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Austria rail operator OeBB unveils new night trains

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Re: Austria rail operator OeBB unveils new night trains

#131

Post by petre »

dheera wrote: post #113
occamrazor wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The shoe thing is an American peculiarity. In Europe I never had to take off my shoes, even when I flew to the US. And now some airports (eg LCY) don’t even require taking liquids and laptops out of the luggage.

In Beijing when flying to the US they confiscated water that I had bought post-security. There were people on the actual boarding ramp confiscating liquids. Wasn't good for me because my body needs to frequently drink water, I get dehydrated easily. It didn't happen when flying to domestic destinations in China, so it makes me think the US requested that to happen.

Better bring a sack of fruit with high water content then. Maybe the security doesn't have enough imagination to clasify them as "liquids". For instance China is an exporter of pomelo. The fruit is also used as a good luck charm, consumed during the mid-autumn festival and used in Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in India, so you could claim it's for "religious use" if they try to confiscate it.

Re: Austria rail operator OeBB unveils new night trains

#132

Post by config_yml »

rasz wrote: post #127
bpye wrote: post #88

I love night trains. I’ve taken them from Warsaw to Prague, Prague to Zurich, and Verona to Paris. It’s by far my preferred option - you get a decent nights sleep and whilst the tickets are more expensive it’s one fewer nights in a hotel which normally offsets it. I still really want to do the two in the UK, the Caledonian Sleeper and the Night Riviera.

You pay extra to sleep 10 hours on a train versus 2 hours by plane at half the cost?

Add an hour commute to the airport, another hour at check-in and security and 10x the emissions: it's actually a fun experience going by night train, especially when traveling with kids.

Re: Austria rail operator OeBB unveils new night trains

#133

Post by prospector1065 »

rasz wrote: post #127
bpye wrote: post #88

I love night trains. I’ve taken them from Warsaw to Prague, Prague to Zurich, and Verona to Paris. It’s by far my preferred option - you get a decent nights sleep and whilst the tickets are more expensive it’s one fewer nights in a hotel which normally offsets it. I still really want to do the two in the UK, the Caledonian Sleeper and the Night Riviera.

You pay extra to sleep 10 hours on a train versus 2 hours by plane at half the cost?

You need to factor in the cost of a hotel as well, since you don't need to pay for an extra night if you take the sleeper train

Re: Austria rail operator OeBB unveils new night trains

#134

Post by short_sells_poo »

kdmccormick wrote: post #115
ddejohn wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The shoes and belts thing is ridiculous, I agree. But there's a legitimate reason for the liquid ban to which I'm not sure there's much of a solution, is there?

Not the original commentor, but I'd say two things: * Airport security got much more invasive post-9/11. For decades before that, people flew safely without these tight security measures. So, how much of the intensification is actually preventing another 9/11 versus just making us all feel like the government "did something"? I don't have an answer (genuinely I don't know :), but there are opinions all over the spect…

The issue with removing these kind of regulations is always the same: there's fairly little political goodwill to be gained by it, and massive amount of potential loss if it were to backfire. So it just doesn't happen. It's why it's so important to fight pointless security theaters like this before they are introduced, because it is night impossible to get rid of them later.

Re: Austria rail operator OeBB unveils new night trains

#135

Post by Cryptoclysm »

rasz wrote: post #127
bpye wrote: post #88

I love night trains. I’ve taken them from Warsaw to Prague, Prague to Zurich, and Verona to Paris. It’s by far my preferred option - you get a decent nights sleep and whilst the tickets are more expensive it’s one fewer nights in a hotel which normally offsets it. I still really want to do the two in the UK, the Caledonian Sleeper and the Night Riviera.

You pay extra to sleep 10 hours on a train versus 2 hours by plane at half the cost?

Two hours by plane usually ends up as four and a half in total when you factor in time at the airport, plus you can turn up at your destination first thing in the morning feeling refreshed rather than tired from travelling. Then once you factor in the stress, noise, environmental impact and delays that come with flying, the night train becomes a really attractive option.

