Motorail from Dusseldorf to Vienna
 

Just putting a few plans together for areas in Europe, I was looking at the Motorail Train from Düsseldorf to Vienna to safe time and milage on the bike.
Hull-Rotterdam on the ferry then ride to Düsseldorf for the train.

ÖBB travel portal: Vienna - Düsseldorf - Vienna

Has anyone used this train before, I think its worth doing if I decide to go the the Balkans area?

Wayne

A couple of things come to my mind:
1. Duss to Vienna isn't all that far; is it really worth it when you could be riding some good roads in Germany and Austria?
(I recall that the train service is not cheap).

2. Some guys I know were aiming to use such a train system; it went out of business at pretty short notice which made a mess of their plans; IIRC that was the Netherlands equivalent from that country to Italy/the foothills of the Balkans.

Looking at the prices on the link i put up, they are less than 100 Euro.

I have also ridden a lot of roads in Germany and Austria and fancied a change

Wayne

Yep, that's a good price, assuming that it is all inclusive, and maybe why the Dutch moto train stopped operating.
I did think you were referring to Dbahn the German railway company but now I see that it is the Austrians who would transport you into their country; you could also get a connection into Italy. Vienna is selling itself as a "cross roads" of motorcycle transportation by rail.

I'm using this service in August, I want to explore Hungary and Romania and we only have 2 weeks so for us it makes sense to get to Vienna as quickly as possible. I travel 2-up with my wife so I'm always careful to make it an enjoyable holiday for her rather than a iron-butt adventure for myself and I reckon the train will save us 4 days of motorway riding in total.

We'll be on the ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge, maybe have a look around Brugge for half a day then ride over to Dusseldorf, grab some dinner and a bottle of wine, get on the train and wake up in Vienna and head into Hungary. The cost for the bike was 90 Euros return, and the bunk was 178 Euros return so comparable to the cost of hotels, food, beer, fuel etc. on the road.

I think it's a great idea if you are heading to the east and have limited time, I plan on using it again next year to get to Turkey.

If i use it before you I will let you know whats it like and likewise if you use it before me, I think its good for saving time also.

Cheers

Wayne

Had to put back my trip to the Balkans, gone back to BKK for a bit. Oh well more time for research on good places to visit when I go
:(

Wayne

Hey Wayne,

if you are back, please report your expierence with the Austrian train.

And I would have made the same choice!

We use in September the overnight train/truck from Düsseldorf to Munich on our way to Slovenia.
book the train/truck 3 month ago and :angry: pay double then you.

But why we choose the train/truck?

Because my friend rides a DR650 with knobby tyres and it´s not fun for her driving the 1000km to Slovenia on highways (normally we don´t drive on highways).

But due to lack of time we save more then 5 days with the train/truck and spent the same amount of money if we would drive ourselves (and we compared all possibilities: a) train/truck, b) by bike, c) rent a small van d) rent a trailer)

And we saw some advantages, not only the same money but we don´t loose much time, we are rested when we start the next day.

So I can understand your decision.

Good luck and please report about the train.

Hi Tabbi

I had to back to BKK (post 7 above) so not used it yet, but I will when I do
If you use it first then let me know, I think its a good option

Wayne

Check the price carefully - if it is contains also your ticket and not only the motocycle transport.
I done once Livigno Vienna and experienced that..... bought my ticket on the train....

I looked at the site a while ago and that is how it came across to me: logical really, because booking a vehicle onto the train does not inform the train operating company how many passengers will be with that vehicle (up to two with a motorcycle and even more of a variable with a car).
Then there are the various passsenger accommodation options on offer.

I'll be using the Dusseldorf - Vienna service next weekend, I'm only on the road for a couple of weeks so I'll report back when I return, I'll take a few pics of the bunks etc.

The last time I was on a European sleeper train was 15 years ago on a Euro backpacking trip and it was comfy and civilised enough back then. I remember bumping into a couple of students from Leeds on the platform in Vienna, one of the lads showed me a map and pointed at Wien and then asked me if I knew how to get from Wien to Vienna, he said they'd been studying the map for hours and couldn't find it.:rofl:

Oh yes, I know that problem :rofl:- on my first ever trip out of the UK I was driving a minibus down to Innsbruck with somebody map reading for me in the passenger seat. At one point I asked him "how much further to Munich?" and got the answer "dunno, but we've just gone past some place called Munchen". :rolleyes2: :rofl:

Dusseldorf to Vienna
 

Hi Ben,


Just wondered how your adventure on the above train went, I'm thinking of doing the same next year as I'm doing Croatia and beyond for 3 weeks and don't want to spend 6 or 7 days of that traveling to croatia before I even start exploring.
Went to slovenia this year after we had booked the autozug or which ever company, it then went tits up so had to do 2400 miles before again exploring slovenia. :scooter:
It was a ball ache.
Cheers

Jules

Yeah good point, its well over due, come on Benny, spill the beans

Wayne

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?

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

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

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

They did eventually reply to me, the day before I was leaving, better late than never :innocent: 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

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5823/...e236683c_c.jpgUntitled by Wayne 66, on Flickr
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https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5789/...f09d703e_c.jpgUntitled by Wayne 66, on Flickr

Wayne

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