Day 4 of my Xmas/NY 2019 trip starts with a breakfast in the Nightjet compartment.
There is no restaurant car on Nightjet trains, so the breakfast is served directly in the compartment.
WLABmz double-deck coaches were manufactured in 1995, so there might be time to modernize them soon, as there were several issues with the WC and the shower door during my trip.
It may be called the Deluxe compartment, but the shower door was slamming all night, so I had to put the garbage bin on the floor to make this noise stop.
Vienna
Today my trip will go through the Semmering Bahn to Graz and further to Slovenia, Celje.
My first day-train today is the Railjet to Wiener Neustadt
Austria is just like Switzerland a reservation free (or optional) country when traveling with Interrail, which is very convenient. On the route Vienna-Graz, it is not many passengers, so there is no need to book seats.
Wiener Neustadt
The Railjet service on the route to Graz is coming from Prague, some trains are operated by České dráhy. I'm surprised to have been taking so many Czech trains (two days ago in Germany), without even visiting Czechia.
Siemens Desiro
Bombardier Talent
Class 5047 DMU to Sopron in Hungary
The station was reconstructed in 2003
My next train is the Regional to Payerbach-Reichenau
Viaggio Twin coach manufactured by SGP (now Siemens)
The Southern Railway (German: Südbahn) is a railway in Austria that runs from Vienna to Graz and the border with Slovenia at Spielfeld via Semmering and Bruck an der Mur. It was originally built by the Austrian Southern Railway company and ran to Ljubljana and Trieste, the main seaport of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy; a main obstacle in its construction was getting over the Semmering Pass over the Northern Limestone Alps. The twin-track, electrified section that runs through the current territory of Austria is owned and operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and is one of the major lines in the country. (Wikipedia)
Arriving at Payerbach-Reichenau
Long-distance trains do not stop here
An old steam locomotive is located here
Insect hotel
Cable cars from nearby Raxseilbahn
Part of the viaduct from the Semmering Bahn is located here
Bahnhofsbuffet Yvonne
The station opened in 1854
Meanwhile, there is a snowstorm approaching
Time is standing still here
Semmering Bahn is an important freight route, so I was expecting to see some freight trains
As it is a railway with many inclines it is required to have double locomotives for the freight trains
Here is ÖBB Class 1144 and 1116. The first one is converted from Class 1044 and is a locomotive from the '80s, the second one is from 2003.
The sun is coming out from the clouds
Siemens Desiro ML, ÖBB Class 4744
This will be my next train on the Semmering route
Somebody found this station as a hotel
Famous people visiting the area and the station of Payerbach
One of them is Sigmund Freud
The railway is going uphill
Famous viaducts along the route
Arriving at Wolfsbergkogel station
Kurhaus Semmering
Kartnerkogel Viaduct
Bult in 1916
Reconstructed in 2017
All you can eat Vogel Buffet
As the frequency of the trains operating the stations here is not high, I have to go back some stops in order to visit several places and not freeze to death.
At Breitenstein station, there seems to be an issue with a car stuck at the railway crossing. Hope it won't affect my schedule.
Arriving at Klamm-Schottwien station
There is a freight train waiting here for the green signal, probably due to the issue ahead
This one has 3 locomotives, two 1144 and one 1116
Finally, there is a green light, and the train is moving
This looks heavy
The train is changing here from the right to left track
The station is very beautiful here
Now I'm done with Semmering Bahn station for this time, ready to travel further south to Slovenia
Several ski resorts around here
Mürzzuschlag
Südbahnmuseum
Mürzzuschlag station will be the starting point of the future Semmering Base Tunnel
There is an exhibition about the future tunnel
The Semmering Base Tunnel is a railway tunnel under construction between Gloggnitz and Mürzzuschlag in Austria underneath the Semmering Pass. The existing route is 41 km in length and the Semmering Base Tunnel will be 27.3 km in length. The new route will offer time savings of up to 30 minutes, partly on account of the shorter route and partly on account of the higher speed limit (maximum 250 km/h). (Wikipedia)
My next train
Nice to have a beer in the train
And to have some lunch
Another stop for me at Bruck an der Mur
Norske Skog
I can see that some trains are heavily delayed, but it's a train from a direction I'm not going to (Klagenfurt).
Bruck an der Mur is a city of some 13,500 people located in the district Bruck-Mürzzuschlag, in the Austrian state of Styria. It is located at the confluence of the Mur and Mürz Rivers. Its manufacturing includes metal products and paper. Bruck is located on the Graz to Vienna mainline and is an important regional rail junction. (Wikipedia)
Model railway shop
My next Railjet is a Czech one, so the beer is from Czechia
Graz
ÖBB is operating a bus line between Graz and Klagenfurt
There is a lounge at the station, which can be used with 1st class Interrail pass
My last train is a Eurocity service Vienna-Zagreb
The train will be hauled with Class 1144 until the border with Slovenia
Eurocity 1259 "Croatia"
Dinner
Maribor
SŽ Class 342 is used between border Austria/Slovenia and Slovenia/Croatia
Celje
SŽ Class 312
Celje will be my place for the night, the hotel is located near the station. But there is a party in town, which I did not expect at this time of the day
Celje station
No comments:
Post a Comment