Mega delay Night train passengers don't wake up at their destination station
The Nightjet from Hamburg to Vienna set two records this week: the night train did not reach its destination in the morning as planned, but was delayed by four and five hours respectively.
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- The Nightjet NJ 491 arrived in Vienna more than four hours late on Tuesday because the train had to wait for hours in Nuremberg for delayed wagons from Amsterdam.
- The Dutch railroad explained the long delay with a defective locomotive near the city of Rijssen and the need for a replacement locomotive.
- The next day, the chaos repeated itself - this time with a delay of more than five hours.
Austrian journalist Florian Klenk was astonished on Tuesday morning in St. Pölten (Austria).
The departure board showed that the Nightjet NJ 491 to Vienna was not due to leave until 2.06 pm instead of 8.40 am. That's a full six and a half hours later.
According to the delay data from the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), it was "only" just over four hours in the end. But the question remains: What happened?
Night train Hamburg-Vienna gets extra carriage
For once, Deutsche Bahn was not to blame. According to ÖBB and DB spokeswoman Birgit Pörner, a whole chain of problems came together.
The Nightjet Hamburg-Vienna normally has wagons from the Nightjet NJ 421 from Amsterdam attached to it in Nuremberg (D). But this train only arrived around three hours late.
The Dutch railroad company Nederlandse Spoorwegen confirmed the problems, but cited a different main reason:
The train had been stationary for a long time at the town of Rijssen because the locomotive had a fault, says spokeswoman Anita Middelkoop. A replacement locomotive was sent from Amsterdam, but this took time.
Compensation for night train delays
As a result, passengers on the NJ 491 were unable to wake up at their destination station - contrary to the night train's promise. According to ÖBB data, the train arrived in Vienna around four hours late. And it didn't stop at this one slip-up:
The following day, the chaos repeated itself, this time even with a delay of more than five hours.
For passengers, this means at least one thing: according to Europe-wide passenger rights, they are entitled to compensation amounting to half the ticket price for both journeys.
Compensation for night train delays must be claimed from the company that issued the ticket.
