Austria’s Most Comfortable Regional Train - ÖBB REX 41 with Czech Rolling Stock (Prague-Vienna)
Train: ÖBB Regional Express REX 41
Czech train number: R 321 (Prague - Vienna)
Brand Name: “Silva Nortica” (Northern Forest, Nordwald)
Originating from: Praha hlavní nádraží
From: České Velenice, Czech Republic
To: Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof, Austria
Route via: Gmünd (Niederösterreich), Schwarzenau im Waldviertel, Göpfritz, Sigmundsherberg, Eggenburg, Tulln an der Donau, Wien Heiligenstadt, Wien Spittelau
Used railway lines: Franz-Josefs-Bahn
Train operator: ÖBB Personenverkehr AG
Travel Class: First Class (declassified)
Scheduled Departure Time from České Velenice: 10h40
Scheduled Arrival Time in Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof: 12h54
Scheduled Travel time (Prague - Vienna): 2 hours and 14 minutes
Railway distance via Gmünd: 164 km
Travel season: Winter 2023/2024
Ticket bought on: cd.cz/eshop
Occupancy rate on train: almost empty
Electric locomotive (České Velenice - Vienna): ÖBB 1116 256
Type: Siemens Taurus EuroSprinter ES 64 U2
Part 1 (Prague - Tábor - České Velenice):
• Hidden First Class Die...
00:00 Preview Summary
01:33 České Velenice
03:32 Gmünd - border Czech Republic and Austria
07:52 Train REX 41 Walkthrough
10:19 Sigmundsherberg, Waldviertel
12:07 Franz-Josefs-Bahn
15:18 Crossing the Danube River near Tulln
17:02 Alongside the Danube River
18:49 Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof
22:47 Wien Hauptbahnhof
Пікірлер: 64
I drove with this Service yesterday from Wien to Gmünd 😂 it is sooo cool.
@doc7austin
Ай бұрын
the czech railways rolling stock is super comfortable
You can see from the clearance profile that the railway line was originally built with 2 tracks. It was only later reduced to one track.
I'm impressed by Czech trains.
Sehr schöne vidéo 👍📽️🤩🤩🤩
Interesting video. Good work.
@doc7austin
Ай бұрын
thank you
Silva Emptica
Another fine, fascinating video Doc. I love seeing the snow covered country whizz past from the comfort of that modern loco. I wonder if these OBB trains have Provodniks? I love knowing there’s Provodniks on a train. I love the name too. It’s just so very cool. I certainly wouldn’t want to miss steaming, piping hot boiling water from the titan of a firm but understanding Provodnik. Anthony from Australia.
@doc7austin
Ай бұрын
yes; there is always an ÖBB conductor aboard this train between ceske velenice and vienna.
@jessaravena5139
Ай бұрын
@@doc7austin Thanks Doc and have a wonderful evening.
@doc7austin
Ай бұрын
sure thing
You mention in the video that the Czech Republic and Austria have some of the best railway systems. This is, of course, due to the fact that both countries were once part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy that needed to connect its regions efficiently. Unfortunately, most if the many regionsl branch lines on the Austrian side have been dismantled after WWII snd even in the 80ies and 90ies, as individual motorisation with cars was increasing and demand diminishing and the operation of many small regional lines in the Waldviertel - a „dead end corner“ of Austria after WWII - was no longer deemed economically viable. In many villages you still find a „Bahnstraße“ (Railroad Street) that reminds of the fact that the settlement once had its own railroad connection…
@nagymarosznik
Ай бұрын
In CZ we still live with these regional tracks because of communism. Btw, in 2021 are many regional tracks closed because there were no passengers...
As can be seen, the track layout from Gmünd to Sigmundsherberg is very curvy, as the line has to make it‘s way through the hilly terrain of the granite plateau of the Bohemian Mass - and because when the track was buildt, focus was less a speedy connection between Vienna and Prague, but rather connecting all settlements in the region, which is why the track almost unnecessarily meanders around, which drastically increases travel time as the distance is longer and speed is limited. There are no plans to change this in the next 20 years. (OeBB‘s track construction plan until 2040 do not contain any improvements on this line except for a small section if double track north if Limberg-Maissau).
I am afraid it is not exact to say the train changes number on the Czech-Austrian border. The REX 41 is a line number in Austria. In Czechia the line is R 17. Apart from that the train runs all the route from Prague to Vienna with number 321. In ÖBB Scotty they also call it "REX 41 (Zug-Nr. 321)".
I don't see how they can call those couchette seating first class. What if six people are in there? You would feel cramped. Plus if you're in the middle or on the end, it's not a window seat. First class to me is 1 × 2 layouts as in Railjet or ICE trains. And yes, i took one of those first class couchettes from Germany to Prague and i had people in there with me and I felt cramped. Sorry about the rant, and great video as always Doc.
@doc7austin
Ай бұрын
oki; usually, the first class compartment is a bit longer (more foot space) than second class compartments; i think this car is virtually never really 100% full.
They are good because it's a Czech train, it's just stretched a bit into Austria, it usually only runs to Tábor from Prague
''Austria’s Most Comfortable Regional Train'' Uses Czech Railway train with Czech coaches...
@doc7austin
Ай бұрын
yes, but that regional train runs over 2 hours through Austria.
