Small VRS basics

All tickets from the ticket machines of the transport companies in the VRS - with the exception of 4-trip tickets - are already validated and intended for immediate use. You can purchase unvalidated tickets in advance at the sales offices of the transport companies.

However, you can always tell from the imprint on the tickets whether they are already validated and can be used for immediate travel. Or whether you need to validate the tickets at the ticket validators at stops or in the vehicle itself.

Single and 4-person tickets can only be used for a limited time after validation. The period of validity depends on the price level.

This is how long single and 4-seater tickets are valid from the time they are validated:

• Single and 4-person short-distance tickets: 20 minutes
• Single and 4-person tickets of price level 1a/1b: 90 minutes
• Single and 4-person tickets of price level 2a/2b: 120 minutes
• Single and 4-person tickets in price levels 3 and 4: 180 minutes
• Single and 4-person tickets of price level 5: 360 minutes

You can interrupt your journey within these times and - if necessary - change means of transport. However, detours, round trips or return trips are not permitted.

One-way tickets, 4-trip tickets, 24-hour tickets and connecting tickets in advance are only valid until the next price adjustment of the corresponding ticket. If the price of the ticket changes, old tickets lose their validity after a transitional period of three months. During this transition period, you can of course still use your old tickets - provided they have not yet been validated.

If you have not used the tickets by then, you can still exchange them for three years at the transport company where you bought them. You will then only have to pay the difference to the current price.

You can find the contact addresses of the transport companies here:

Transport companies in the VRS

In addition to the public holidays in NRW, Rose Monday, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are treated as public holidays in terms of fares. This means that all extension and take-along regulations for VRS-AboTickets also apply on these days.

You can find the special extension and carry-on regulations for VRS season tickets here:

Ticket range

In the VRS ticket store, you can buy 24-hour tickets, weekly tickets, Formel9 tickets and monthly tickets in all price categories online. You can also buy the Deutschlandticket as an online ticket and seasonal offers such as the KarnevalsTicket or the CSD-Ticket.

You will receive your personal ticket when you complete your online order as a download and also by e-mail. Depending on which e-mail account you use, you should be able to retrieve your ticket by e-mail within 5 minutes at the latest.

Please note that online tickets are not transferable and are only valid in conjunction with a valid ID document (e.g. ID card, passport, etc.).

You can find more information here:

VRS ticket store

The VRS ticket store is operated by Rhein-Sieg Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH (RSVG) on behalf of all transport companies in the VRS. If you have any problems with the purchase or dispatch of online tickets, please contact RSVG directly.

You can reach RSVG by e-mail at: onlineticket(at)rsvg.de or by telephone on Tel. 02241 4990

Further information can be found here:

VRS-Ticketshop

You canbuy one-way tickets, 24-hour tickets, weekly tickets, monthly tickets and Formula 9 tickets as well as supplements for the use of 1st carriage class, express buses and for taking bicycles and the flat-rate VRS connection ticket cashless for immediate travel by cell phone.

The HandyTickets are discounted by around 3% compared to the normal paper tickets in the VRS ticket range.

In addition, seasonal ticket offers such as the AbsolventenTicket, the KarnevalsTicket and the CSD ticket can be purchased as HandyTickets.

Before purchasing your first HandyTicket, you must register once as a HandyTicket customer on the HandyTicket portal of Kölner Verkehrs-Betriebe AG and download the app to your cell phone.

Information on this can be found at:

HandyTickets

If you would like to use the SWB system ("easy.GO"), please contact Stadtwerke Bonn on 0228 711-1

If you have any questions about the HandyTicket, please contact Kölner Verkehrs-Betriebe AG (KVB) directly by e-mail: handyticket(at)kvb.koeln

For questions about the EasyGo app from Stadtwerke Bonn, please call: 0228 7111