Austrian rail offers night service From Bonn to the snow by sleeper train
Dusseldorf/Bonn · Climb aboard at night in Bonn and wake up in Innsbruck. The new service being offered by Austrian rail is a dream for skiers. But the train will only stop in Koblenz or Cologne on the way back.
Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) – the Austrian national rail company - is taking over night train routes in Germany from Deutsche Bahn and is offering additional services.
From 11 December, ÖBB will offer a new “proper” night train with sleeper and couchette cars between Dusseldorf and Innsbruck. Passengers will also be able to join the “Nightjet” in Bonn as it heads south via Munich.
It will leave Bonn daily at 9.43pm and arrive the next morning in Innsbruck at 9.14am. It is an ideal service for skiers wanting to go the Tyrol. The only snag is that on the return journey the train will not stop in Bonn. Passengers from the region who joined the train at 8.44pm in Innsbruck must alight either in Koblenz at 7.05am or in Cologne at 8.15am.
ÖBB said Deutsche Bahn had not offered them an appropriate stop within their desired time slot because of renovation works at Bonn main station. An ÖBB spokesman said it was hoped this would change once the works were finished. They are scheduled to continue until the end of 2019. The night train between Dusseldorf and Vienna, which the ÖBB is also taking over from Deutsche Bahn, will also not stop in Bonn.
Deutsche Bahn is withdrawing completely from sleeper and couchette trains after many years of multi-million euro losses. ÖBB is taking over several routes under the “Nightjet” brand and will offer daily sleeper trains from Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Munich to Vienna, Zurich, Innsbruck, Venice, Rome and Milan. Cars and motorbikes will be accepted on the Dusseldorf-Vienna route (four times per week) and the Dusseldorf-Munich-Innsbruck route (three times per week).
ÖBB said it was buying 42 sleeper cars and 15 couchettes from Deutsche Bahn. The cars will have new beds, a new outer design and will later be remodelled inside.
A private travel company also offers a train connection between Cologne and Bonn and the Austrian winter resorts on 13 dates in the peak winter season. The “Snow Express” offered by the Müller-Touristik group also has couchettes: www.schnee-express.com
Tickets for the ÖBB “Nightjets” can be bought at www.nightjet.com , by calling 0043-5-1717 and at Deutsche Bahn ticket offices. (Original text: Claudia Mahnke. Translated by Kate Carey.)
