Hello, and welcome back to another video. Today I'm here at Vienna main station, or Wien Hbf,
and I'm going to be travelling on-board the Nightjet over to Bregenz. Now, if you've seen
my last video on the Nightjet, you'll know that I was a little bit disappointed with the service,
but for this journey I'm going to be travelling on-board one of the new interiors of Nightjet:
the Comfort-Liegewagen. So it's going to be interesting to see how the new
style of Nightjet compares to the old - let's go!
Vienna's main station is a new construction, it first opened partly in late 2012 to
replace Vienna's older termini, Westbahnhof and Südbahnhof, before fully opening in late 2015.
Being a modern station, it's of course built like a shopping centre,
with all sorts of food and drink outlets being on offer throughout the station concourse.
At the southern side of the station, there is a supermarket, which opens until late.
Perfect for stocking up for a night's train ride.
A selection of other shops can be found throughout the corridor beneath the platforms,
on two different levels.
Moving on to the station's other facilities,
there is a massive selection of ticket machines in various places around the station,
as well as a ticket office, equipped for selling train tickets throughout much of Europe.
There's also a dedicated passenger lounge, which is available for people with First Class tickets,
or tickets for a 'Sleeper' room, so unfortunately I wasn't allowed in with my Couchette ticket.
Vienna is a true international hub when it comes to rail,
with daily direct trains departing to an incredible total of 14 foreign countries.
So my train today is the 22:55, Nightjet 446 to Bregenz. This is a fully domestic service,
making it one of a kind on the vast Nightjet network.
The route starts in Austria's capital city,
running from Wien Hbf before also calling at Wien Meidling. Firstly we head along
the Westbahn route through some of Austria's biggest cities, such as Linz, and Salzburg.
Next we run through the Alps into Innsbruck, before continuing westwards into Bregenz,
sitting upon Lake Konstanz, just on the border with Germany and Switzerland.
This station really shows just what you can do when building such a major station from scratch.
The modern roof really stands out, and the facilities are perfect for modern day rail travel.
With a modern station comes a compliment of exciting and new trains,
exhibiting all of the newest features...
...but among these you can also find these old Nightjet couchette carriages,
dating back to the 1960s - and really not fitting in with the modern branding of Nightjet.
And this is exactly what the new 'Comfort-Liegewagen' carriages set out to correct.
Converted from redundant seated carriages in 2021 onwards, their introduction brings a contemporary
interior design to the couchette experience. Twenty two of these carriages will be upgraded,
for use alongside both existing Nightjet stock, as well as the brand-new carriages in the future.
With my train sitting in the platform, it's time to board.
I'm travelling in Coach #18, and have reserved Room #5 for this overnight trip.
Straight away, you can see how modern this carriage looks. I'm sure most of
my fellow passengers wouldn't have known it was over 30 years old!
The train finally departs with a delay of 11 minutes, at 23:06.
Just a few minutes later, we arrive into Wien Meidling, another pickup point in the city.
After that, we head out into the darkness for the nine and a half hour ride over to Bregenz.
With the journey underway, it's time to review the compartment,
and see how it compares with the current Nightjet interiors. The room is laid out
the same as any regular couchette, with four beds, two lower and two upper.
The lower bunks also serve as a sitting area during the day.
Between the bunks there is a table, which also applies to the upper bunks.
I found this to be a nice touch, as most couchette compartments don't provide this.
The door has two locks, both a regular one,
as well as one that opens on a latch, and can't be opened from the outside.
Next to the door is the room's control panel, with a good selection of features.
This includes a control for the room's main light...
...as well as an option to change the brightness level.
An effective temperature control is next, which quickly cooled down the warm compartment.
There is also a volume control,
though even the lowest setting didn't stop the deafening announcements.
Finally, you can check the occupancy of the carriage's two toilets.
Moving over to the other wall, we can find buttons to activate the individual reading lights.
Here you can also find a much welcome feature on these new interiors,
a better provision of on-board power. Where older couchette carriages would have just two
European sockets per room, the new interiors have a European socket and a USB socket for every bed!
Next up is this storage pocket, which is of a really clever design,
being both flexible and sizable.
On the lower table, you can find the complimentary offer for couchette passengers.
This consists of a bottle of water, and a small hazelnut wafer.
If this isn't enough, then there's also a menu of extra snacks and drinks that can be
purchased at fairly reasonable prices for a train.
You can also purchase various toiletries and comfort products from the carriage attendant.
Moving on to luggage storage, you can find a small shelf above the corridor...
...but thankfully there is plenty of room beneath the lower bunks and table
for storing heavier and larger items.
Access to the top bunks is best achieved through the use of this ladder,
which can be stowed away on the door when out of use, or slotted in to the upper table when needed.
Unlike most couchettes, the upper bunks are fixed, and cannot be folded out of the way.
This allows for more pronounced edges to the bunks, which prevent falling out,
though I found during my testing that they can be a little restrictive to the legroom available.
Despite this, there is still a safety net, supported from above to prevent falling out...
...this is also available on the lower bunks, tucked beneath the mattress.
At the window, you can find two window blinds, a basic sun-glare blind,
and a complete blackout blind, which really is effective!
And finally, each bunk has a retractable coat hook.
At one end of the carriage,
you can find storage for larger items of luggage or bikes and pushchairs.
At the other end, you can find the carriage's two toilets,
one regular and one wheelchair accessible.
The soap, the water, and the hand dryer were all working perfectly fine.
The toilets were in good condition throughout the entire trip.
Access back to the room is granted by keycard.
With nothing else left to look at, let's take a look at where I will be sleeping tonight!
The provided pillows are soft, but unusually small, so it may be worth asking for an additional
pillow. The bed itself is reasonably soft, and provides quite a comfortable night's sleep.
As we arrive into Amstetten NÖ, it's time to turn off the lights and get some sleep.
I awake in the heart of the Alps, with the train's winding route offering fantastic
views of the scenery. I got just under 7 hours of sleep on this train,
which considering the length of the journey, I think is pretty good.
At Bludenz, around half-past seven, the light complimentary breakfast is served.
This includes two bread rolls, a hot drink, as well as some jam and butter for the bread.
It's not going to win any awards, but it's a great little addition to the journey.
While at Bludenz, we are passed by the high-speed Railjet train,
which completes the same journey by day in just under 7 hours.
Next up is Feldkirch, where a stop is made to detach the car carriers from our formation.
For this journey, I purchased the entire couchette compartment of four beds,
which cost a total of €239.00. On this 432 mile journey, that gives a price per mile of about 46p,
which might seem expensive, but this fare is actually valid for up to three passengers.
If you divide the price between two or three people, this fare
is actually reasonably good value for money!
Overall, I really enjoyed the new Nightjet interiors. This carriage has been transformed
very well, and the compartments themselves are full of useful features and swish design.
I highly recommend trying out these new couchette interiors,
and I cannot wait for the brand-new carriages to start, hopefully in the near future.
We are now on the final approach to Bregenz, after a really pleasant night's ride from the capital.
Arrival today is on-time, at 08:29. So, what do you think? Have you been lucky
enough to try out one of these new interiors? Leave a comment with your thoughts below!
Thank you very much for watching my video on the new Nightjet couchette compartments.
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