Why the New Nightjet is Not the Night Train Revolution We've Been Waiting For... 

Yes, it's crappy, but people will pay it. Those who can't, will fly or drive. I managed to get a solo deluxe plus between Vienna and Hamburg for less than 200€ during the introduction, where they didn't really have lower limits for the prices. But since then it's meh. The mini cabins are nice, but could use more storage, especially if you get the upper bed.

There was awhile back a policy of Russian Railways (RZD) to collect bedding from passengers before such passengers' arrival at a train station that had been a destination for them, and I can recall 1 such video put out by the England-based Bald and Bankrupt RU-vid man of such a journey (a June 2019 one titled "You must do THIAS on Russian trains!") Another video, put out by the London-based Trek Trendy man, is of a train journey from that city to Istanbul (the July 2022 one titled "80 hrs from London to Istanbul by Sleeper Train"), mentions a claim by him of an attendant on the Bucharest-Istanbul segment having demanded the passenger's bedding. I dunno if Turkey's state-run railway still requires passengers to take their bedding to an attendant although given the Trek Trendy man's claim of no on-board catering services during the Bucharest-Istanbul segment of his journey, I wouldn't have wanted to back then take a long-distance train journey with Turkey's equivalent to RZD.

The issue with bedding afaik is that the service provider isn't öbb but newrest and to cut costs salaries are basically nit paid after the train arrives thus staff is incentived to start removing the bedding before the train arrives

I can explain that. I was a train manager for EuroNight (before it became NightJet) for the OBB. Some stations will not let staff stay on the train to finish working/cleaning so you are forced to get off just minutes after the guests. So there would not be physically any time to collect them. Also because we would not be allowed on the train before the guests on the return trip. So we would get on the train with the guests without being able to prepare the train in advance, as it would happen in Vienna or Munich (or all Austrian/German starting stations). When the train is packed, it's a lot of bedding. ;)

Ofc that plays a role too, I don't know how reliable the new Nightjets have gotten now some of the early tethering issues have been resolved hopefully. But especially the older stock has lots of issues with reliability too. Iirc Berlin - Paris was shortformed and canceled a lot recently due to lack of availability of stock

You can thank to former DB CEO Mehdorn for all this confusion and delay.

@@saabrailfan310 Thanks, former DB CEO Mehdorn for all this confusion and delay.

Lots of construction sites at night in Germany where the train gets stuck

did you ask for your 50% money back for the delay?

I see why It's definitely a good hard product :D

I guess it's cheaper to have one programming device in the Wien depot, but why it wasn't discovered missing in the depot then seems like a bit of a fail

you can store luggage outside the boxes in other parts of the train as well AFAIK. that's of course less secure as you can't keep your eye on it nor completely locked away but it's unlikely your dirty cloths will get feet IMHO :)

there is a dedicated place for large luggage at the end of the train, plenty of space there to use

I hope it goes well! It's definitely a fun experience worth looking forward to :D

I know, it was just a bit of a goof on how ridiculous that route seems on the surface. We have a similar train like that in Denmark I've used for excatly a few times, only shorter journeys go get home from the airport late etc 😅

and what did they do to solve it?

Which is fine? But collect it 10 min before arrival and not 90 minutes??

@@Simon-Andersen I am completely on your side but i guess maybe they also want to prevent situations where they collect it and people already put them into their bags.

Probably what I will do in the future tbh.

​@@Simon-AndersenI've fancied this nightjet train for a while, is it any good? 4 minutes into the video currently.

Ill bec back to try them when they enter service :D

@@Simon-Andersen Nice:)

Yeah if you can get one of those really cheap fares it can be OK value, but the average fare seems to have jumped a lot after the price reform

Thanks Sam!

It's a rare happening 😅 You must have missed some of the earlier videos on my channel where I am on camera :p Yeah Germany definitely have some things to get sorted out with their network

Well aware, just a little goof 😅

You know that one flight from Vienna to Hamburg will cost you 100€ and above so if you want to compare it with the same budget you should bring a tent or maybe raft on the Elbe or something

For 100 euros youre not getting a hotel with all of that in Vienna or Hamburg but in general I agree. Decent hotel + Ryanair is likely cheaper

Where, between Vienna and Hamburg can you get a hotel with pool and spa for 100€?

