ÖBB resumes international night trains from May 24
The ÖBB Nightjet train service abroad will be started up again on May 24 after a pause because of the coronavirus. The regular daytime trains to and from Germany, Italy and Czech Republic will also almost all resume their original schedule.
Metropolises such as Brussels, Zurich, Hamburg, Berlin or Milan can be reached overnight with the ÖBB Nightjet services starting up from May 24th, 2021. Four days earlier, the daytime international trains paused by corona will return to Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic.
Vienna as night train centre
“We connect Europe – that is our big motto and goal. That is why I am particularly pleased that we can now reactivate our international long-distance network after a break”, says ÖBB CEO Andreas Matthä. “We are bringing the climate-friendly night train back to Europe in good time before summer and we also have new destinations for our passengers”. With the new destinations, he presumably means the connection from Vienna to Amsterdam, which is to start May 25. Dutch Railways NS was given the rights and a subsidy to run the connection with ÖBB, for which the government is now taken to court by several parties for unfair competition.
“We are continuing to expand the European night train network. Vienna is already the city with the most connections in the whole of the EU. I am very pleased that Nightjets will be operating on these routes again from the end of May. Because comfortably get on the train in the evening and wake up in the morning in the middle of a European capital – that is the future of short and medium-haul routes in Europe”, said Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler.
Daytime trains
The restrictions in daytime traffic to and from Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic caused by the corona pandemic will almost entirely be lifted. In Germany, from May 20th or 21st, cross-border train traffic will commence according to the annual timetable. This means that the ICE trains between Vienna and Passau as well as the ICE trains between Vienna and Berlin are fully running again. The RJX trains on the route between Munich and Salzburg will also run again.
In Italy, the resumption of traffic between Vienna and Venice is planned for May 20, and May 21, respectively. The Brenner traffic will also be gradually ramped up. From May 11, the trains will run again on the route between Munich, Innsbruck and Verona as well as Bologna.
In Czech Republic, the RJ trains on the Graz-Vienna-Prague axis will resume their annual timetable on May 20, 2021.
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