Hamburg-Altona:
Präsident-Krahn-Straße, 22765 Hamburg
Lörrach (freight terminal):
Bahnhofstraße 1b, 79539 

Check-in at the departure station Hamburg-Altona / Lörrach begins approximately 90 minutes before departure. Once check-in is complete, the train will be prepared and loaded. If you arrive late for check-in, we may not be able to guarantee your place on the train. In this case, you will not be entitled to a refund or partial refund of the travel price. 

Vehicles will be unloaded upon arrival at the destination station in Lörrach / Hamburg-Altona.

For liability reasons, you must always drive your vehicles onto and off the vehicle transport wagon yourself. It is possible to have the vehicle loaded or unloaded by terminal staff. To do so, a liability waiver must be signed on site, as this service exceeds the scope of the service agreed upon in the transport contract.

If you would like our staff to drive your vehicle onto the train, please tick the box for free loading and unloading assistance when booking. In exceptional cases, however, staff are not obliged to load passengers' vehicles and are not liable for any damage caused during loading or unloading. 

Once the vehicle has been loaded, it is no longer possible to access it. Valuables and important travel items, such as medication, should therefore be removed from the vehicle beforehand (no liability is assumed).
Due to limited space in the compartment, we kindly ask you to ensure that larger, bulky items remain in the vehicle – also out of consideration for fellow passengers.

For safety reasons, it is not permitted for people or animals to remain in the vehicle during the journey.

website
https://www.bte-autoreisezug.de

telephone
(+49 (0)911-240388-22)
You are also welcome to send us your booking request by telephone during office hours.
Please have your vehicle registration certificate and the roof width of your vehicle (measured individually on the vehicle) ready.

email
(autoreisezug@bahntouristikexpress.de)
You are also welcome to send us your booking request by email.
Please provide the following information:
- Outward journey (direction/date) & return journey (direction/date)
- Number of people (adults/children)
- Vehicle make, vehicle model, and license plate number
- Length (including any attachments/superstructures, rear carriers, etc.)
- Height (including any attachments/superstructures, roof boxes, etc.)
- Roof width at the highest point, including attachments/superstructures (to be determined by you individually, not specified in vehicle documents)
- Unladen weight
- Roof box/other attachments - Email address (at which you can also be reached while on vacation)
Phone number (at which you can also be reached while on vacation)

Bookings involving multiple compartments can only be made through our customer service department. To do so, please contact us by email or phone. The above-mentioned detailed information is required for price inquiries and binding bookings. Desired compartments of the same category will, of course, be placed next to each other.

If you only need one compartment, vehicles can be entered individually on the first booking page by selecting “Add vehicle.”

The Flex Service offers more favorable conditions for rebooking and cancellation (see Rebooking & Cancellation).
The cost of the Flex Service is a flat rate of 80 euros per booking; the amount is non-refundable.
The Flex Service must be selected directly during the booking process. It cannot be added later.

No. Booking our train is only possible in combination with vehicle transport.
For safety reasons, vehicles without accompanying passengers may not be transported on our train.

Unfortunately, our train does not have wheelchair-accessible compartments or wheelchair-accessible sanitary facilities.

You will receive your ticket with loading and travel times as well as detailed information about your seats on the train approximately 10 days before departure at the email address provided in your booking. Tickets are sent exclusively by email; postal delivery is not possible.



If you book a return journey, you will also receive your ticket by email approximately 10 days before departure. Earlier delivery is not possible. It is therefore necessary that we are able to contact you by email while you are on vacation, also to inform you of any changes that may occur.

The vehicle details can only be changed if (!) the parking space required for the new vehicle is still available on the booked travel date. You can request this by phone (+49(0)911-24038822) or email (autoreisezug@bahntouristikexpress.de), providing the dimensions of the new vehicle.
Changing the vehicle after booking may result in a change to the travel price.

If the desired comfort compartment is still available on the booked travel date, a change is possible for the corresponding surcharge. Additional passengers can be added to an existing booking free of charge, provided that the maximum number of passengers is not exceeded. Changes can be requested by telephone (+49(0)911-24038822) or by email (autoreisezug@bahntouristikexpress.de).

Reductions in the number of passengers and vehicles are considered partial cancellations under the terms and conditions of our conditions of carriage and must be made in writing (see Cancellation). 

During the 2025/26 winter season, the BTE AutoReiseZug will stop in Freiburg in addition to Hamburg-Altona and Lörrach. Here, you can board (to Hamburg) or disembark (from Hamburg). During this period, you can also travel on the train without vehicles.

The 2025/26 winter season starts on December 19, 2025, and ends on April 18, 2026.
After that, the additional stop in Freiburg and the option of traveling without a vehicle will no longer be available.

The travel price must be paid in full upon receipt of the invoice. You have the option of paying the travel price by credit card or SEPA direct debit.

Alternatively, you can also make a transfer to the following bank account:

BTE BahnTouristikExpress GmbH 

Sparkasse Bamberg 

IBAN: DE64 7705 0000 0302 9466 03

BIC: BYLADEM1SKB
Please state the invoice number in the reference field so that we can allocate the corresponding payment.

If you enter a valid ADAC number, we will grant you a discount of 15 euros per trip.

If you enter a valid TSC number, we will grant you a discount for 18 euros per trip.

