Category: Trains

Great Train Journeys III : Berlin to Salzburg

After visiting Berlin and Dresden, I was off to Italy to visit our daughter and grandchildren. Travelling solo, I elected to spoil myself with first class rail travel and break the journey in Salzburg, a city I had never visited. I cannot stress enough how easy it is to use the German Railways website DB Bahn to investigate options, and even to book seats anywhere on the system. (in fact the site allows viewing rail travel schedules all over Europe, but booking is restricted primarily to German trains)

Thus, here I was back at Berlin Hbf, this time waiting for one of Germany’s High Speed Intercity (ICE) trains. I have travelled on other faster trains before, but I was really looking forward to this experience. This train would take me as far as Munich, a distance of around 600km in under six hours. Right on time, the train known as ICE1507 pulled into the platform.

Berlin Salzburg 001I was immediately impressed by the comfortable and spacious seating, 2 and 1 configuration, with a generous centre aisle. Beyond glass doors was an even more luxurious compartment, which presumably attracts a premium fare. I was also intrigued that, being in the last carriage, we could see the rails disappearing behind us. Before very long, we had reached a speed of 200km/h and the countryside was speeding by. Coffee and tea also arrived on a trolley for those that felt so inclined.

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Notable in this fairly flat landscape, was the large number of wind power generators. I had contemplated moving to a vacant forward facing seat for a better view of what was coming when we pulled into Leipzig, our first major stop. This is a terminal, rather than ‘through’, platform so leaving Leipzig, I was now facing forward without changing seats. The downside was that with the driver up front, the view of the tracks ahead was switched off!

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We made several short stops, at one of which, our smartly dressed official could step out to stretch his legs. Peckish, I decided to head to the buffet car and enjoyed a good lunch of soup and salad, washed down with a pleasant white wine…..totally at peace with the world at 200km/h!

Again, on schedule, we reached Munich. Here I was able to get a better shot of the ICE train that had brought me more than half way across Germany to its southern ‘edge’.

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With a little over forty minutes to pass, I was able to get a drink from a station kiosk and then find my next train, which was already in the platform, but not yet loading. Called “Railjet”, These trains are operated by the Austrian Railways. This particular train starts in Munich, Germany, then passes through Austria from west to east, finishing in Budapest, Hungary after just over seven hours. My stop, Salzburg, was to be the first stop, about ninety minutes after leaving Munich.

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Internally and externally positively gleaming, this train gave me the feeling of being nearly brand new. Whether or not new, it was extremely clean and well maintained, a credit to the system.

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In contrast to the relatively open flat countryside of earlier in the day, we were soon taking a more winding path through hills, passing quaint villages and distant mountains.

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All too soon, Salzburg Castle came swinging into view, signifying the end of the journey for me, for that day. While some may consider it a long trip, I had enjoyed every minute of my nine hour journey on these two trains.

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Great Train Journeys II : Berlin to Dresden

This story is a little about trains, and also a little in praise of Berlin’s Central Station. Unlike many old, and dare I say beautiful, historic Central Stations around the world, this station was only opened in 2006.  It is built on the site of an earlier station (from 1871) which, like much of Berlin, was severely damaged in WWII. In some ways, it feels a little more like a modern airport terminal than many older stations.

Our first sighting of Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Hbf) was from a moving bus!  Impressed, I was already looking forward to using it the next day to catch our train to Dresden.

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Berlin Hbf serves three systems. The upper level has three island platforms with six tracks for the S-Bahn (the suburban above ground system), while the lower level has four platforms (8 tracks) for main line trains, and a further platform (2 tracks) for the U-Bahn (underground).

We arrived with plenty of time to catch our Intercity train to Dresden, which proved fortuitous, if frustrating. Our travel itinerary showed we were provided with booked seats, when in fact, all we had was return tickets (no reserved seats). Having plenty of time, we went to the booking office to reserve seats, only to discover that the train was fully booked (we learnt that it was a long weekend coming up)! We could catch the train and risk standing for 2 hours 15 minutes, but that had no appeal for my octogenarian companion. Best solution – reserve seats on the next train, two hours later. With more than two hours to fill in, we checked our bags at left luggage, and set off to explore.

Choosing to go to Kurfurstendam for a couple of hours, we were able to experience the above ground platforms, and catch the S-Bahn train. We did not have long to wait.

