Into the Czech Republic!

Ever since I moved to Wien, I always considered going to Břeclav in the Czech Republic. ÖBB runs Regional trains from Payerbach-Reichenau to Břeclav via Wien. Four Regional trains operate to Břeclav on weekdays while five trains operate on weekends. These trains however run through the Stammstrecke (Trunk Line) and operate as a local after Gänsendorf, which is painfully slow for someone who wants to hop on his train and get going. However Břeclav is also on the busy Wien-Praha intercity corridor. ÖBB and ĈD jointly operate ten EuroCity trains on the line daily, in each direction. Not all of them operate strictly between Wien and Praha as the Vindobona (EC 172/173) terminates at Villach in the south and Hamburg in the north, while the Sobieski (EC 104/105), Polonia (EC 102/103) and Chopin (EC 406/407) continue on to Warsaw. So instead of taking the Regional, I decided to take a fast EuroCity train.

I took the 12:02 pm S-Bahn from Liesing to Meidling, bought a round-trip ticket to Břeclav for €17.20 and went up to platform 5. A train made up of six blue-white Czech railcars pulled up to the station. Instead of taking a seat in coach, I went straight to the cafe/restaurant car. My train, EC 70, the Gustav Mahler, departed Wien Meidling station at 12:34 pm, two minutes late. I ordered a coffee as the train was passing the partially opened Wien Hauptbahnhof. Instead of taking the Stammstrecke through the city, all intercity trains heading for the Northern Railway leave and enter Wien via the Laa Eastern Railway through Simmering, connecting to the Northern Railway at Süßenbrunn junction. After a quick stop at Simmering, the Gustav Mahler started to pick up speed. As we crossed the mighty Danube on the Eastern Railway Bridge I ordered eggs and ham with ice tea. 

On the north side of the Danube, snow started to stick as the train was traveling through a light snowy drizzle. Once we connected to the Northern Railway the Mahler really took up speed. Once we blew by Gänsendorf, the end of the S-Bahn, we turned north towards the Czech Republic. The Wien-Břeclav railway was the first railway in Austria. Built by Austria-Hungary in 1837, as part of a railway project to Warsaw, the Northern Railway has been an important artery of Austria ever since. The train skipped Bernhardsthal, the last town in Austria, before crossing into the Czech Republic. After crossing the River Thaya the Gustav Mahler arrived at Břeclav station on track 3. Once I stepped on the the platform a gust of cold wind hit my exposed face. The train had about 15 minutes at the station so I decided to wait for it to depart. A few minutes after we arrived EC 77, the Antonín Dvořák (Praha-Wien), met our train. I took pictures of both trains as they departed and then started to explore the station.

EC 77, Antonín Dvořák, waiting to depart Břeclav on track 2.

Břeclav is an important junction on the Czech railways. Trunk lines to Praha, Wien, Ostrava and Bratislava as well as a less frequented line to Znojmo and a branch line to Lednice converge in this small town. The station itself is also quite large for a town this size. There are seven through tracks with four platforms as well as three terminus tracks with two platforms. A large rail yard just north of the town handles quite a lot of freight traffic as several freight trains passed the station in the half hour I spent there. To the east of the station is are several tracks used for storage as a long line of obsolete yard switches waited to be put out of their misery.

ĈD Os 4223 to Přerov waits to depart on track 6 with an old smokestack in the background. (B'Tian Dorsam)

Once I took a satisfying amount of pictures I went inside to the station building. The weather was quite cold so everyone was waiting inside, making the platforms look desolate. I wanted to pick up a few Czech railway timetables so I went over to the information booth, only to find out that the woman working there didn't speak a word of English or German. Very ironic, I know. With the help of Google translate and a few hand gestures I was able to buy a nice Czech railway magazine named "Draha". I also managed to pick up timetables of trains running to Praha, Brno and Kuty. I then stet out to explore the town itself. A few taxi drivers waiting to pick up passengers waited in the cold weather smoking cigarettes and talking to each other. Břeclav wasn't the most active place I've been to as the town was quite void of human life. As I walked into a nice park covered in snow, I only saw two people on the street. Several cars drove down the street adjacent to the park however. Even though it was a Saturday, I still expected the town to be more lively. After an hour and a half of walking around the small town I decided to head back to the railway station. The sun was just about to set so I took out my camera and snapped a few more shots while I still had natural light. 

ÖBB R2353 to Payerbach-Reichenau waits on track 3 (Platform 2). (B'Tian Dorsam)

When I got back to the station I saw EC 72 "Smetana" to Praha on track 1 and ÖBB R2353 to Payerbach-Reichenau (via Wien) on track 3. The weather got even colder so I considered hopping on R2353 back to Wien, which departs at 4:26 pm, but remembered that it was a local until Gänsendorf. So I decided to wait and extra 30 minutes for EC 173, the "Vindobona" from Hamburg-Altoona to Wien. I recorded the departure of both aforementioned trains at the expense of not feeling my fingers. The sky started to get dark as it made taking pictures of moving trains more difficult. About ten minutes after wandering around a Regional train from Brno arrived to pick up passengers and start it's return journey.

