Rail travel in Germany

The rails in Germany is owned by Deutsche Bahn (DB, literally "German rail"). Germany's rail system covers most points of interest. While tickets bought "last minute" can be expensive, they can, with a bit of planning, also be surprisingly cheap. Despite the rise of intercity buses, trains are still only second to cars when it comes to getting around. A train journey from Hamburg in the north to Munich in the south usually takes less than six hours. The same journey by car takes around eight hours, a bus takes ten hours or more and neither of those figures accounts for traffic congestion. Furthermore, most trains depart every hour or every two hours while buses tend to have a much sparser schedule.

Train travel is rather environmentally friendly: according to Deutsche Bahn, in 2014, one passenger-kilometre of travel on a DB long-distance train emitted almost 13 times less CO₂ than the same distance travelled by car. Local and regional trains emit more, since they tend to use less renewable energy and more diesel. DB also aims to steadily increase the share of renewable energy in the electricity it uses for its trains. In fact, the green stripe on all BahnCards indicates a promise that all tickets sold to BahnCard owners represent trains running with 100% renewable electricity.