Grandpa complains about delay

Four and a half hours waiting time because train ran away

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

(Bild: Wolfgang Spitzbart)

An 80-year-old man, his wife and grandchildren were looking forward to a relaxing train journey home. But the journey home from Venice turned into a test of nerves: because the first train was delayed, the family just missed the connection. The quartet had to spend the night in train stations.

"It was really annoying! Traveling all night with two children is tough," complains Wolfgang Neugebauer.

First train delayed
What had happened? The 80-year-old Viennese wanted to show his grandchildren from Vöcklabruck (aged 9 and 12) Venice with his wife. After a few lovely days in the lagoon city, the misery began at Mestre station near Venice: "The ÖBB train to Innsbruck was an hour late and he couldn't make it up there," says the former self-employed man.

Arrival at 4 a.m. instead of 11.35 p.m.
As it turned out, the connecting train to Salzburg left two minutes before the family arrived. "If this train had waited a little longer, we would have been spared a lot of trouble!" says Neugebauer indignantly. Because: "We waited at Innsbruck main station and didn't arrive in Salzburg until around midnight. We had to wait there for three and a half hours before the first train took us to Vöcklabruck at around four in the morning," says the resolute 80-year-old. "For the children, such waiting times and four and a half hour delays are no fun!"

Saving money paid for with nerves
At least the journey was cheap thanks to the savings rail and free travel for children, especially as half the cost was credited to the passengers as an apology. "The train journey was cheaper, but we would have saved nerves by taking the car," says Neugebauer.

"Waiting together" almost impossible
However, ÖBB press spokesman Robert Mosser explains that "waiting together" is not so easy: "Whether a train can wait unscheduled for a delayed feeder train depends on various guidelines and factors." Especially because of the impact on punctuality in the overall timetable, because: "It must always be ensured that no train sequences are jeopardized in order to maintain punctuality on all connections," says Mosser. After all, if a train were to arrive late due to waiting, many other passengers on the entire rail network would also be affected by delays.