Finding Your Train Platform in German
After this lesson you can ask which platform your train leaves from and understand the answer.
Do this first: W-questions
Übungen
Eight exercises on what you just watched. Get 80% and the lesson is marked done and added to your A1 progress.
1 / 8 · Type the missing word
2 / 8 · Type the missing word
3 / 8 · Word order
Put the words in the right order.
The train leaves from platform seven.
4 / 8 · Word order
Put the words in the right order.
Is this the train to Cologne?
5 / 8 · Choose
What is das Gleis?
6 / 8 · Choose
What is der Bahnhof?
7 / 8 · Choose
What is die Abfahrt?
8 / 8 · Choose
What is die Ankunft?
In short
The question you need is Von welchem Gleis fährt der Zug nach …? — which platform does the train to … leave from? Gleis is the platform (track) number, der Bahnsteig is the physical platform, and Abfahrt/Ankunft are departure and arrival.
How it works
A German station is signposted in a small, fixed vocabulary, and once you know eight words you can navigate any of them. Das Gleis is the numbered track — this is what your ticket and the boards refer to. Der Bahnsteig is the platform itself. Die Abfahrt is departure, die Ankunft arrival.
Departure boards are yellow, arrival boards white — a nationwide convention worth knowing, because looking at the wrong one is the classic mistake. Long platforms are divided into lettered sections A to G (Abschnitte), and your reservation will name one: Wagen 12, Abschnitt C.
The questions themselves reuse lesson 30 exactly. Von welchem Gleis fährt der Zug nach Berlin? Wann fährt der nächste Zug? Wo ist Gleis 7? Note that fahren is the verb for a train departing, not gehen — and that der Zug nach Berlin uses nach for a destination.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| der Bahnhof | station |
| das Gleis | track / platform number |
| der Bahnsteig | platform |
| der Abschnitt | platform section (A–G) |
| die Abfahrt | departure |
| die Ankunft | arrival |
| der Wagen | carriage |
| die Fahrkarte | ticket |
| der Anschluss | connection |
| der Fahrplan | timetable |
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Von welchem Gleis fährt der Zug nach Berlin? | Which platform does the Berlin train leave from? |
| Wo ist Gleis 7? | Where is platform 7? |
| Wann fährt der nächste Zug? | When does the next train leave? |
| Ist das der Zug nach Köln? | Is this the train to Cologne? |
| Muss ich umsteigen? | Do I have to change? |
| Entschuldigung, wo ist der Ausgang? | Excuse me, where is the exit? |
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Gleis 7 | platform 7 |
| Abfahrt (yellow board) | departures |
| Ankunft (white board) | arrivals |
| Wagen 12, Abschnitt C | carriage 12, section C |
| Bitte einsteigen! | All aboard! |
| Vorsicht am Gleis! | Mind the platform edge! |
Examples
- Von welchem Gleis fährt der Zug nach Berlin?Which platform does the train to Berlin leave from?
- Der Zug fährt von Gleis sieben.The train leaves from platform seven.
- Wo ist Gleis zwölf, bitte?Where is platform twelve, please?
- Ist das der Zug nach Köln?Is this the train to Cologne?
- Wann fährt der nächste Zug?When does the next train leave?
- Muss ich in Frankfurt umsteigen?Do I have to change in Frankfurt?
- Mein Wagen ist Nummer zwölf.My carriage is number twelve.
- Wo ist Abschnitt C?Where is section C?
- Ich habe eine Fahrkarte nach Hamburg.I have a ticket to Hamburg.
- Entschuldigung, ist hier frei?Excuse me, is this seat free?
Mistakes to avoid
✗ Wo geht der Zug nach Berlin?
✓ Von welchem Gleis fährt der Zug nach Berlin?
Trains fahren, they do not gehen. And you want to know the Gleis, which is what every sign and ticket uses.
✗ Reading the white board for departures
✓ Reading the yellow one
Yellow is Abfahrt (departures), white is Ankunft (arrivals). The colour convention is nationwide and reading the wrong one costs you a train.
✗ Ignoring the Abschnitt on a reservation
✓ Walking to the right section
On a long ICE platform, carriage 12 may be a three-minute walk from where you are standing. The A–G markers exist for exactly this reason.
✗ Confusing Gleis and Bahnsteig
✓ Gleis is the number you need
Bahnsteig is the physical platform, often serving two Gleise. Tickets, boards and announcements all use Gleis.
Wortschatz
The words from this lesson.
| der Bahnhof | railway station | |
| das Gleis | track, platform number | |
| der Bahnsteig | platform | |
| die Abfahrt | departure | |
| die Ankunft | arrival | |
| umsteigen | to change (trains) | separable |
| einsteigen | to board | separable |
| aussteigen | to get off | separable |
| die Fahrkarte | ticket | |
| der Anschluss | connection |
Kulturnotiz
Germans stand where their carriage will stop. The Wagenstandanzeiger — a diagram on the platform showing where each carriage halts — is studied carefully, and people position themselves on the correct Abschnitt before the train arrives. Standing in a vague clump at the middle of the platform marks you out instantly; on an ICE with sixteen carriages, it also means a long walk down a moving corridor.
Common questions
+What is the difference between Gleis and Bahnsteig?
Gleis is the numbered track and the word used on tickets, boards and announcements. Bahnsteig is the physical platform, which often serves two Gleise. Ask about the Gleis.
+How do I ask which platform my train leaves from?
Von welchem Gleis fährt der Zug nach …? Literally "from which track does the train to … travel". Fahren, not gehen — trains travel, they do not walk.
+What do the yellow and white boards mean?
Yellow is Abfahrt (departures), white is Ankunft (arrivals). It is a nationwide convention, and checking the wrong one is the classic visitor mistake.
+What are the letters A to G on the platform?
Abschnitte — sections. Your reservation gives a carriage and a section, and the Wagenstandanzeiger shows where each carriage stops, so you can wait in the right place.