Well congratulations on your first and very typical experience with the Czech railways

A completely normal thing from Die Landerbahn. This happened to me as well. It's apparently so they can get the train back to Prague in time, which is stupid, they should have a replacement one on standby.

Welcome to Deutsche Bahn. They simply don't care. A couple years ago my daughter and I got stuck in Passau on the way to Nuremberg. There were no more trains going that day. It took hours to fight with the station attendant to get the railroad to pay for a taxi from Passau to Nuremberg (a 140 mile / 2 hour ride), but they eventually caved and paid for it. At another time, I had more than a three-hour delay going from Strasburg, France to Düsseldorf in Germany. Playing the lottery is a safer bet than expecting German trains to be on time. Now "on time" means that it can be up to a certain amount late and still count as on time, and frequently trains that would run really late are simply canceled, in which case they don't count in the statistics at all. When I was a kid, living in Germany, trains were so reliable that people used to say that you could set your clock by the trains' punctuality, but those days are long gone. The German railway system has deteriorated into a national embarrassment.

I simply love your video style, truly refreshing and creative..👌The worst part of this video is it ends so soon..😉

Thanks for sharing! I am planning to travel from Munich to Prague by taking a train. This video is helpful.

@theseasonedexpats

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Blame the missing announcements on Die Länderbahn, but don't blame them for the delays. The German federal police should be able to do border checks on a moving train between two stations, but they're just don't seem to care to set up the necessary infrastructure for it. Besides, these border checks are actually unlawful according to the Schengen Agreement.

Thank you for posting this video. We'll be taking the same train from Prague to Munich in May. At least, we know now what to expect. We probably need to have a Plan B! 🫤

As everywhere, here in Czechia we have some good trains and some that I would avoid at all costs. This particular train line is known for its issues and obsolete infrastructure. Actually the only new part is between Plzen and Beroun - other parts of this line are decades old. Fun fact: If the train has a "jet" in its name, it is a good sign. So I would recommend Railjets, Interjets and Regiojets. 😅

I had the similar issue, when accident with crash of two trains close to Domažlice happened last year. There was no announcement that train will be terminated at Pilsen and we will have to continue with local trains to find destination... So it seams it is regular operation issue that zapadní express is terminated without raching Munich. This is teriblle, aspecialy if you have booked tickets on next traing from Munich....

Sounds like an adventure I don't want to have, but I hope you took it in stride

@theseasonedexpats

3 ай бұрын

Yes it was! At the end of the day, it was frustrating, but it was still much cheaper than flying!

I had exactly the same issue with the "Zapadni Express" from Prague to Munich last year. Luckily, I was travelling to Regensburg but the train terminated in Schwandorf and it was all about find out yourself. I took the local train from Schwandorf to Regensburg but the people who paid for the ticket all the way to Munich had to wait another 1.5 hour for another train to arrive. Because of the war in Ukraine there was a thorough passport check at the border and everyone on the train was completely confused. TAKE THE BUS IF YOU CAN!! It's cheaper, faster and you won't be dealing with this c*rap.

I have booked two tickets for me and my wife for our trip in April. However we only have to reach Schwandorf and then our next train towards Nuremberg is an hour later. I hope things go smoothly

@theseasonedexpats

6 ай бұрын

We hope it does too! Pleasant travels!

What a mess! I travelled by EuroCity train of the CD from Dresden to Prague twice and both times were great. Very uncrowded and both times had a 2nd class compartment to myself. It was a dramatically different experience from this!

@theseasonedexpats

Жыл бұрын

Sounds like your trip was much smoother than ours! Hopefully they get their issues figured out! Thanks!

