My journey from Duisburg to Hamburg, Germany

My friend and I had to travel from Duisburg to Hamburg so again we decided to travel by train for the same reasons as we did in our first leg of the journey. Only difference is that we didn’t have reservation this time. We got in and sat in some seats like we always do in India.


In no time, passengers with reservation tickets came by and we had to move. We moved for about two or three times and we felt very uncomfortable. We also couldn’t stand, as it is a three hours journey. We decided to go to the restaurant and see if they have a place to sit.

My understanding of a restaurant in a train is what I know of the pantry cars in Indian trains. They are very unhygienic so there I went with lot of apprehensions. First thing I noticed was the neat seating. Seats are elevated and are very few. My friend and I were four passengers out there so we found a place to sit.

We immediately purchased something to eat so that the guy wouldn’t ask us to leave. We also made sure that something is left on the table at all times (like some apple juice in a bottle) for the restaurant manager to believe that we are still working on our food. Train was so fast and soothing that we both of us fell asleep when the ticket conductor came by. It was rather embarrassing to see him wake both of us up to check our tickets.

By time we came close to Hamburg, restaurant was full so we realized there that we were not the only one’s without reservation on that train.

Ruby