Westbahn boss Thomas Posch is not at all surprised that the climate ticket and the easing of the corona pandemic have led to increasing demand in rail transport. It would be "certainly not rocket science" for the use of public transport to increase properly.

In recent weeks, there have been repeated capacity bottlenecks at the Austrian Federal Railways, among others. Again and again, trains had to be evacuated due to overcrowding. ÖBB recommends purchasing a paid seat reservation, as this is the only way to guarantee carriage on the desired train. Meanwhile, the state railway company is also thinking out loud about one possible reservation obligation in long-distance traffic after. In other countries, such as Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, this has been the norm for many years. Colloquially: If you want to travel long-distance in these countries, you need a so-called seat reservation. If you don't have one, you can also buy it from the conductor on the train.

The Westbahn wants to further increase capacity on the main line between Vienna Westbahnhof and Salzburg and on to Munich. Indirect criticism of the competitor ÖBB is also not spared, because in a press release the private railway company emphasizes that in recent months it has "operated a forward-looking fleet policy and gradually expanded the timetable offer in recent months".

"Foreseeing that with the temporary subsidence of Corona and the cheap KlimaTicket Ö demand will increase noticeably, that was really no rocket science. That's why we're condensing our timetable again on June 12," says Westbahn Managing Director Thomas Posch. “The risk of trains being cleared by our competitor is causing massive uncertainty among travelers. This takes efforts to protect the climate ad absurdum. With us, on the other hand, there have never been any train clearances in the ten years of our existence. We therefore appeal once again to the responsible authorities to quickly accept our offer of talks about alternate ticket recognition between Westbahn and ÖBB before the confidence of travelers in the railway system is further shaken."

Nine euro tickets will not be accepted

At the same time, co-managing director Florian Kazalek rejects a possible reservation obligation. He explicitly excludes this for the Westbahn “also in the future”. The green-blue-white double-deck trains of the Westbahn were far from being overloaded over the past long weekend. The seating capacity was sufficient for the passengers on every connection, only in a few trains were all the seats occupied.

This is currently throwing too German 9 euro ticket his shadow ahead. From June 1, it can be used in local transport throughout the neighboring country. "The Westbahn is a long-distance train, so we clearly do not accept the ticket for the section between Munich and Salzburg," says Kazalek, and Posch adds: "Based on the advance reporting in Germany, we assume that our trains will be suitable for many people a welcome alternative to the overcrowded local trains in the greater Munich area, even if a Westbahn ticket is required for the journey.”