I recently travelled from London to Vienna, and did a small amount of travel within Austria too, and thought I'd do a quick post on my experiences, comparing and contrasting with the UK. I wasn't 100% sure if this belonged here or trip reports, so mods do feel free to move if necessary.
I was feeling pretty apprehensive about the two long DB legs of my trip (you may have seen my other post in advance of my trip asking for advice should things go wrong) and while happily I didn't miss any connections things weren't always smooth!
The journeys I took were Brussels to Frankfurt and then Frankfurt to Vienna (and return), Vienna to Baden and Weissenbach-Neuhaus to Vienna via Leobersdorf.
DB
First - this was not a cheap trip! We seem to always get told how cheap continental train travel is in the UK, but my tickets, bought almost two months ahead, came to €380 / £320) for the return from Brussels to Vienna, First Class. Standard would only have been about £50 cheaper. For some reason I was charged for seat reservations even though I understood these were free with first class tickets. I could have got my tickets slightly cheaper on other sites (RailEurope) but then would have missed out on seat selection and I really didn't want to end up with a bad seat for a long journey (no idea why people love compartments, having an inside compartment seat with 5 strangers would be my idea of hell!).
The ICE trains I travelled on are undoubtedly impressive, and the interior feels luxurious compared to many UK trains, and indeed the Eurostar, but they did look a bit grubby in places and I noted that no cleaning took place after the train arrived in Brussels on its inbound journey. I had the single seat behind the cab on a couple of legs and while it's fun to sort-of be able to see out of the cab there's no table here so it's not great for working or eating.
The promised at-seat service in First Class was very hit and miss. On my outbound it didn't happen at all between Brussels and Frankfurt and we got just one pass on the 6.5 hour Frankfurt to Vienna leg. It was much better on the way back even if they couldn't serve much (see below).
Timekeeping was not great! We got to Frankfurt 20 mins late, not a big deal. This was apparently due to trespassers on the line. I did note that unlike the UK where we seem obsessive about fencing in the line, most lines in Germany and Austria have no fencing at all! The connecting train to Vienna arrived 20 mins late and then got progressively later, there was no reason given for this. We seemed to have extended dwell times at all stations. We eventually arrived in Vienna 70 mins down.The compensation system is not user friendly or generous compared to the UK. I should get 25% back for that delay, and have to post the form (it would be 100% in the UK and done online, perhaps even automatically paid).
On the return my first leg was on time (the only DB train out of 4 that was!) but the Frankfurt to Brussels train left a little late and then made extra stops for an unspecified reason, and then we stopped in Cologne for a VERY long time, I think because the train was so overcrowded with many announcements asking /pleading with passengers without seat reservations to leave and get another service. We arrived in Brussels 40 mins late with me and many other passengers running to get their Eurostar connection!
While we sat at Cologne for about 30 mins the driver opened his window and had a cigarette out of it, with the fumes wafting into the carriage behind! Can't imagine that being allowed in the UK...
All of the trains were very busy, some horribly so, so I was very glad of a seat reservation. On at least two journeys there were people sitting all over the floor in vestibules, outside the toilets etc.
Talking of toilets.... on two consecutive trains on the way home NEITHER of the loos in first class were working, and several in standard weren't either, so it was a long walk and then a long queue for the loo.
On the way out I enjoyed the catering on board - a decent sandwich (which I went up and got given no at seat service) and then I went to the Bistro for something hot in the evening. Everything is just reheated on board but its decent quality and is served on china, and the onboard red wine was really rather good! To be honest I do like the option of being able to get a proper meal on a long trip like this, rather than relying on whatever the often parsimonious complimentary offering you might get on LNER/Avanti might be. Prices were reasonable and they even had ice cream! Accessing the dining car for the purposes of dining was often hard though due to the trains being so busy.
On the return train I was hungry as it was a 06.50 departure and I hadn't had breakfast but I then found that there was no food loaded onto the train for the 6.5 hour journey to Frankfurt other than croissants and chocolate bars! It seems shocking to me that nothing was loaded on at intermediate stops. I could see that it was eventually loaded in Frankfurt for the next leg of that train's journey but I did think that was really very poor, and I can't imagine it happening on the East or West Coast Mainlines in the UK. There was no information or apology made to passengers for this, and no at seat service was offered in the restaurant car, takeaway only.
Staff were generally fine, if not friendly. Only one was outright rude!
So..far from perfect journeys but still VERY enjoyable and I'd definitely do it again. I was glad I paid the small amount extra to go first class, just to have a seat on my own and be a bit insulated from the horribly overcrowded standard carriages. But...have to say it, DB manages to make some of the UK's operators look very good in comparison, especially LNER.
OBB
I've much less to say about my two shortish OBB journeys. I was surprised that the line North of Weissenbach-Neuhaus was closed as recently as 2004, and indeed looking at my old European rail map from the late 1990's it seems that many rural lines have closed in Austria since then. There were two comfortable single car DMU's plying this rural route, giving it a pretty good hourly service, which looked like it started early (around 4am) and continued until around 11pm - you can't imagine that being the case with many minor lines in the UK. There was no facility to buy a ticket at the unstaffed station, and no ticket checks took place on board, so unless Austrians are unusually law abiding, there must be a lot of free travel going on, which can't help make the case for these rural lines. The connecting train back to Vienna was hideously overcrowded, again people sitting on the floor, something I was surprised to see in Austria. Tickets were about £15, which is about what 'd expect to pay in the UK I think for a journey of this length.