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On our return to Berlin Hbf, we reclaimed our luggage, descended to the lower level, and we were soon on our way to Dresden. Below the Intercity train to Dresden and beyond pulls into Track 1.

Berlin HBF Intercity Berlin to Dresden

After our enjoyable visit to Dresden, we made the return journey, this time with seats pre-booked. We arrived at Dresden Hbf with ample time before our train, scheduled for 9:04 am. The departures board greeted us with a disturbing message – the train, coming from Prague (or further east) was to be more than 60 minutes late! Plenty of time for coffee and croissants in the very pleasant station cafe!

Dresden Hbf 1

Once we moved to the designated platform, we heard further announcements which mentioned our destination, Berlin. We befriended a couple of people, who had a better understanding of German than we had, and their news was not good. The train would now be 90 minutes late. At subsequent announcements, we learnt that the next train to Berlin would be the train scheduled for 11:04. Indeed, our 9:04 train may never arrive, but if it did, it was now expected to miss Berlin altogether. We never established whether an entire Inter City train was lost somewhere in the Czech Republic! 

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In the left picture above, we watch forlornly for the missing train to arrive. In the right picture above is the German locomotive, which was to replace the (presumably Czech) locomotive and take over hauling the train for the next part of the journey.

It was while I had an hour to fill in that I first discovered this very helpful sign on German train platforms. Each train through the station is listed by departure time, train number, destination and a schematic to represent its approximate position at the platform. Green represents second class carriages, red buffet and yellow first class. Once we knew about this, we never had any panic about last minute racing along the platform to find our designated carriage. Very sensible and very helpful!

My apologies for the reflections on this picture!

Dresden Hbf 2

Needless to say, we boarded the 11:04 train, and fortunately found a couple of spare seats. 

The final twist to this tale is that we went to the buffet carriage for lunch on both journeys, to and from Dresden. The trips were thee days apart, and both times we were not on the train we expected. The same charming Czech lass was served us on both trips.

Footnote: We could not fault the staff or service of Berlin Hbf (the station) or Deutsche Bahn AG (the trains). Our frustration at Berlin was entirely caused by a breakdown in communication of the package detail that we received from the travel agency.

Great Train Journeys I : The Taieri Gorge Railway

This is the first in a series of posts I intend to write, and illustrate, on the subject of trains. I picked up this idea from Andrew Petcher over at Have Bag Will Travel.  Andrew clearly has a love of travel in general, trains in particular. That certainly strikes a chord for me! So thank you, Andrew, for giving me the stimulus.

So as not to appear parochial, my first train comes from ‘across the ditch’ in New Zealand!

The Taieri Gorge Railway runs from Dunedin, to the rich farmlands of Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. Building commenced in 1879, with the first section opened in 1889, and extended to Middlemarch by 1891. It was subsequently extended as far as Cromwell by 1921, and the railway is credited with opening up Central Otago. The Government ended the regular passenger and freight service in 1990. The Mayor of Dunedin immediately announced that the City Council would buy the line through the Taieri Gorge as far as Middlemarch, provided the community raised $1 million to finance the project. It is that section of the line that now forms this delightful excursion through the spectacular scenery of the gorge.

Further details about the Taieri Gorge Railway, its history, landmarks and some of the engineering detail, can be found on the website.

The Dunedin Station is itself delightful, both externally and internally.

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The Booking Hall and the centrepiece of the floor (below)

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Naturally, the train is now hauled by a 20th century diesel locomotive, but the assortment of vintage carriages are beautifully restored and maintained. No fancy air-conditioning in these carriages, as windows can be opened. All that is missing is the steam and coal dust in the eyes!

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The two way trip from Dunedin to Middlemarch takes about four hours. As we were taking the train as part of a Garden Tour, we only travelled to Middlemarch, from where we continued by coach. One is frequently reminded of the challenges, of bridging and tunnelling, through this rugged landscape, in the 19th century. The scenery along the way, as well as the stops at a couple of former stations, make for a most enjoyable trip.

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Taieri_015 Someone with a sense of humour named the hut (above), while passengers had time for a photo stop at Hindon (below), one of the stations along the route.

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Watch this space for future contributions with a train (or trains) as the feature!