Looking back on a “summer of the century” in long-distance transport, ÖBB boss Andreas Matthä announced a focus on tourist destinations and additional connections. He confirmed that the federal railways want to invest 4.1 billion euros in new sets and the renewal of existing trains by 2030. This will increase capacity in long-distance traffic by 30 percent.
“More comfortable, farther, more often,” said Matthä, summing up what ÖBB wants to offer customers in the new timetable year. “In local and long-distance transport, new modern trains ensure even more comfortable travel, additional connections create more frequent services and improve the offer for both commuters and tourists.”
Nightjet to Genoa
There are various extensions in night travel. For example, Nightjets from Vienna and Munich, which previously ended in Milan, will be extended to Genoa. During the day, for example, some Austrian provincial capitals are to be better networked at weekends with new early and late connections. There are also tourist IC connections. From Vienna’s Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof there will be daily direct trains to Prague via Gmünd and southern Bohemia. At the weekend, the new connection will even be offered twice a day. For commuters, a new pair of Railjets is coming between Mallnitz in Carinthia (Spittal district) and Salzburg main station.
Ticket prices increased
As reported, with the timetable change in December, ÖBB will increase ticket prices due to the high energy prices. Second class tickets cost an average of 3.9 percent more. If you buy a 2nd class ticket from Vienna to Salzburg on the day of departure, you pay 28.30 euros 40 cents more than before with the Vorteilscard on the web or in the app. The earlier you book, the cheaper a trip is.
According to Matthä, more passengers used ÖBB long-distance transport than ever before in the summer of 2022. “We are experiencing a true rail boom.” At the beginning of the year, the number of passengers was still declining due to the corona. They normalized in the second quarter and in the summer months long-distance transport recorded an increase of 17.7 percent compared to the pre-corona summer of 2019. In June, July and August, 12.22 million long-distance travelers were counted, more than ever before. The absolute low in recent years was recorded with 6.24 million passengers in summer 2020, which was particularly marked by the corona pandemic.
Gallery: This is what the new Nightjets look like
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Matthä regrets the evacuation of trains
At the beginning of the summer this year, due to the sudden increase in passengers, the trains were cleared. “I would like to apologize for that,” said Matthä on Thursday. However, he put it into perspective that there was no fundamental capacity problem, and customers were asked to switch to other trains. That hurts, but the appeal remains: “Please reserve a seat if you want a specific train at a specific time.” Overall customer satisfaction has risen to 76 percent, said Matthä, backed up by a survey.
There is a slightly opposite trend in local transport. The minus is currently about 10 percent compared to 2019. “That means that we will not reach the passenger record of 2019 this year,” said Matthä.
New Railjets and Nightjets are currently in production. The first Nightjets to Italy should be in service at the end of summer 2023. In addition, all Railjets from the existing fleet will be modernized in terms of design, interior fittings and technology from spring 2024.
Another 21 Cityjet double-decker sets are to be ordered for local transport. A total of 62 new trains would come for the eastern region. The first Cityjet Desiro ML trains for Vorarlberg will already be used in December when the timetable changes, and in Tyrol the first new Cityjets will go on rails from August 2023, says Matthä.
Source: Nachrichten
