Getting busted by the U-Bahn ticket inspectors

Barcelona and Rome are in central europe? what the hell but ok, you've been there, done that ;P (paris, well, a bit less expensive: but night bus is more expensive, and daily ticket is about the same - just that you can get farther with the berlin ticket)
And talkin about rome: was that the city with only two metro lines and bus stops where there is no leaving time for the bus?

The validating of the ticket is, we both say it, incomprehensible. But then again, it's stated nearly everywhere (and also in english) and some hurdles are in many public transport systems...

Anyway: If the station post is the main thing you complain about, it can't be that bad in Berlin.
About the strike: a bad thing which can happen - but I don't think, the seller at the kiosk had a clue...

If you live and work in Berlin, you cannot say that 55 euros per month is expensive - less than 2 euros per day, and in the evenings and weekends, you can bring an adult and 3 kids with you on your ticket also. You can also legally give your ticket to someone else to use.

By the way, Copenhagen and Dublin are far more expensive (and the public transport is abysmal in Dublin).

I'd be slightly impressed if you actually *did* do this

So would I.. Not only would you get done in for not having a valid ticket, you'd also get to deal with a Slander lawsuit..
I think I'd just pay the 50 Eur. Its much cheaper and easier to deal with..

On a side note. The BSG (S-Bahn Checkers) are not cops, but they are trained as if they were, and are allowed to subdue/detain
you with pepper spray/handcuffs/batons until the real cops show-up. Have you actually ever looked to see what they're carrying
on that Util. belt of theirs? They may not be real cops but they think they are and (Given a good enough reason) will prob.
beat you just like a real cop would.

The checkers on the U-Bahns are either workers from the local transportation company (Also not cops) they can not physically
detail/beat you, but they can hold you there until the real cops arrive. If you hit/push/yell at them, well lawsuits here you come..

The other checkers you might see ARE ACTUAL COPS. Employed by the city. (There everywhere in Munich). Like every other
cop they carry guns and can arrest you on the spot.. Deff. not a good idea to fook with them..

But it's normal right across Germany though to buy ticket from a machine and then validate in a little yellow/blue/red etc. thingy be it on the mezzanine before descending to platform, at the platform, on board the train/tram/bus. Those validators are ubiquitous and I knew about this practice from secondary school german classes, long before I'd ever set foot in Germany. I have encountered many more counter-intuitive/complicated systems of mass transit in other countries tbh. I distinctly remember getting locked in a Tokyo station as the ticket wasn't valid to get out there and it had to be supplemented at a special machine next to the exit barriers by inserting it and adding as many yen as neccessary. Bloody confusing and all down to the two railway/underground operators not sharing a common tarif structure (at the time). Germany, and Berlin in particular is so simple in this regard.

The only thing they should change is their use of the word "cancel" when they mean "validate" in reference to using these machines.

Actually it depends on the Transportation authority. RMV (Frankfurt Region/2nd largest network. 1st being Berlin), Operate as a 1 machine system. Once the ticket is bought and printed
its already validated. There are no canceling machines. I believe the same can be said for the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar (Mannheim Region). Systems that actually use the 2 machine system seem to be the minority.

The only cities I have actually had the cancel/validate a ticket in are Munich and Berlin. I think cities that use the 2 machine system
are just trying to confuse people, and hit'em up for cash (fines) when they get busted for not stamping their ticket.. But thats just me.
A 1 machine system also means less operating costs when it comes to machine maint.

Oh right, I stand corrected so. I was sure I've validated tix in boxes in Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart and Cologne and presumed it was nationwide given that spread. Still and all-not an overly complex requirement of the traveller IMO.

Edit: How do you buy/use tickets for use in the future from a machine? Do you have to know what date you'll want to use it when you buy it?

You either key in the future use date, or you just buy the ticket when you travel.

So in fact the validation method is more flexible for the end user as it allows one to buy a few single tickets and have them in a drawer, ready for use (especially if your nearest transit is a bus which may or may not have an on board ticket machine or ticket machine on the pavement at the bus stop).

