European Railroad Discussion > A Return to Austria

Last fall I made a trip to Austria followed by a tour of Vienna, Budapest, Prague, and Berlin. Earlier this year I had several posts covering parts of this trip but lost enthusiasm before completing all the content that I have. So, starting from the beginning, I am going to try to get through the rest.

I flew into Munich, Germany, took the train from the airport to the Hauptbahnhof, and then two trains into Innsbruck, Austria via Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, the longer and more scenic route between the two cities. The faster, more direct route is via Rosenheim, Germany.

1. This is the tabletop at my seat conveniently showing the entire route. The section in Austria between Seefeld in Tirol and Innsbruck is the most scenic bit with multiple tunnels and relatively steep grade coming down into the valley.

2. There was a change of trains at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Here is the German DB EMU that I arrived on, actually a double set of the regional trains.

3. And here is the Austrian OBB CityJet EMU that would take me to Innsbruck arriving from Innsbruck. Interesting note: I would later see that I received an email from DB that my connection "was not possible." A computer must have decided that 12 minutes was insufficient time to make it from one platform to the other. It was not a matter of a train being late and the connection actually being at risk.

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4. The view from my hotel room in Innsbruck is nothing but CityJet EMUs with a few freight cars in the far, right distance and fresh snow on the mountains (September 15, 2024).

5. After dinner I spent a short amount of time checking out the train station. Here is the first of many OBB 1016-class Taurus locomotives on a passenger train.

6. Westbahn is a competitor to OBB in the Innsbruck to Vienna corridor with these bi-level EMUs.

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I enjoyed the map shown in photo 1.  Courtesy of Uncle Sam, I spent many days at four locations that had a US Army presence in the early 60's Munich, Murnau, Oberammergau and Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
joe