It's not that simple. EU rules for train passages rights are not great. They do state that you can get avfull or psrcial refund for delays of more than 60 minutes but only if it's before departure and you decide not to take the joutney due to this delay. Ifn you've already traveled part of the journey the refund is only for the part you did not use. You can also choose to contiunue with rerouting or use it on a different date (with no refund). If due tonthe delay there is no more purpose fornthisntrip they need to provide you with a free ticketbto the origin of the journey. Compensation gor delays between 1-2 hours is 25% and 50% for 2h or more but it does not apply on apretty wide extraordinary circumstances list. Also "EU countries can decide to exempt some rail services. These exceptions may apply to urban, suburban, regional, long-distance domestic trains and trains which are operated strictly for historical or touristic purposed. EU countries can also exempt international trains travelling from their territory to non-EU countries - where most of the journey occurs outside the EU and includes at least one scheduled stop in a non-EU country" They cannot "exempt cross-border international rail journeys between EU countries. OBB specify onbtheir website the basic rights mentioned but not the 25% or 50% refund for delays on journeys you took.

The trains are also known to have frequent technical issues though.

This night at least it was announced as technical issues with the train :-)

@@Franjo5000 it was coupling up to the train to take it to the storage tracks probably, as Altona is a terminus station.

zugfinder.de

I had no issues falling asleep, it was pretty smooth!

To a big part probably also the german rail system

A variation of both id say, my night it was the locomotive / train, but it could just as well be trackworks another night.

@@Simon-Andersen ye ok. Hope those problems wont hit the locomotives of Denmark, as they look the same as those introduced a year or two ago. For the german cars for pax.

Delays have plenty to do with the train itself. As mentioned in the video the train broke down multiple times during the night. And wasn't the Paris nightjet canceled a few months ago due to lack of carrigies and more stock being broken than usual? Night trains costs a lot to run sure, but it doesn't explain how prices 2x or 3x overnight. Either ÖBB were dumping prices before or are making a fortune now...

@@Simon-Andersen These are locomotive hauled trains, they do not just "break down". And if they really did, you would need a hair splitting shunting operation. For the next 3 months Nightjet services will be reduced due to trackwork.

​@@etet-mg3is of course loco hauled trains can fail.

Happens haha

I would rather rent car or use my own car for this trip. The price is unreasonable in my opinion

although flying is cheaper, goodluck on the 737 tho 💀

@@tenny_tentenluckily many European airlines have Airbus planes

​@@tenny_tenten Well thanks heavens we have airbus then😂

@@that1niceguy246 Expect 50/50 tho If the A320 is older, or a neo with a CFM its a relief but if its a P&W powered neo, expect a cancelled flight 😂💀

Technical fault on the train is definitely Nightjets fault, which is not uncommon either. But ofc DB Netz doesn't help a already struggling operator

Okay i had a stroke reading this calm yourself down before typing. Also what is it with the booking issues i never had any on any ÖBB service?

@@that1niceguy246 Hi, i never said that my own issues that i experimented with obb nighjet concerns everyone, but in the most case some peoples get trouble with obb nighjet mainly with disruption and overbooking issues, if you hadn't experimented a similar issues with them good for you, look like you was lucky on your own trip i guess but not me on that day of october 2023 from frankfurt airport to Amsterdam not gonna use that service again and you should take look on trustpost and you will see what i mean exactly

You better sleep in a coffin than together with a snoring stranger smelling like booze

@@fischX If everything is so bad in Europe with culture, for introverts there is an excellent example of such a compartment in the Japanese Sunrise night express, everything is made much more convenient there.

What is wrong with the sliding curtain? It sounds great for travelling with a friend or partner to me.

@@Newbyte Everything in this coupe design looks like a caricature of common sense. If you want to chat with a fellow traveler, just take a two-seater compartment.