@philipkudrna5643
Ай бұрын
And if I understand it correctly, the bow CD cars are actually original Austrian rolling stock (which you can tell by the orange walls and the blue seat padding). So the cars are actually Austrian after all (?) at least as their origin is concerned?
@jmsmilfajt
Ай бұрын
@@philipkudrna5643ČD has many different cars and only these compartment cars are ex-ÖBB and even these are retrofitted with USB and power plugs, displays and refurbished with ČD corporate design seat covers. Other cars are mostly from ex-DDR Bautzen factory and Siemens. Their new non-traction sets (Interjet, etc.), are from Siemens. So only the comparment cars are former Austrian ones.
"Unappealing" is a polite description of the Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof...
@doc7austin
Ай бұрын
i dont why ÖBB let this train station rot that much.
@philipkudrna5643
Ай бұрын
It is currently undergoing refurbishment and looks better than the last 30 years. But it‘s true that the new „design“ of the whole office building is also if questionable aesthetics. But the train station itself has improved significantly in comparison to what it looked two years ago.
Fun fact about REX41 is that there is some trains that are hauled by Hungarian locomotives
@philipkudrna5643
Ай бұрын
Yes, they do this to compensate for the km made by Austrian Locomotives in Hungary.
Ай бұрын
@@philipkudrna5643 exactly
@doc7austin
Ай бұрын
Are those Hungarian Taurus locomotives certified to run into the Czech Republic ?
Ай бұрын
@@doc7austin I think they do those turns that go only to Gmünd
@philipkudrna5643
Ай бұрын
Yes, as you mentioned in your video, many trains from Vienna only go to Sigmundsherberg, some terminate at Gmünd, so they will most likely only do these relations. However, since they are basically identical machines that would probably be certified to run on the Slovakian network, which technically is identical to the southern czech network, they could maybe do it. But it wizld not make any sense, as they are „paying back“ mileage to Austria and it would be counterproductive for them to create additional mileage in Czechia!
Just admit it, you always rent the entire train if you film. ;)
@doc7austin
Ай бұрын
yes; it is true; it is - though - very expensive to clear out the entire train of passengers
❤🤍💚💯💯💯❤🤍❤
@doc7austin
Ай бұрын
haha; thanks
Eigentlich ist es ein Schnellzug
@jessaravena5139
Ай бұрын
Wow! That’s awesome!
@doc7austin
Ай бұрын
REX = Regional Express, oder ?
@avmz111
Ай бұрын
@@doc7austin But only in Austria. In CZ it is a Rychlik (with first class).
@doc7austin
Ай бұрын
@avmz111 yes; outside of austria it is a czech fast train.
@jmsmilfajt
Ай бұрын
Rychlik is not what Germans typically mean by a Schnellzug. It is a type of a REX train which covers long distances but is typically used just for a part of the journey. For more efficient travelling between larger cities there are Intercity, Eurocity and Supercity categories of trains usually equipped with a dining car or a bistro car.
I really think that is not true. It might be the REX Lindau - Bregenz - St. Margrethen - Romanshorn (Switzerland 🇨🇭) with first class too by the SBB CFF FFS 🇨🇭😂👍
@nagymarosznik
Ай бұрын
not all good things come from Switzerland
@hans-jorg-io1is
Ай бұрын
@@nagymarosznik But many 😂😂😂👍💯
@nagymarosznik
Ай бұрын
@@hans-jorg-io1is that's true, but i'am proud czech so i'm very glad to see this propaganda that we are good country 🇨🇿😂
@hans-jorg-io1is
Ай бұрын
@@nagymarosznik I really like the Czech Republic and the people there. And I really like your railways and Skoda too. By the way Skoda produced very good trains for SBB ! You may not know but they made a lot of trains for the "S Bahn Zürich" same quality like Stadler . Bei proud of Skoda. 💘💘💘💯👍👍
@nagymarosznik
Ай бұрын
@@hans-jorg-io1is Unfortunately, Skoda has never delivered public transport vehicles to Switzerland, and it mostly only has a good reputation in the former Eastern Bloc. But I like Škoda, new RegioPanter is the best from our factory. You may be in the Prague or in South Czechia or Moravia. That's our best region with highest quality of life, if we compared this regions to Österreich republic, we are not that far behind!
As you can see throughout the video, there were once 2 tracks from Vienna all way up to Gmünd, but the second track was dismantled after WWII and the line virtually ended in Gmünd at the iron curtain except for some few trains (like the famous Vindobona from Vienna to Berlin). The line from Gmünd to Sigmundsherber was only electrified in the 1990ies after the fall if the iron curtain, but the OeBB haven‘t felt tge need to restore the second track, which would be technically possible.
@doc7austin
Ай бұрын
i recall that a train connects sigmundsherberg and gmünd only once every 2 hours in each direction; hence, having only a single-track might be sifficient
@philipkudrna5643
Ай бұрын
@@doc7austin Exactly!
Video is no good. No sleeping car for you to deploy your trademarked glowing egg lamp and no dining car ! Still have mental images of a breakfast you had in dining car of a PKP overnight train because it looked so good ! BTW, at start of video, prior to locomotive arriving, were the passenger cars powered by cable from station? totally dark? running on minimal battery? Why did locomotive lower it pantograph after it coupled with the passenger cars? it is safety measure to allow crew to connect power cables to passente cars? Would have expected a button in cabin would have made it safe for them to connect those cables without fear of power flowing.