I had a fantastic trip and thoroughly enjoyed the experience but it all only reinforced my opinion that we have a very rose-tinted glasses view of continental train services here in the UK! The grass is always greener...
I was feeling pretty apprehensive about the two long DB legs of my trip (you may have seen my other post in advance of my trip asking for advice should things go wrong) and while happily I didn't miss any connections things weren't always smooth!
The journeys I took were Brussels to Frankfurt and then Frankfurt to Vienna (and return), Vienna to Baden and Weissenbach-Neuhaus to Vienna via Leobersdorf.
DB
First - this was not a cheap trip! We seem to always get told how cheap continental train travel is in the UK, but my tickets, bought almost two months ahead, came to €380 / £320) for the return from Brussels to Vienna, First Class. Standard would only have been about £50 cheaper. For some reason I was charged for seat reservations even though I understood these were free with first class tickets. I could have got my tickets slightly cheaper on other sites (RailEurope) but then would have missed out on seat selection and I really didn't want to end up with a bad seat for a long journey (no idea why people love compartments, having an inside compartment seat with 5 strangers would be my idea of hell!).
The ICE trains I travelled on are undoubtedly impressive, and the interior feels luxurious compared to many UK trains, and indeed the Eurostar, but they did look a bit grubby in places and I noted that no cleaning took place after the train arrived in Brussels on its inbound journey. I had the single seat behind the cab on a couple of legs and while it's fun to sort-of be able to see out of the cab there's no table here so it's not great for working or eating.
The promised at-seat service in First Class was very hit and miss. On my outbound it didn't happen at all between Brussels and Frankfurt and we got just one pass on the 6.5 hour Frankfurt to Vienna leg. It was much better on the way back even if they couldn't serve much (see below).
Timekeeping was not great! We got to Frankfurt 20 mins late, not a big deal. This was apparently due to trespassers on the line. I did note that unlike the UK where we seem obsessive about fencing in the line, most lines in Germany and Austria have no fencing at all! The connecting train to Vienna arrived 20 mins late and then got progressively later, there was no reason given for this. We seemed to have extended dwell times at all stations. We eventually arrived in Vienna 70 mins down.The compensation system is not user friendly or generous compared to the UK. I should get 25% back for that delay, and have to post the form (it would be 100% in the UK and done online, perhaps even automatically paid).
On the return my first leg was on time (the only DB train out of 4 that was!) but the Frankfurt to Brussels train left a little late and then made extra stops for an unspecified reason, and then we stopped in Cologne for a VERY long time, I think because the train was so overcrowded with many announcements asking /pleading with passengers without seat reservations to leave and get another service. We arrived in Brussels 40 mins late with me and many other passengers running to get their Eurostar connection!
While we sat at Cologne for about 30 mins the driver opened his window and had a cigarette out of it, with the fumes wafting into the carriage behind! Can't imagine that being allowed in the UK...
All of the trains were very busy, some horribly so, so I was very glad of a seat reservation. On at least two journeys there were people sitting all over the floor in vestibules, outside the toilets etc.
Talking of toilets.... on two consecutive trains on the way home NEITHER of the loos in first class were working, and several in standard weren't either, so it was a long walk and then a long queue for the loo.
On the way out I enjoyed the catering on board - a decent sandwich (which I went up and got given no at seat service) and then I went to the Bistro for something hot in the evening. Everything is just reheated on board but its decent quality and is served on china, and the onboard red wine was really rather good! To be honest I do like the option of being able to get a proper meal on a long trip like this, rather than relying on whatever the often parsimonious complimentary offering you might get on LNER/Avanti might be. Prices were reasonable and they even had ice cream! Accessing the dining car for the purposes of dining was often hard though due to the trains being so busy.
On the return train I was hungry as it was a 06.50 departure and I hadn't had breakfast but I then found that there was no food loaded onto the train for the 6.5 hour journey to Frankfurt other than croissants and chocolate bars! It seems shocking to me that nothing was loaded on at intermediate stops. I could see that it was eventually loaded in Frankfurt for the next leg of that train's journey but I did think that was really very poor, and I can't imagine it happening on the East or West Coast Mainlines in the UK. There was no information or apology made to passengers for this, and no at seat service was offered in the restaurant car, takeaway only.
Staff were generally fine, if not friendly. Only one was outright rude!
So..far from perfect journeys but still VERY enjoyable and I'd definitely do it again. I was glad I paid the small amount extra to go first class, just to have a seat on my own and be a bit insulated from the horribly overcrowded standard carriages. But...have to say it, DB manages to make some of the UK's operators look very good in comparison, especially LNER.
OBB
I've much less to say about my two shortish OBB journeys. I was surprised that the line North of Weissenbach-Neuhaus was closed as recently as 2004, and indeed looking at my old European rail map from the late 1990's it seems that many rural lines have closed in Austria since then. There were two comfortable single car DMU's plying this rural route, giving it a pretty good hourly service, which looked like it started early (around 4am) and continued until around 11pm - you can't imagine that being the case with many minor lines in the UK. There was no facility to buy a ticket at the unstaffed station, and no ticket checks took place on board, so unless Austrians are unusually law abiding, there must be a lot of free travel going on, which can't help make the case for these rural lines. The connecting train back to Vienna was hideously overcrowded, again people sitting on the floor, something I was surprised to see in Austria. Tickets were about £15, which is about what 'd expect to pay in the UK I think for a journey of this length.
I had a fantastic trip and thoroughly enjoyed the experience but it all only reinforced my opinion that we have a very rose-tinted glasses view of continental train services here in the UK! The grass is always greener...