That is until the 3 month validity window ends and your stuck with worthless tickets. Or the prices change and your rickets are invalidated.
I haven't in 13 yrs of living in Germany come across a public trans. bus that didn't either have a ticket machine (The current trend, to let the driver do just that)
or had some form of ticket sale at the driver, be it a small computer/printer or a book of preprinted/stamped tickets.

By bus I mean an actual public transport bus, not a bus run by a priv. company, or temp augmenting/help the local transport during train outages.
Trans and trams are a different issue. Some have'em, some don't.. Again it depends on the transport authority.

If you're living long term in Berlin, it makes no sense to buy single tickets or daily tickets. As mentioned earlier you should subscribe to an annual ticket, and pay either annually (the cheapest option) or monthly - 55 euors - less that 2 euros a day, and you can travel as much as you like in A and B Zones. Single tickets only make sense for short term visitors, and tourists (an they should be buying daily and weekly tickets.

With your subscription ticket, there is no validation - just be sure to carry it with you - very simple and very cheap for what you get.

Actually Most of the larger cities are part of the CityTourCard program. Its a ticket that gets you lots of discounts to museums, theaters and such.
It also gets you 2 or 3 days of discounted travel on the local Transportation network. If I remember correctly for Berlin you get full access to Rings
A and B for which ever time ticket you buy. The 2 day ticket is like 15 Eur. (A/B or 18 Eur A/B/C) Its a very good deal if your going to see the sights,
as many of them will give you a discount, so the ticket more than makes up for itself.

For more Info on the various Visitor tickets check out the VBB Homepage

Or for the Munich version - Here (Hint: It's more expensive than Berlin, for a smaller coverage area)

Doesn't work like that in Hamburg, you just buy the ticket. I wandered around Berlin a couple days with an unvalidated one because I just figured it was like here.

It's about 50/50 in germany. And it's getting better: The biggest public transport union (actually not berlin nor rhein-main) Rhein-Ruhr changed some years ago to unvalidated tickets. btw it's also wide spread in austria!

I think that quite a few eastern european cities have the same system, I know that krakau, warsaw and prague do.

VBB Wiki (Worlds Largest)


RMV Wiki (Germany's 2nd Largest) More detailed info on the German wiki


VRR Wiki (Europes Largest)


In terms of area covered, I do believe that 30k km² is bigger than 5km².

One way to get out of paying a fine in Munich is to buy yourself a single day, group ticket for the Aussenraum from a kiosk.

Then travel around as much as you like with the ticket unstamped - you can literally get months of use out of it as long as you make sure that it doesn't get too tattered.

If an inspector checks, then hand over the ticket with a cheery smile - don't speak any German.

The ticket conductor will look at the ticket, see that it's so obviously wrong and explain what sort of ticket you need and let you off with a warning. He'll probably cancel the ticket, but you'll have gotten way more out of it than what it cost.

Simple really...

Of course, once you've been checked and you don't have a ticket...well then this won't help either.

So cheating is encouraged ?
Sad. really.

Once you have got out of paying for your U-Bahn ticket, go into the nearest bar, drink 6 maas, eat the most expensive thing on the menu, wait until the bar is crowded and slip out of the door without paying. Easy.

I pay my fare. I'm not encouraging or discouraging anyone. I'm merely stating how it's done.

There was a show on TV a while ago where they showed how con-artists and pickpockets rip people off. Was that show encouraging everyone to go out and steal even though they showed how it's often done? I would like to think not...

didn't read that in your first post

This was a commonly done in Berlin up till the late 1990s when they changed the strategy to zero tolerance. So as far as I know, if you're caught without the right ticket, you will be done (and quite rightly so) 99.99% of the time.

Ha ha..everyone has an excuse in this world. nice!.

Why don't you address the second part of my quote?

Because there is a fly on my keyboard! ( my excuse )

I used it once a few years ago because I lost my monthly ticket on about the 3rd day of the month and only realised when I got checked. So not only did I have to pay a €40 fine, I would have also had to buy a new monthly ticket. Now while I realise it was my fault, I figured I'd given the MVV enough money that month and used that strategy. I got caught later in the month and the conductor just cancelled my ticket and gave me a warning.

