Britrail Pass

[Andy in Germany]

You do have a British passport though? You can no longer travel through the British border without a valid passport, be it German or British, identity cards are no longer valid for crossing. There was also a story in the paper the other day about Passports also needing to be valid for a certain period after the trip had ended, I'd need to look into that myself. Unfortunately it's all got a lot more bothersome and complicated.

Yes, I do. I have to use my British passport when entering the UK because I have to prove I have the right to enter the country, and also because I'm not 'officially' German in the UK.

 

[Andy in Germany]

As a Londoner I found that quite normal. Trains and tubes (and buses) are entirely different animals. Bu I can see how someone not living in that environment might find it surprising.

This is because we're more used to this:

S and U Bahn were included in our main train ticket. Doh!

The first city to bring all public transport under one system was Stuttgart in 1978, and as far as I know pretty much anywhere in Germany works under this system now, so you buy one ticket and it covers every mode of transport; we don't even think about it any more.

As an "odd factoid", my birthday happens to fall on the date the Stuttgart system came online, so every 'main" anniversary I'm allowed free travel in Stuttgart as long as I carry ID showing my date of birth.

 

[Oldhippy]

Sadly @Andy in Germany unlike Germany or Japan in the UK a ticket means you have a piece of card in your hand, it doesn't mean you get a train with it after being robbed blind for the piece of card to start with. The advertisement is so much better than the actual experience.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Back to original query Britrail appears to be valid on the Elizabeth line

Interesting. So @Andy in Germany could pick up the Elizabeth line from Paddington to Farringdon and get a Thameslink to St Pancras.

The Elizabeth Line isn't part of the tube network which doesn't normally make any difference but sometimes does - just to keep us on our toes.