R5 to Brno waits on track 1. (B'Tian Dorsam)

I started hearing delay announcements for other trains and hopped that EC 173 would be on time. Luckily it was as around 4:50 pm I heard the announcement: "EC 173 to Villach Hbf is approaching the station". I saw two bright lights in the distance and a sense of joy, that I would be boarding a warm express train in a few minutes, surged through me. The train, pulled by a Siemens Taurus of ÖBB, entered the station a bit fast as the engineer was forced the train into a rough stop. Just as the train entered it started to snow again. Like I did in Wien, I went over the the cafe/restaurant car and sat down at a table for two. EC 173, coming from Hamburg via Berlin and Praha, traveled the whole day and after Wien would continue on to Villach in southern Austria. The whole journey of EC 173 takes a little over sixteen hours. After drinking a nice cold Coke in the cafe, I went to find my self an empty couchette (room with six seats). Once I did that, I placed my stuff on the other seats took out my headphones and listen to some heavy metal. Time sure did fly as the train entered Wien in almost no time. Once the Vindobona arrived at Wien Meidling around 6:10 pm, I de-boarded and went over to track 2 to board an S-Bahn train back home.


Břeclav was an interesting trip for me. Albeit Regional trains take their time to get there, EuroCity trains make the trip quite quickly. I will go back sometime in the near future.

To Bruck an der Leitha and back!

After getting up at 2 this Sunday, I decided to make the best of whats left of the day. It was a beautiful sunny day with few clouds and weather wasn't so cold either. I decided to finally go to Bruck an der Leitha on the Eastern Railway and check it out. Instead of taking a slow S-Bahn local, I took a REX (Regional Express) train, which makes minimal stops. I boarded an S-Bahn at Liesing and took it to Wien Hbf. There, after getting a quick coffee, I went up to track 10 to board REX 2647 to Pamhagen. The train consisted of two Siemens Talent EMUs.

The train departed at 3:34 pm, two minutes late. After a quick stop at Wien Grillgasse the train really took on some speed. After speeding by the large Kledering classification yard as well as the freight car shops, large open plains with transmission wires crisscrossing them greeted my eyes. Since it was a Sunday, freight trains didn't operate as much as they do on weekdays, so my train didn't pass any. After a very comfortable and nice 30 minutes REX 2647 arrived at Bruck an der Leitha.

REX 2647 at Bruck an der Leitha. (B'Tian Dorsam)

REX 2647 departed shortly after as it continued it's eastbound journey to Pamhagen. I took a few pictures of the area as the sky was simply gorgeous. Since it was Sunday I was wondering if I was going to see a freight today and right as I thought that I hear the announcement "Bahnsteig 1, zug fahrt durch", translating to: Track 1, train aproaching. I heard the distinct rumbling that only freight cars made. A fast freight, pulled by a Siemens Taurus locomotive, sped through the station accompanied by a strong gust of cold wind. Happy that I saw a freight on Sunday I walked towards the exit. I was to take the 4:31 pm REX back to Wien so I had 30 minutes to explore.

Just outside the station I heard music. I went towards the sound to investigate and saw a nice, but small, Christmas Market! The atmosphere of the days before Christmas are my favorite of the year. Lights hung from the surrounding buildings as families and friends gathered in the market talking and laughing while drinking hot wine. It was a warming scene. Just past the market was the River Leitha. The river, more like a stream, was surrounded by leafless tress who's long branches were dipping into the cold water. The Leitha marked the border of two states: Niederosterreich and Burgenland, as well as the border between two towns: Bruck an der Leitha to the north and Bruckneudorf to the south. I crossed the river to geographically step foot in Bruck an der Leitha and then walked back into geographical Bruckneudorf. Since Bruckneudorf is a small town, it is considered to be part of the larger Bruck an der Leitha, which is why the train station is named what it is even though it is geographically within Bruckneudorf.

After passing under the train tracks, an old factory building greets my eyes. I also notice a abandoned rail spur heading into the factory buildings. I had 20 minutes left so I decided to walk down the road into Bruckneudorf. After crossing the Leitha again, at a different point, I come across a World War II monument. Apart from a few people walking home, the place was motionless. After taking a few pictures I decided to head back. As I approached the bridge under the tracks another freight sped by.

An abandoned rail spur between two old factory buildings. (B'Tian Dorsam)

Shortly after taking one last look at the Christmas Market, I went back to the station to wait for REX 2646 from Wiener Neustadt Hbf. Since the sun had set I wasn't able to get much of a view as the train sped back to Wien, but it was a great ride nonetheless as I listened to some heavy metal and made out the dark silhouette of the landscape.

Once the train arrived at Wien Hbf, I couldn't decide if I wanted to take S80 to Meidling, which skips Matleinsdorferplatz station and departs across the platform or if I should just walk over to the S-Bahn platforms and take the train directly to Liesing without changing at Meidling. As I was thinking the doors to the S80 closed, so I didn't have another choice. I walked over to the S-Bahn platform and took the S2 home.