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I'm looking into booking a journey from Hannover Hbf to Hamburg Hbf. I found a connection that looks nice and fits my schedule, but it says that it's "cancelled between Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg Hbf" [sic]. I don't know what to make of this. Will the train actually go to Hamburg Hbf? What does this mean?

Deutsche Bahn journey selection showing ICE 1976 to Hamburg Hbf being cancelled between "Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg Hbf".

For what it's worth, this is on the 19th of August 2024.

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    @Tor-EinarJarnbjo I'm not sure I understand. What does it "exactly say" when it's cancelled between Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg Hbf, i.e. the same stop mentioned twice? If it said cancelled between Hamburg-Harburg and Hamburg Hbf I'd get it, but it doesn't say that.
    – Newbyte
    Commented Jul 2 at 10:51
  • @Newbyte Could be that you have to change to an S-Bahn train from Harburg to central hamburg
    – Crazydre
    Commented Jul 2 at 12:08
  • @Crazydre That was what I thought for a moment, but none of the trains before or after have this warning, which makes it unlikely that there are track works affecting the train (and it should say "between Hamburg-Harburg and Hamburg Hbf", and I suppose the Hamburg Hbg stop would be crossed out or red or something, and/or an actual change would be shown in Harburg). Weird. My impression is that somebody messed up an input somewhere, but that leaves the question: is there in reality no problem at all, or is there actually some other badly described issue which may affect travel?
    – jcaron
    Commented Jul 2 at 12:58
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    @KaiBurghardt "If you cannot take the ICE till your final destination, it will suggest changing trains" - No, often it won't. In some cases it happens, but in some cases (usually in the farther future or shortly after the problem is announced) only the information is shown, but booking doesn't offer the replacement.
    – asdfex
    Commented 2 days ago
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    DB does what DB does best - confusing people and being late (probably). Anyway... If you can't catch the ICE leaving Hannover at 19:59, then take the 20:20 connection you've posted and see what happens in Hamburg-Harburg. Either you get to the mainstation by ICE, or you switch to the SBahn or a regional train.
    – Erik
    Commented 2 days ago

2 Answers 2

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Not a definite answer, but some observations and interpretation:

The train is planned to end in Hamburg-Harburg and to not go to Hamburg Hbf. It does that until August 12th already where you're automatically offered a change to S-Bahn. On your date, the cancellation has not been properly added to the schedule yet, and only a short (manual?) information has been added. That might be added properly or clarified at a later time.

Another possibility is that the message has been added by mistake and the train will go all the way to the main train station. In any case it won't be a huge problem. There are several other options to get from Harburg to the main train station, e.g. the local train S-Bahn which goes fairly regularly and doesn't take much longer.

There are some hints for the reason you see a strange message:

  • There is no hint for a cancellation in the machine-readable data, i.e. the database that is used to create itineraries and schedules. If it was added there, the last stop would be marked as cancelled properly and you should see an itinerary to use the S-Bahn between Harburg and Hamburg That seems to imply that the message has been added manually.
  • The train one hour earlier has the same information - albeit having the more sensible "between Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg Altona". So I guess this is just a minor editing issue due to someone using the same message template for both trains without noticing this one ends in Hamburg Hbf.

My first interpretation which seems to be wrong on further review:

The problem might also be a hiccup of the software due to the fact that you can't enter the train in Hamburg-Harburg (note the "Exit only"). The template of the warning message likely has two blanks: One for the first station you can't enter the train for an onward journey and one for the last stop that isn't served. And, in this particular case it turns out that both blanks are filled with "Hamburg Hbf". This logic will work out in most cases, but just not in the one with one stop missing after the "exit only" stop.

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  • I concur the construction works might be extended on short notice. I also think it is a software glitch. There is proper software logic and messaging for this train terminates here. I guess there is no boarding in Harburg because conductors will not validate tickets.
    – Kai Burghardt
    Commented 2 days ago
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    This does not sound like a correct answer. If a train ends prematurely, it should also be shown in the detailed view of the train schedule. In OP's case, you can access it by clicking on the black ICE1976 label. In the detailed view, the train is shown to stop at Hamburg Hbf, so there is an inconsistency between the warning shown in the overview and the details. Here is how cancelled stops are usually shown in the detail view: i.sstatic.net/65uCRWGB.png
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Commented 2 days ago
  • metrans.eu/… seems to be some construction going on, though its planned end date is a week before this trip, it may have been extended.
    – rtaft
    Commented 2 days ago
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    @ScottMcPeak et.al. I had another look at the issue and edited my answer.
    – asdfex
    Commented yesterday
  • @asdfex, please do not use strike-out for several lines of text, it makes it impossible to read. People can go to the edit history to read the old version. I would appreciate replacing the strike-out text with a short explanation of your earlier version or cut it out completely.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented yesterday
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Well, if you query their API directly, you will read the keyword construction work [excerpt]:

{
    "type": "status",
    "summary": "ICE 1976: Hamburg Hbf: Construction work.",
    "code": null,
    "text": "The train is cancelled between Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg Hbf. Please check for any changes to your journey prior to departure."
}

{
    "type": "status",
    "summary": "ICE 1976: Hamburg Hbf: Bauarbeiten.",
    "code": null,
    "text": "Der Zug fällt zwischen Hamburg Hbf und Hamburg Hbf aus. Bitte prüfen Sie Ihre Reiseverbindung kurz vor der Abfahrt des Zuges."
}

Attribution: CC By 4.0 International Deutsche Bahn AG

This is still not a definite statement that the train won’t make it to Hamburg central station, though.

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    My guesses: the train will change the part of the station which will stop. On systems (but I do not know if for DB or in this case) the same station may be internally divided into different "stations", but with same notation not to confuse users (but in this case). Examples: underground part, overground part, regional/national, etc. Possibly there will be a flyer to explain the change (to local resident/commuters), but probably it is too early.
    – Giacomo Catenazzi
    Commented 2 days ago

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