Italy leads ranking

ÖBB in fourth place in EU comparison

(Bild: ÖBB/Finker)

ÖBB achieved fourth place in a comparison of European railroad companies. In its report, the T&E organization evaluated criteria such as price and reliability. The Italian Trenitalia took the top places, followed by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and the Czech Regiojet.

ÖBB even secured the top spot in the sub-ranking for night trains. The predominantly private Westbahn, which operates on the western route in Austria, was not included in the analysis. Deutsche Bahn (DB) only came 16th in the comparison of 27 railroad companies. Regiojet, the third-placed company, connects Prague with Vienna, among other places, and impresses above all with its low prices.

Higher prices do not correlate with better service
"Our analysis shows that ticket prices do not correlate with higher service quality," write the authors of the organization T&E, which is committed to sustainable transport.

"While ÖBB and Trenitalia offer good value for money, operators such as Eurostar charge almost twice the average European price per kilometer, but still do not offer better services," they said on Monday.

Eurostar takes last place
Eurostar, which runs high-speed trains from London through the Eurotunnel, came last in the study. The main reasons for this are high ticket prices, but also poor reliability.

The non-governmental organization called on states to invest in the rail network in order to improve reliability. The fees for rail operators should also be reduced in order to make tickets cheaper.