Yeah this train is a big problematic chaos thing. I often take it from Munich to Landshut and the other way around, cause i study in Munich. Its always delayed, crew is often rude, etc. And this summer, i travelled to Prague with a friend, we couldnt book any seats in Germany, just for the part of the journey that took place in the Czech Republic, so we had to sit on the ground for hours until we reached the border. On our way home with the Zapadni Express, it was totally full, but we got ourselves some seats at least. But then the chaos started, we had so much delay, no announcements, we waited for more than one hour in Furth, then the train randomly terminated in Schwandorf, just like your train did. From there on, we had to wait one hour for the next similar train coming from Hof, which also had much delay, so in the end of the day, we arrived 3 hours late. And the crew in Schwandorf was SUPER rude

I experienced the same issues last September. German police border control has delayed the timetable of the Alex train from Prague to Munich by 20 minutes. This after a delay of 10 minutes in the Czech Republic. Together 30 minutes late. So the train conductor announced that due to the delay the train would not run further than Swandorf (of all places)..."contact the conductor for alternatives" was the message. For the record, this happened at 10 pm in the evening. So via Regensburg to Münich where we missed the connection to Köln.... Fortunately, we were able to enjoy some noisy Oktoberfest-goers, numb between the homeless on an uncomfortable bench. No heated waiting room available for clarity. After waiting about 3 hours at Munich station we were able to take the first one to Köln at 3:24. Crossing the German-Czech border with the private train company ALEX is an unpredictable adventure. Know when you have a train journey via Deutsche Bahn, the travel schedule booked with the proposed timetables and train transfers are not guaranteed. So be prepared for unexpected twists.

thanks for this video! If there is anything train travel in Europe taught me it's that no one knows what is going on and it is essentially the blind leading the blind 😅 I made the same mistake thinking that the train would be better than the bus route because you can't have a traffic jam on a train track, right?!

POV：When you take zapadni express，broadcast：“…Plzeň hl.n.-Domažlice…náhradní Autobusové Doporavou😢” Actually i never been to Munich but I’ve take it at August,it is just normal like other train to Berlin and Dresden. On my own opinion everyone take zapadni express were heroes😢cause just as we know rigid seats are forever uncomfortable😅even I say that but int.120min it is definitely good job anyway 🎉

Is it better to go by bus or train from vienna to munich?

@theseasonedexpats

Жыл бұрын

Either way it will be about the same amount of time, but at least going into Austria you will be able to take Deutsche Bahn or OBB (the Austrian Railway), which are generally a better experience than people have on the Czech Railways. So that should be a pretty good experience. Hope that helps!

Hello please If I come to Czech republic for tourism do I need visa to visit another country Which is a Schengen country when I'm using train

@theseasonedexpats

Жыл бұрын

Hello! You do need a Schengen Visa of some sort, depending on which country you are coming from. You should check out the Czech Republic's Tourism and Immigration websites. If you get a Schengen Visa though, every surrounding country is a Schengen Country (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, and Germany)!

Super video! Nice train ride! Big LIKE & Subscribe 👍🚆🚊🚂👍😉

@theseasonedexpats

Жыл бұрын

Many thanks! Glad you liked it!

Bus will be a better option? I am traveling with me kids in December. Thank you!

If you want to just get from A to B fast and cheap, it's better to take bus, when you want travel like civilised person with restaurant wagon, take a train, but you have to expect delays, everything is under construction, especially in summer and nothing works properly on rails. But I really don't recommend traveling by train between Czechia and Germany now, there is massive problem with Germans who don't want to accept any train with only little problem like not working toilet or something and they send it back and don't allow it to continue to Germany, there is some conflict between Czech and German companies and I don't know why, out minister of transportation said that he will solve that soon and it happened again in last days, so it's not solved. We should ban Arriva in return, Arriva was causing a lot of problems when they started here, but when Czech train has some little problem, Germans send it back, they are hypocrites like always.

The ALEX/Länderbahn operating the Zapadni Express on the German tracks is a laughable company. Running they their operation out of the middle of nowhere (Schwandorf), with old East German rolling stock without air conditioning and 70s GDR style. Their drivers/conductors are from eastern europe or saxonia and are overstrained.

Most horrible experience, avoid this train at all cost. ALWAYS choose car over train in Germany!

@theseasonedexpats

Жыл бұрын

Yes! We found that out the hard way!!

@jmsmilfajt

Жыл бұрын

It's not always the case. Germany has many railroads and some of them are fast and reliable 99 % of the time, certainly more reliable than autobahns with constant closures.

You're really lucky that there were no aggressive, yelling and ready to fight (or to urinate on the floor) locals who usually appear on public transport in the USA... So enjoy small moments of happiness 😂

A heads up on what to expect is always welcome hate wowsers

Europe is a mess.