Pissed off on the train

No seat in the compartment despite extra reservation

A seat reservation costs three euros. It is not always useful.(Bild: Doris Seebacher)

ÖBB recommends seat reservations, especially in the pre-Christmas and vacation season. In practice, however, the extra euros are often a bad investment, especially for commuters. 

Karin R. commutes from Baden to St. Pölten every day. She normally enjoys the journey home after a hard day's work, but in recent weeks she has become increasingly annoyed. Not only are the trains from St. Pölten to Vienna Meidling - where she has to change trains - constantly late and she therefore misses her connecting train, the trains are currently so overcrowded that it is sometimes almost impossible to even get into a carriage. 

People are standing shoulder to shoulder or sitting on the floor in front of the toilet doors and in the passageways between the carriages.

Karin R., Pendlerin aus Baden

But she is most annoyed by ÖBB's advice in the media that it would be advisable to reserve a seat at the moment. Ms. R. has already done this three times. "Twice I didn't even get close to my reserved seat because the crowds were too big". The third time she finally made it - only her seat was already taken by another guest. After kindly pointing out that she had reserved this seat, the unfriendly gentleman just mumbled: "Too late, I'm already sitting here."

"What was I supposed to do?" complains Ms R. "I can't start arguing with a stranger in front of everyone." She was also unable to find a train attendant on the overcrowded train.

ÖBB's advice: call the train crew for help
In these cases, however, ÖBB advises passengers to contact the train crew. "They are there to support passengers and intervene in the event of conflicts," says the ÖBB press office.

ÖBB is also aware of the problem of overloaded trains. "We are constantly reacting to the high demand and adjusting capacities where operationally possible. Since last Sunday, IC double-decker trains have increasingly been used on the western route. These offer significantly more seats than the Railjets previously used."

And: "We are aware that these measures will not completely solve the daily challenges from one day to the next. We assure you that we are taking the feedback very seriously and will continue to work intensively on improvements," ÖBB promises.