On August 7, 2024, my friend and I had a troubling experience while traveling. We took the EC199 train from Zurich HB at 19:33, heading to Bregenz to catch a night train to Vienna. We had our bicycles packed in TranzBags. However, the ticket controller on the train insisted that we get off at Winterthur because she said the bike spaces were fully booked, and she could see that we had bicycles in the TranzBags.
The ticket controller, the Deutsche Bahn employee, was very insistent that we couldn’t stay on the train because the bike spaces were reserved. This was surprising to us because we had used TranzBags before in Switzerland and other countries without any problems, as they are considered luggage. Despite our explanations, she wouldn’t listen and kept saying we had to leave the train. Her behavior was very rude and unprofessional. At one point, she even said, “I’ll speak only German from now on,” because I was speaking to her in English. Although I understand some German, it felt like she was trying to make things more difficult on purpose.
There was also a Swiss train employee from SBB present, but he didn’t say much or try to help, which was disappointing.
The controller kept saying that she could see we had bicycles in the bags, but it was clear she didn’t understand what TranzBags are for. These bags are designed to make bikes easier to carry and store, and they should have been treated like regular luggage. She didn’t even try to find a solution for us, like checking if we could buy a bike reservation or helping us find another train. Instead, she just kept telling us she was in charge and didn’t offer any real help.
When we suggested getting off at St. Margrethen SG, which is still in Switzerland and follows SBB rules, she became even more uncooperative and seemed to lose her professionalism entirely.
In the end, we had to solve the problem ourselves by using the OBB app to buy bicycle reservations. The frustrating part was that when we finally checked, all the bike spaces were actually empty, despite what the controller had claimed (without even checking her phone). This made us feel like she didn’t really care about helping us or giving us the correct information.
However, after checking the SBB website, we found that the rules about transporting bicycles in TranzBags seem to be a bit unclear. Was what the ticket controller did actually correct? It feels like this situation falls into a grey area, and it raises the question: Shouldn’t there be clearer guidelines for passengers and staff to avoid such confusion in the future?