Originally posted to Posterous on 2 May 2011
On Saturday 30 April 2011, we travelled by train from Paris to Berlin. The tickets and assistance were booked by email and fax through Deutsche Bahn's (http://www.bahn.de/i/view/overseas/en/index.shtml) Mobility Service Centre. The journey involved a change of trains in Mannheim - from a French TGV train to a German ICE train. (The night/sleeper train from Paris to Berlin appears to be the only direct train, i.e. without a change of trains.)
The tickets were quite cheap at 109 Euro for me and about half this for Tova, as she travelled free between Paris and Mannheim. The tickets were more than 100 Euro cheaper per person than if booked through the agent for French and German railways in Australia (no names mentioned). If you don't need special assistance, buying tickets directly through Deutsche Bahn's website looks easy enough to make me wonder why anyone would use the Australian agent.
Whilst long - we left Paris just after 9am and did not arrive in Berlin until approximately 6:30pm - it was nevertheless an enjoyable trip and definitely better than dealing with airports and airlines. On both trains, I had the option of sitting in my wheelchair or sitting in a train seat, there were wheelchair accessible toilets close by and room to move around.
The transfer in Mannheim was straightforward. Staff from Deutsche Bahn met me with a portable lifting platform at the door to the train, and advised me where to wait for assistance to board the next train on the opposite platform. We had deliberately allowed extra time between transfers, but in retrospect, we could have easily made the next connecting train to Berlin (20 minute transfer). Instead, we had a bit over an hour in Mannheim station, which allowed time to go to a toilet that doesn't move and to buy drinks and something to eat. We have learnt to keep coins on us though for trips to the loo in railway stations - 0.50 Euro to 1 Euro appears to be the going rate.
Of the two trains, Deutsche Bahn's ICE train between Mannheim and Berlin was the more comfortable, with more room to move, more staff (and friendly staff too) and better condition of the train's interior. That said, the French TGV was more than adequate. I had understood from TripAdvisor that the journey's scenery would be nothing special, but we found it interesting and pretty, with small towns and villages, fields and forests, plus the train stops in Frankfurt, so you get a good view of that city's skyline.
Finally, we arrived at Berlin's Hauptbahnhof (main railway station), which, with its glass canopy, is incredibly beautiful and modern. Selected pictures of our train journey can be seen at http://gallery.me.com/honningbi67/100276.