We cannot offer any general discounts for seniors or groups.
For group bookings of 10 or more vehicles, please send us an individual request by email (autoreisezug@bahntouristikexpress.de) stating the date of travel and the number of vehicles/people.

Children under the age of 6 accompanied by paying adults travel free of charge on the BTE AutoReiseZug if they do not occupy their own couchette. In this case, a maximum of one adult and one child under the age of 6 may share a couchette. 
Children under the age of 6 who occupy their own couchette and children up to the age of 14 receive a 50% discount.

No general discount can be offered on the basis of severe disability. However, your companion in the couchette or sleeping car compartment travels free of charge on the BTE AutoReiseZug. To qualify for this, you must present a severely disabled person's pass marked “B” or “BN,” regardless of the type of disability.

Due to the discount, online booking is not possible. Bookings can be made by phone or email (see Booking).

For specific dimensions & rules of vehicles, please take the detailed information from this site into account:

https://www.bte-autoreisezug.de/en/vehicle/

When transporting a rear rack with or without bicycles, our maximum dimensions are often exceeded.

Please contact our customer service at the following email address: autoreisezug@bahntouristikexpress.de 

The transport of vehicle combinations must be checked on a case-by-case basis, as cars with trailers can only be loaded as a combination and require two parking spaces in a row. Please contact us by email (autoreisezug@bahntouristikexpress.de) for more information. Please provide the following information.

Required information for both car and trailer:
- Vehicle make and model
- Length and height (including any attachments/superstructures, rear carriers, etc.) 
- Roof width at the highest point, including attachments/superstructures (to be determined by you, not specified in the vehicle documents) 
- Unladen weight
- Luggage / roof box / other attachments

We kindly ask you to also send us a clear photo of the car with trailer.

You can transport permanently mounted, secured, and locked roof boxes if all maximum load dimensions are observed. 
During the booking process for car bookings, you will be asked to select the additional option “roof luggage.”

Magnetic roof racks/ski racks are not permitted for transport on the BTE AutoReiseZug, as the operating approvals for these roof racks are only valid for maximum speeds of up to 130 km/h.

When booking the BTE AutoReiseZug, you can choose between sleeping cars, couchette cars, and couchette cars Plus. Seats only are not available.

Further information on the different comfort categories you can find here: https://www.bte-autoreisezug.de/en/nightrain/

Pets (dogs or cats) are allowed on our BTE AutoReiseZug train if you book a comfort sleeper compartment or your own couchette compartment. The cost is €60 per journey. Pets are not allowed in the Deluxe sleeper compartment.

For hygiene reasons, we ask that you ensure that the seats, couches, or beds are not occupied by animals.
Guide dogs, companion dogs, and assistance dogs as defined in Section 228 (6) No. 2 of SGB IX are transported free of charge; proof of this must be provided.

Hot drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and snacks can be purchased in the BTE AutoReiseZug's on-board bistro and enjoyed in the comfort of your compartment. You can find our food and drink menu here. Please note that only card payments are accepted; cash payments are not possible. 

If you are unable to make the trip, you have the option of canceling it or rebooking it for another travel date within the current season. This is possible up to 1 day before the original travel date and only if there is still availability (vehicle parking space, compartment) on the desired travel date.

There is a rebooking fee of 90 euros as well as any difference in price for a more expensive travel date.

When booking Flex Service, the rebooking fee is waived once and you only need to pay the difference to a more expensive travel date, if applicable. The different cancellation conditions for Flex Service bookings remain unaffected when making use of a one-time free rebooking.

Cancellation of the booking is generally carried out in accordance with section 8.2 of our conditions of carriage.
The date of receipt of the written (by email) cancellation notice is decisive for the calculation of the cancellation fee. In the case of cancellation of several trips, the relevant travel date is decisive for the calculation of the deadline. Cancellations by telephone cannot be accepted and will not be taken into account. 

Cancellation without booking Flex Service

If you cancel after completing the booking up to a period of

(i) 60 days before the booked departure date, you owe 10%

(ii) 59 to 15 days before the booked departure date, you owe 40% of the agreed transport fee.
From 14 days before the respective travel date, cancellation is excluded or 100% of the agreed transport fee is due.

Cancellation with booking Flex service
 
If you cancel after booking up to

(i) 15 days before the booked departure date, you owe 10%
 
(ii) 14 days before the booked departure date, you owe 80% of the agreed transport fee.
 
The price of the FlexService is non-refundable.

In the event of late arrival, BTE AutoReiseZug must investigate the cause of the delay, as not every delay automatically entitles you to a refund. According to the EU Regulation on the rights and obligations of passengers in rail transport (2021 version), there is no entitlement to a refund for direct consequences of delays due to exceptional circumstances beyond the control of the railway operator.
These include, for example, extreme weather conditions or the behavior of third parties affecting rail operations.

In the event of a delay in arrival that is not due to the circumstances mentioned above, a refund claim exists in accordance with our conditions of carriage within the framework of the European Passenger Rights Regulation as follows:

Arrival delays of 60 to 119 minutes: 25% of the passenger fare for the affected journey
Arrival delays of 120 minutes or more: 50% of the passenger fare for the affected journey
There is no entitlement to reimbursement for delays of up to 60 minutes or if information about the arrival delay is provided in advance.

To check whether you are entitled to compensation under the Passenger Rights Regulation, please send us your application for reimbursement using the following form: https://www.bte-autoreisezug.de/en/passengerrights/