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© GVH/Kunte

ÜSTRA/GVH guarantee: Guaranteed on time and clean

If you travel by bus and rail within the ÜSTRA/GVH, you will arrive on time and you will find clean vehicles. That is guaranteed by the ÜSTRA/GVH transport companies. Here you can find some information about our guarantee conditions and the correct procedures in case of a warranty claim.

The ÜSTRA/GVH guarantee online form

Here you can submit your application for the ÜSTRA/GVH punctuality guarantee. Please take note of the information on the Deutschlandticket (only available in German).

FAQ GVH guarantee

  • The ÜSTRA/GVH guarantee applies to all passengers with a ÜSTRA/GVH ticket, which is used resp. validated for the corresponding journey.
  • Excluded from this are ÜSTRA/GVH School passes and tickets, not issued by the ÜSTRA/GVH (BahnCard 100, City ticket, Lower Saxony ticket and Deutschlandtickets not issued by the ÜSTRA/GVH) as well as all trips on sprinti.
  • The guarantee does not apply for passengers taken with you.

  • In case of a delay of more than 20 minutes at the destination.
  • If the journey was cancelled and therefore a delay of more than 20 minutes at the destination occurred or was to be expected.
  • If a passenger, due to a delay, could not catch a connection and therefore reached the destination with a delay of more than 20 minutes.

Decisive for the calculation are the currently effective schedule times and connections as issued in the electronic timetable at gvh.de. In case of planned and (at least twenty-four hours before) announced deviations from the standard timetable (for example in case of building measures, flood, strike) the special schedule is the basis for a claim.

From 11:00 p.m. to 05:00 a.m. or if the passenger due to delays must wait longer than one hour, in place of a compensation, costs for a taxi, up to maximum of 25,00 Euro will be reimbursed.

In case your clothes should get dirty during our transport, costs for cleaning up to a maximum of 25,00 Euro can be reimbursed – provided the cause for the dirt is within the responsibility of the transport company. The cleanness guarantee can be submitted only by post or in person.

Making use of the ÜSTRA/GVH guarantee must be done within 14 calendar days after the incident. The application should be drawn up:

  • Via our online application (for punctuality guarantee only)
  • By post to the ÜSTRA/GVH – Großraum-Verkehr Hannover GmbH, Karmarschstr. 30/32, 30159 Hanover
  • In person at the customer centres of the transport companies (using the appropriate application)

You need to submit the following documents:

  • Ticket (original or copy/scan)
  • For online tickets: hardcopy or purchase confirmation mail
  • Possibly the taxi receipt for the reimbursement of the taxi costs
  • Possibly the cleaning receipt for the cleanness guarantee

You receive the compensation in the form of a bank transfer. If an application for guarantee is rejected, the client will receive a statement of the reasons for the rejection.

  • Single ticket (Einzelkarte), you will likewise get a Single ticket.
  • Day ticket for one person (Tageskarte), you will get  50 % oft the day ticket for one person perplaced.
  • Monthly/annual season pass, you will get a compensation amounting to 5,00 Euro.
  • Combined ticket ( Kombiticket), you will get a Single ticket for three zones (ABC).

  • It is max. 5,00 Euro per journey, max two journeys per day, max. 10 journeys per month
  • For Monthly or Annual passes, compensation is limited to the price of the ticket paid by the passenger per month

Conditions for the ÜSTRA/GVH Guarantee

In the PDF below you will find the conditions for claiming the ÜSTRA/GVH guarantee (available in German language only).

PDF download warranty conditions and folder

Abbildung des GVH Garantie Logos mit einem weißen Kreis auf blauem Hintergrund. Im Kreis stehen die Worte „Sauberkeit, GVH und Pünktlichkeit“
The ÜSTRA/GVH offers passengers a special service with the punctuality guarantee. Simply use the form above to make an application. © GVH/B&B.

Warranty exclusion

The ÜSTRA/GVH guarantee is a voluntary benefit of the ÜSTRA/GVH for its clients. A legal obligation, to provide such a guarantee, does not exist.

In case of abuse, the ÜSTRA/GVH reserves the right to exclude passengers from the guarantee. The passenger receives an information if the examination of the announced warranty claim shows that incorrect information has been provided. In the event of repeated incorrect and irreproducible information, the customer receives notification on a ÜSTRA/GVH warranty exclusion.

Note regarding the rights of rail passengers

For rail transport special passenger rights apply. If the legal regulation is claimed already, the additional claiming on the ÜSTRA/GVH guarantee is not possible. But in many cases, the ÜSTRA/GVH guarantee is more advantageous for you.

In case of delay, train cancellation, missed connecting train causing a delay of more than 60 minutes at destination, passengers of the ÜSTRA/GVH transport companies are entitled to compensation. The following explains to what extent you will receive the reimbursement and how to claim benefits.

You receive 25 % of the price for your Single ticket.

You receive 50 % of the price for your Single ticket.

If a train is delayed one hour, you may receive a lump-sum payment of 1,50 Euro (2. class) or 2,25 Euro (1. class).

You receive compensation of maximum 25 % of the price paid. The minimum amount for compensation is 4,00 Euro.

  • For delays or train cancellations that occur with the WestfalenBahn, you must fill out the passenger rights form, which you can download here. For delays or train cancellations that occur with Transdev, please fill out the Transdev passenger rights form. For all other delays in rail transport of the ÜSTRA/GVH network partners, you can obtain the passenger rights form on the website www.fahrgastrechte.info. Here you can check out which railway company is competent. Passenger rights claim forms are also available in trains and selling points of the railway companies.
  • If you have a ÜSTRA/GVH pass with the term of validity of up to one month, you should collect applications and submit all together after the expiry of the validity
  • If you are holder of a ÜSTRA/GVH Monthly pass subscription, you should collect the application as well. From an amount of 4,00 Euro, you can submit it all together. Delays more than 1 year ago, are not taken into consideration.
  • The completed forms must be put in an envelope together with the ticket or a copy of the ÜSTRA/GVH Monthly pass subscription as well as eventually other documents. You can hand in everything in a DB travel centre or send to the following address: Servicecenter Fahrgastrechte, 60647 Frankfurt/Main.

If a delay at destination of at least 20 minutes is foreseeable, you may use a more significant train like an ICE instead of a regional express train. If you have a ticket issued for a specific train, you may in this case chose another train. 

These regulations do not however apply to the following tickets:

  • Lower Saxony ticket
  • Discounted tickets
  • Tickets for groups
  • ÜSTRA/GVH Combined tickets
  • Air passenger ticket
  • Tickets for hotel guests
  • Deutschland ticket
  • Deutschland ticket Job

If you have a public transport ticket and want to use a more significant train, you first need to pay the additional fee by yourself and afterwards claim reimbursement.

On Fahrgastrechte.info, SBahn-Hannover.de and Westfalenbahn.de you can find further information.