Questionable comeback

ÖBB old-timers with “outhouse” instead of modern trains

The old CityShuttle trains are celebrating a happy anniversary in Tyrol.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Since the timetable change in December 2023, ÖBB has once again been using train material on some train connections between Innsbruck and the Tyrolean Upper Inn Valley that was actually scrapped. This means that faeces from the toilet facilities are once again being disposed of unfiltered on the track.

The regional express to Landeck departs from the main station at 16:52. It was still running with contemporary Talent coaches the previous year. Commuters assumed that the almost antediluvian age of CityShuttle trains had come to an end. As reported several times, they are not air-conditioned and the faeces from the toilet facilities end up unfiltered on the tracks.

Commuters refer to the CityShuttle as "sauna trains" because of the extreme temperatures in the carriages in summer. Hard to believe: a CityShuttle replaced the Talent on the REX at 16:52.

This is what the "outhouse" in the CityShuttle looks like.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

This is what the Federal Railways say
However, this train is not the only connection between the Oberland and Innsbruck that has not benefited from the timetable change. Since December, the S-Bahn no. 4 to Innsbruck, which departs from Telfs at 6.50 a.m., has also been running with a mishmash of CityShuttle and very old wagons instead of the modern trainsets used previously. The latter used to run (much) earlier on long-distance services throughout Austria.

When the new local trains are delivered, both services will be converted to more modern vehicles.

Christoph Gasser-Mair, ÖBB-Pressesprecher

"The reason for this is the comprehensive reorganization of the timetable in the Tyrolean lowlands and the associated vehicle rotations," explains ÖBB press spokesman Christoph Gasser-Mair. In other words: The modern trains are currently needed in the lowlands.

The relatively modern Talent trains have been partially withdrawn from the Oberland for the time being.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

However, Gasser-Mair promises improvements: "When the new local trains are delivered, both connections will be converted to more modern vehicles." This is scheduled for the beginning of March for the REX and the beginning of May for the S-Bahn. "Once the new local trains are fully operational, CityShuttle trains will no longer be used on Tyrolean local services from summer 2024, with the exception of some Salzburg trains from Salzburg to Wörgl," he promises.

The sauna trains should then finally be a thing of the past.