station and buy a ticket together.
It is not allowed to resell the ticket of course or buy an already used ticket but you can always find people to share a ticket, especially at large train stations.

hi cocolino,

yes and no - it's perfectly legal for strangers to cluster into a group and buy such a ticket, indeed, however the 'you just found someone with a ticket, sat near them to be included' as described by the op indicates s/he's looking for a tout who shares tickets for a living, i.e. shuttling back and forth constantly with different 'fellow passengers' in order to maximise profit. DB didn't consider this much of a trouble in the past and ignored this practice, however since a couple of years they've become dedicated to crack down on this 'business' and have made it clear that they will consider such people as travelling without a valid ticket, i.e. liable for fines.

Hi, many thanks for your replies. You're totally right (previous poster), I'm sure the people I used to share a ticket with where touts, and would spend all day travelling back and forth, making money. My query was if this still happens - but as you suggest - they might be have cracked down on it. If it's a valid ticket however with no limits on usage, it sounds like it's legal?

My question is more if people still do it. When I used to travel, almost everyone making this trip (almost everyone was Polish, although this may be different now, with Schengen) would get into little groups like this.

Would still like to hear from someone who's made this particular journey recently, and if they saw any evidence of this ticket-sharing between apparent strangers.

Many thanks, Thomas

hi thomas, thanks for the feedback.

DB included in their terms and conditions that the members of the group cannot be switched after the first journey, i.e. rendering the described scheme illegal (I stress again that it wasn't illegal in the past). for some time, it was required that all group members put down their name on the ticket and could be asked to show proof of identity - I'm not sure whether this is still being done, though.

I recommend that you rustle up four other travellers yourself and share a ticket among you - so that's less than 6 Euro per person for a perfectly valid ticket!

regards

You can still be totally strangers and share a ticket, you just need to buy it together. Or you would find someone you just bought the ticket and wants you to share. Sure a lot of people still are traveling like this, it is still legal.
Yes, it is not allowed to change the group members after you started your journey (and it was not allowed years before).
Now you have to write down 1 name on the ticket (at least in bavaria), so they want to prevent people selling an already used ticket. (although, I never had someone check an ID to compare).
So when you are at the train station go to the track or the nearest ticket automat, you will for sure find people to share a ticket which is totally legal.

(In Bavaria, there is now a basic price for the ticket and an additional fare for each traveller, which means people need to know before they buy the ticket how many persons are travelling, but in Munich for example are always ticket machines right at the tracks. People just wait around there for other people to share. Totally legal, done a hundred times).

quote cocolino: (and it was not allowed years before)

afaik, personalization of tickets didn't start until 2005, apart from that, I'd say it should be pretty clear by now what's permitted and what's not ;-)