For the first time Germany’s national railway operator is giving passengers the option to cancel tickets free of charge if they want to avoid travelling on super hot days.
If you have a train journey booked with Deutsche Bahn (DB) between Thursday and next Tuesday, you can now cancel or postpone your trip free of charge thanks to a “special goodwill” offer by Germany’s national railway provider.
“All passengers who have booked a ticket for a trip in the period from June 25th to June 30th…and want to forego their trip due to the increasing heat stress can cancel their ticket free of charge as part of a special goodwill,” said an announcement on DB’s website.
The offer applies to tickets for long-distance travel that were purchased by June 23th. So it does not apply to tickets purchased on Wednesday the 24th or later.
This also includes saver (Sparpreis) and super saver (Super Sparpreis) tickets, which cannot be completely refunded under normal conditions.
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DB’s has never before extended this kind of offer specifically due to hot weather conditions.
How to get your refund
Passengers with digital tickets can cancel them online, according to Deutsche Bahn.
If your booking was for a non-refundable ticket such as a saver or super saver ticket, or a seat reservation, you can fill out this form to request a full refund.
If you have a flex-price ticket, you can also cancel your ticket for an automatic refund in your account on the bahn.de website or in the DB Navigator app.
If you are travelling with an paper ticket, you should contact a local DB sales point.
Why the goodwill?
The reasons behind DB’s act of goodwill appear to be the increased likelihood of travel disruptions during the hot weather, and potential discomfort for passengers when disruptions occur.
“We strongly recommend that you observe the official heat warnings when planning your trip,” the railway said in a statement. “We recommend that all those who can do without their trip in this extreme weather take advantage of the cancellation option.”
Heat is known to add strain for railway networks. Switches and other control and safety technology can be damaged by the high temperatures and hours of intense sunlight, which can lead to severe disruptions for travellers.
Additionally wildfire risk is high in some regions, as are other forms of extreme weather including storms that may bring heavy rain, lightning and strong winds over the weekend in places.
Last summer DB trains were hit with a spate of train travel disruptions during a pronounced heatwave in Germany. Renewed disruptions seem likely given the near-record temperatures already being felt around the country.
DB is presumably also eager to drum up a bit of goodwill among passengers following a nationwide service outage on Tuesday night that left travellers stranded in stations around Germany for several hours.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thelocal.de
