Hi chums, my apologies, I've been back a couple of weeks but was immediately ordered to start re-decorating so time has been slim.

So, the Autozug. It was an OK experience and I would use it again. We arrived at Dusseldorf and found the area where the vehicles are loaded onto the train, we got there early so we just parked the bike up and went for a wander around, there are a few bars/restaurants within a short walk so no worries there.

I took my Yamaha Super Tenere 1200 which is a fairly tall bike, the car carriage isn't that tall so my face was literally pressed against the tank trying to get the beast on the carriage, but it's easy done, just take your time (or take a small bike). They have employees who will secure your bike on the carriage.

Once on the train, we had two bunks in a 4 berth cabin, we were lucky enough to share the cabin with another biker couple from Germany who had the foresight to pack a backpack loaded with red wine which they duly shared until it was all gone. So for me, I had a good nights sleep.

You are provided with a sheet, a blanket and a small pillow, in the morning you get a small breakfast of 2 bread rolls, coffee, butter and jam - included in the ticket. As you board at the German end, they check over your bike to make sure it is not damaged etc. before you load it on, this didn't happen at the Austrian end on the return journey for some reason.

I left all of my luggage on the bike including my tank bag and everything was fine, I had a set of wind deflectors fitted on my fairing but one of these was missing after the trip from Vienna to Dusseldorf, they are fitted with rubber bungs rather than bolts so I'm guessing it was ripped off somewhere along the way by the wind? So make sure any bags etc. are tightly secured if you are going to leave them on your bike.

I booked my ticket on-line, but at Vienna we met an English couple who had phoned up and managed to book a 2 berth cabin, they only paid about £40 more than us and got free champagne, free tea and coffee, a wash basin in their cabin and free bloody slippers!. So it might be worth calling them to see what deal you can get rather than booking online?

It's easy enough to find the Autozug terminal at Dusseldorf, it looks like it's been there a long time, probably used for the now defunct German DB autozug. However, the autozug terminal in Vienna IS NOT at the main train station (Westbahnhof), all of the other bikers we spoke to on the train had turned up at the main station, one couple had even missed the train the day before because they couldn't find the terminal. Access to the newly built terminal is off a road called 'Gudrunstrabe', it's clearly marked on Google maps so I'm not sure why people had such a problem finding it.

So yeah, I'd recommend it. It's not the most luxurious way to travel but I reckon it saved me four days of motorway boredom and I'll likely use it again next year (if they continue the service).

Thanks, much appreciated feedback.
I wonder how this service is affected now that the german govn has closed the rail access with Austria?

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Dave

Thanks for the feed back, sounds like a good option.
Why did you say 'if they continue the service' have you heard disturbing news?

Wayne

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Hi Wayne, I was talking to a bloke who has used the motorail service for many years as he has a house just outside of Vienna, he seemed to think that if not enough people use the service with vehicles then they will stop running it as it becomes unprofitable. This service is run by OBB which is an Austrian company, this is their first year running the route so I guess they'll be reviewing whether or not it is worth continuing at some point, perhaps at the end of the year.

I gather that the German carrier DB has stopped transporting vehicles by train altogether and instead loads you bike/car onto a road wagon and transports them that way while you sleep on the train.

On both legs of my journey there were only about 5 or 6 bikes and maybe 12 or so cars - that was at the weekend. Hopefully they will continue it next year, the service runs every day so it gives you that much needed flexibility if you only have a couple of weeks and want to explore the east.

Cheers Benny

I will have a look at DB also but thanks for the heads up

Wayne

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I have messaged OBB to see if I can just turn up and book my ticket for the Dusseldorf to Vienna Motorail. Or if I have to book before hand? That way I am not tied to a specific date

Waiting for a reply, will update when I find out, if I find out!

Wayne

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They did eventually reply to me, the day before I was leaving, better late than never Anyway to cut a long story short I couldn't just turn up so I rang and booked over the phone. It was a good job I did because as I found out when I got to Dusseldorf OBB do not have an office there

The journey was good, breakfast included, I had a 4 berth shared sleeper myself, which was good news as it was very cramped.
The crew were great. I had to remove everything from the bike less my metal panniers

Untitled by Wayne 66, on Flickr
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Untitled by Wayne 66, on Flickr

Wayne

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Hello,

Are any motorail routes still operating in Europe? I have searched but cant seem to find any....just dead links.

thanks,

H

Hello Harry,

This is what i have been looking at before but I have no experience with any of these companies. Once I was close to booking Urlaubs-Express but desided to stay away from them because of the many negative reviews that company got, both in German and English language.

South to north Finland:
https://www.vr.fi/en/carcarrier

Hamburg to Lörrach:
https://www.rdc-deutschland.de/autor...isezug-de.html

Multiple destinations mid-Europe:
https://www.nightjet.com/en/angebote...in-oesterreich

https://urlaubs-express.de/?lang=en


Villach to Edirne:
https://www.optimatours.de/

It worth checking Seat61

Try these, seems to me that the one I used is still going!

https://www.bahn.com/en/offers/night...index/nightjet

https://www.eurail.com/en/get-inspir...s/obb-nightjet

https://www.nightjet.com/en/

Wayne

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