Refund possibilities from Deutsche Bahn in the case of missed connecting train

Question

I missed a connecting train because of 5 mins delay with the previous train. My train from from Stuttgart HBF to Berlin HBF, however, there was a change at Hannover Hbf.

I have received an email with the subject line: Your connection in Hannover Hbf will not be reached

Check this content of the email please:

I received this email Sunday, Oct. 23, 11:23 PM:

Your connection in Hannover HBf will not be reached

Change is not possible

Good evening Bawa Singh,

on your today's journey from Stuttgart Hbf to Berlin Hbf the connection in Hannover Hbf will probably not be reached. Please use the button "Find an alternative connection" to get your next possible connections. You can end the travel assistance for this journey by following the link below.

Sincerely yours

Deutsche Bahn

next possible connection was after really long time, so instead of that, I booked a bus and traveled to my destination.

Now my question is, what does this email exactly means? Does it mean that it is my responsibility to find out the alternative next connection to reach my destination and Deutsche Bahn really does not care and also not responsible for any inconvenience? Should I ask them for the refund? or at least the reimbursement for the bus journey? Am I eligible for that?

Answer 1

If you miss a connection (by no fault of your own), you can take any train that goes next.

next possible connection was after really long time,

That is very odd. Hannover to Berlin is one of the busiest routes in Germany and a high speed train goes every half hour unless it's the middle of the night and even then they have good coverage. Any bus being faster than the next train seems very unusual.

Does it means that it is my responsibility to find out the alternative next connection to reach my destination

Yes. You can simply pull this up on the Bahn Navigator App and it will give you the next few connections. You can pick whichever you like. If you don't have the app, you need to do this online or just look at the departure board.

Should I ask them for the refund?

Yes. From https://www.bahn.com/en/booking-information/passenger-rights/passenger-rights-in-rail-transport section 3

Refund due to abandonment or cancellation of journey resulting from a delay, train cancellation or missed connection

If the train is expected to arrive at the destination with a delay of at least 60 minutes, you can: abandon the journey and have the entire fare refunded or abandon the journey and have the unused section of the journey refunded in case of partial usage or abandon the journey if it is no longer worthwhile and return to the departure station to have the fare refunded.

Since you abandoned the journey you can ask for a partial refund provided that the next available train would have arrived more than 60 minutes after the original arrival time. I don't how the partial refund is calculated.

Answer 2

I want to add two points to Hilmar's answer that were not addressed there:

Now my question is, what does this email exactly means?

A lot of people prefer to know ahead of time that they won't make a connection. In case of a short delay, it might save them some running across a station, only to see the train leaving as they reach the platform. In any case, they can use the time on the delayed train to look for alternative connections or make other arrangements. Unfortunately, those predictions are not always correct, especially if the train you're connecting to is coming in from another direction, so you should always double check shortly before arriving at the station.

Does it means that it is my responsibility to find out the alternative next connection to reach my destination?

Yes and no. You shouldn't wait for someone to come and talk to you, it's your responsibility to go and seek help. If you don't have a smartphone (or a bad connection, low battery, whatever) you can try to track down the conductor while still on the train and ask them. Alternatively, you can always wait until you reach the station, go to the service counter and ask the staff there to search an alternative connection for you. However, both options will almost certainly take longer than just checking the app yourself.