Don’t get me wrong - I’m happy @unsereOEBB is trying to run a night train #NightJet Wien-Brussels (with a part Innsbruck-München-Brussels)
ÖBB has also pulled off a coup by getting @lgewessler @KarimaDelli @AnnaDeparnay @MartinSelmayr on board the first trip
Who doesn’t like a free ride on a shiny new train? 🍾 And night trains are a good thing.
Who doesn’t like a free ride on a shiny new train? 🍾 And night trains are a good thing.
But there are a slew of problems.
This Brussels train has a horrible timetable - it arrives at 1055 which is useless for a work day
It runs only twice a week
That renders it next to useless for business travel
This Brussels train has a horrible timetable - it arrives at 1055 which is useless for a work day
It runs only twice a week
That renders it next to useless for business travel
The Dutch government is offering a subsidy to get night trains back to Amsterdam: railjournal.com/passenger/main…
This looks to me like ÖBB making a pitch to the EU for the same
This looks to me like ÖBB making a pitch to the EU for the same
There are a bunch of systemic problems the EU could help solve - track access charges too high for non incumbent operators, and too high at night. Lack of availability of rolling stock...
(Yay. Thread broke as there was no LTE crossing BE to NL)
... and lack of proper open data for ticketing and timetable data are still problems in EU-wide rail. And passenger rights are still a mess.
So well done @unsereOEBB with this launch. And getting high profile people on board. But the problems in cross border rail in the EU are much deeper than this. Some *action* from the EU would be very welcome!
/ends
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