So you were part of the 0.01% - lucky you!

So you realize you gave MVV enough money ? That is your justification to cheat? No you did not give enough money to them, you gave them the rightful share to travel the month. Then you lost it. your fault.(you realized this). The issue ends there. you cannot use it as an excuse to not buy a new ticket for the month.
See how we twist and turn the reasoning.
And we try to rationalize our mistakes. I said "we". (not judging you, merely showing how it was done in the human psycology)

Yeah...and? That's your opinion. I don't think I did anything wrong. I ended up paying over double for that month's travel anyway. So what exactly did I "cheat" out of the system?

you did travel without a valid ticket. or did I get it wrong?

I'd do the same. The MVV got their money. No taxpayers were hurt in the making of this journey. End of story.

So? The MVV got even more money out of me that month than they usually do. So how could they be cheated?

My conscience on that is clear...

After avoiding the U-Bahn fare and avoiding paying at the bar, if you think that you are being ripped off then bleat and moan to anyone that will listen.

(What goes around, comes around)

what do you mean "So?". Did you travel without a valid ticket or not? I assume you are saying yes...
When one does that , it is called cheating...
(or you want to redefine it ?)
you are so convinced it is not cheating to travel without a valid ticket? Then I wonder why you paid the fine once you were caught...
If you did not do anything wrong, you should have protested and not paid the fine...

anyway, I think lets let it rest.

When you jaywalk at 3 am its cheating too, most people just don't care.

I didn't have a ticket (I lost it) and I had no proof that I had actually bought one. So how do you propose I "Protest"?

Instead I decided to reduce the amount I needed to spend for the rest of the month. It hurt nobody and instead of paying almost triple the amount for a months travel, I paid over double. I felt that was punishment enough.

Honestly - this "We must follow ze rules" shit is a bit over the top.

Handsome, you really sound like a barrel of laughs.

Haha i was just about to say that.

yes, but it is still not right. I am very upset about it.


if everyone tried your trick, we will still not hurt anybody? since it was only you and a few others, the system will not notice it, but if everyone tooka tageskarte and tried your trick, the ubahn will go bust fast, and then everone is hurt. So don't say it is not hurting anyone.


I am . thanks. that is my profession

Damn it, I hate it when people beat me to the punch...stupid work getting in the way.

No swearing, no fare dodging...what do you do all day, smile at your moral greatness?

Being a barrel of laughs is your profession? Is that like being a laughing stock?

Nope...because then everyone would be paying twice the monthly fare and the MVV would be richer, not poorer.

if everyone got caught, ha ha, that might be a logistic nightmare in the ubahn...

no. answering TT and correcting peoples wrong ideas. DUH!


yep. And I love it.

Is that a sample of your professional wares? Hm. I'm not very impressed, honestly. What is your target audience, electrical appliances?

Well in this case it appears that you're wrong. Most people have backed me here. Only you haven't - and perhaps Canaryman who's posted, but who I have on ignore, so I have no idea what he's said.

Your a big fan of Kant, aren't you?

Hmm, so you believe the MVV can only survive economically by issuing fines and making people buy multiple monthly tickets in the event of accidental loss of said tickets?

As Hazza said, if everyone did what he did, you'd have twice as much money coming from passengers of the MVV and one would expect it to improve significantly.

One must separate between an immoral and "illegal" action.
When person A has bought the Umweltskarte, he has finished a transaction between himself and company B, that allows him to use their services. It´s done. The card itself is nothing but a practical invention that enables B to ensure that A uphold his part of the transaction.

If A loses this physical card, it is hard to argue that the only morally acceptable option for him is to perform the transaction again, or not to use Bs services. Remember that B has got routines for catching those who have not upheld his part of the transaction. Given the fact that A has indeed performed the transaction, he is in his full rights to avoid those routines when possible.

i sure Mr controller would accept this