Re: Austria rail operator OeBB unveils new night trains

#136

Post by samus »

MattGaiser wrote: post #95
kaffeeringe wrote: post #61

I love travelling by train. You are not treated like a criminal before you can board a train. You can sit and watch the landscape pass by. It's comfortable.

> You are not treated like a criminal before you can board a train. I have only taken one relatively long distance train in Europe, but they had security checks on par with PreCheck. Bags still went through a scanner and still went through a metal detector.

Checking bags is fine compared to the inconvenience of personal searches. Granted, many airports are quite lax (just take off jackets and remove metallic stuff), but scanning at Berlin airport was pretty thorough last time I was there.

Re: Austria rail operator OeBB unveils new night trains

#137

Post by nologic01 »

polar8 wrote: post #91
nologic01 wrote: post #72

train travel is almost always the most expensive option compared to car, bus or plane alternatives. from a sustainability perspective an insanely lobsided state of affairs, the result of a century long of distorted incentives and policies. what could be more pleasant than being able to criss-cross Europe in night trains that are affordable, comfortable and sustainable? makes sense both for business and tourism. you c…

7% of orbital altitude is not near-orbital.

Its a nice thought though. Every time I fly I am amazed how quickly this mode of travel has been trivialized in peoples minds. Barely anyone even looks outside the window...

I am pretty sure that if we ever invent wormhole travel and reach the outer limits of the universe, in a few generations Homo Sapiens will think thats just the most mundane thing :-)

Re: Austria rail operator OeBB unveils new night trains

#138

Post by j-wags »

mcpackieh wrote: post #123
OfSanguineFire wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some countries (China is the most notable example) have security checks prior to boarding a train comparable to flying. In Poland, if you buy your ticket for an Intercity train online, the conductor will ask for your ID to ensure the names match. The state, or perhaps just the operator, seems to be concerned about who is paying and traveling in this case. One can still buy tickets with cash, though.

In America, Amtrak also asks for your ID. But this is peanuts compared to the way the TSA treats people at airports.

They say that they check ID, but I've traveled dozens of times in coach and business (both with single-use tickets and 10-ride passes) and a handful of times in a sleeper, and I've never been IDed once.

Re: Austria rail operator OeBB unveils new night trains

#139

Post by xyzelement »

aramachandran7 wrote: post #121
xyzelement wrote: post #117

I did the OBB overnight train from Vienna to Venice a few years ago. I did the baller move and bought the 4 person sleeper room for myself, that came with a bathroom / shower. So from a privacy and point to point travel it was great. From the restfulness point of view, not so much. I am not a light sleeper but the train was noisy and jerky and the bed narrow with your body perpendicular to the direction of travel so…

One does not have to have climate anxiety to want to fly less.

Flying for me represents step 1 to an adventure, seeing family, or a in person work/business colab. So from that point of view I want to fly as much as possible.

Train represents a potential for the same travel but usually looks worse in contrast to flying in terms of money and time.

So unless taking the train is the point in and of itself (as in my Vienna to Venice adventure) it's seldom worth it. So yes I don't think I want to fly less.

The one exception to that is with little kids. NYC to Cleveland is a sub-hour flight or a 7 hour drive. As a single guy I flew. Now I drive at night so the wife and kids can sleep through it. Maybe that's a bit analogous to the night train though it's also very cheap.

Re: Austria rail operator OeBB unveils new night trains

#140

Post by prospector1065 »

sschueller wrote: post #14

Don't take the ÖBB night-train from Zürich HB to Amsterdam and back. They sell you the premium package online with fancy pictures of their new trains but the train that shows up is an old 1970 rail car with both toilets locked (broken for weeks I found out), broken doors, broken heater, missing ladders, broken window blinds etc. At this time if they can't even clean the toilets then it is not worth the steep price. H…

I was robbed on the train from Zurich to Vienna. Even with the 3 door locks, somehow a thief was able to open the door and go through all my belongings without waking me. It is much more common than ÖBB would like people to know, and they do absolutely nothing about it once reported. I loved taking the night train, but I'm not sure I would recommend it, based on the chance of getting robbed alone
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