Tickets, please: What to do if something goes wrong If you travel without a valid ticket you have to pay a 60-euros-penalty fee. If you feel treated unfairly, you should immediately raise an objection with the transport company. The claim is due at the time of the inspection.

In 2026, if you are caught traveling without a valid ticket on a German train (DB or local S-Bahn/U-Bahn), you will be charged an "Increased Fare" (Erhöhtes Beförderungsentgelt) of €60. This is not technically a criminal fine but a civil penalty issued by the transport authority. If you fail to pay this amount within the designated period (usually 14 days), the fee can increase significantly with administrative costs. It is important to know that ticket inspectors in 2026 wear plain clothes and can appear at any time; saying "I didn't know I had to validate my ticket" is generally not accepted as an excuse. If you have a valid digital ticket (like a Deutschland-Ticket) but your phone is dead, you can usually have the fee reduced to about €7 if you present your valid subscription at a service center within a week.