Search results

Certainly. But the current problems have started then and have only grown in time. If it only were reunification and the "Verkehrsprojekte Deutsche Einheit" (which went much smoother for road than for rail anyway), we would not where we are.

Well, if they do see it, they are really bad in acting on it (as can be seen in the massive backlog in maintenance on the rail network). Besides reunification, which I perfectly understand, a lot has to do with the Merkel years and the unwilligness to increase debt when debt was cheap. Besides...

Well, I can think of a rather prosperous, large and populous country that did not have to shoulder a reunification and still did not manage to build high-speed rail. :D Germany is not alone in not seeing the long-term worth of infrastructure.

Many people have the same concerns. And I still don’t believe Stuttgart 21 ever was a good project (except for the land redevelopers when the old station is gone; obviously parts of the proceeds will go towards the station), especially with the hugely increased price tag. How much other stuff...

Certainly. The huge infrastructure investments in the „new Länder“ definetely had a negative impact on investment in the West, not only in rail. And while I wouldn’t dispute that a dedicated long-distance line („higher-Speed“, I don’t think 300 km/h would be useful here) through the Ruhr would...

I believe that the tunnel-like long diveunder on the Eastern side (so that trains towards Stadlau can reach the Laaer Ostbahn from platforms 9-12 without conflict, and S-Bahn services from platforms 3+4 towards Stadlau can do so conflict-free too) is called Arsenaltunnel by some. I don’t know...

Very sorry to hear that! There was indeed no level crossing and that was the problem, the driver drove onto the platform and then onto the tracks. At least, no one was injured. BTW, that was the view the driver had.

The elderly driver who mistook a footpath with a one-way street and drove onto the tracks somewhere between Villach and Klagenfurt? That one caused some delays, yes… 1782335157 I suspect not - people always tend to use the RJ services - but don’t know for sure. I will ask around and answer...

Punctuality and reliability has, in the past years, really gone downhill in Austria unfortunately. We are not at German levels yet (not by quite a distance), but no one should assume that they will arrive on time here, let alone reach a connecting train. For a timetable built as a Takt, that is...

If you are thinking of using one of these services, please note that they seem to often be heavily delayed. For once, it is (mostly) not DB‘s fault.

I hope it is alright to start a general thread on news about changes/improvements to European timetables in 2027 (not precluding specific threads for individual services of course). First two: 1. SNCF, SNCB and SBB have announced that they will run a trial weekend Brussels - Strasbourg - Basel...

Oh yes, IMO a spectacularly misdesigned train which unfortunately we will have to suffer through for a few decades. It is OT, but I believe the decision to try and kill two birds with one stone by ordering nightjet and railjet2 DANI sets both killed the nightjet business model and is going to...

Certainly until the end of June. First two 4736 out today on CJX9, but squadron service will take a while. 4020s will be needed at least until all the summer closures/service reductions in and around Vienna start with the school holidays, and who knows what happens after…

For actual decisions it comes down to economics. CD, ÖBB etc still buy LD push-pull sets because for what is needed, they are cheaper (although personally I have my doubts about the wisdom of ÖBB‘s railjet2 order - but the alternative would have been the Stadler SMILE, known to be expensive, or...

The new 4736 are said to enter service from tomorrow. If it goes well and more units enter service, the days of 4020 are numbered.

The ones that are still in service with ÖBB are from the later 1980s and 1990s. The older ones have been sold.

Having platforms of different lengths makes utilising capacity as much as possible significantly harder.

I don't want to go further OT - so just a few words: I am pretty sure that there would have been variious other ways to speed up services towards the South of Germany that would have the same effect and been vastly cheaper than what Stuttgart21 will cost.

Don’t worry, I am not a fan of underground stations either. Depending on climate though, not every average passenger might feel the same. In any case, building and operating costs are so much higher that few would build major underground stations where not required for specific reasons. Well...

I am not sure passengers wouldn’t prefer underground platforms (decent ones, obviously) on the many many days where it is cold and *very* windy at Wien Hbf, for instance.