Vindobona (train)

Vindobona
175 DR diesel multiple unit in Bad Schandau in 1975
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
First service	1957
Current operator(s)	Deutsche Bahn, České dráhy, ÖBB
Route
Start	Hamburg-Altona
Stops	27
End	Villach Hbf
Distance travelled	1,459 kilometres (907 mi)
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	EC 172/173
Route map Legend Legend 0km Hamburg-Altona 5km Hamburg Dammtor 7km Hamburg Hbf 23km Hamburg-Bergedorf 54km Büchen 119km Ludwigslust 163km Wittenberge 277km Berlin-Spandau 295km Berlin Hbf 301km Berlin Südkreuz 500km Dresden Hbf 540km Bad Schandau Germany-Czech Republic border 563km Děčín hl.n. 586km Ústí nad Labem hl.n. 689km Praha-Holešovice 692km Praha hl.n. 754km Kolín 796km Pardubice hl.n. 947km Brno hl.n. 1,006km Břeclav Czech Republic-Austria border 1,093km Wien Simmering 1,107km Wien Meidling 1,153km Weiner Neustadt Hbf 1,247km Bruck an der Mur 1,263km Leoben Hbf 1,287km Knittelfeld 1,404km St. Veit an der Glan 1,421km Klagenfurt Hbf 1,459km Villach Hbf

Vindobona (Latin for Vienna) is a named passenger train which began service in 1957 between Berlin and Vienna via Prague, originally by way of the Franz Josef Railway via Tábor and Gmünd, later rerouted via the first Czech railway corridor, Brno and Břeclav. In recent years the route has been extended to run from Hamburg to Villach. In the period of normalization, domestic travel within Czechoslovakia was for some years completely forbidden, occasionally restricted to journeys between Děčín and Tábor.^[1]

The service began using a FDt 50/51 diesel multiple unit running from Berlin Ostbahnhof via Dresden, Prague and Gmünd to Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof. The FDt DMUs had already began running between Berlin and Prague 7 years earlier. The service was used primarily by West Berliners, diplomats and Scandinavians crossing East Germany, connecting from the night trains from Copenhagen (Ostsee-Express) and Stockholm (Saßnitz-Express), and the shuttle train from Berlin Zoologischer Garten station in West Berlin. The service continued to be operated by DMUs until 1979, when it was replaced by a composition comprising an electric locomotive coupled with individual carriages.^[2]

The original journey via Tábor took over 12 hours to complete from Berlin to Vienna. Later, the mainline via Brno became faster, and the train was rerouted, initially via Havlíčkův Brod and later via Pardubice and Česká Třebová along the first Czech international corridor, shortening the journey to 9 hours. The train also became categorised as a EuroCity service. Vindobona is currently the name of EuroCity trains 172 and 173 and as of 2010 runs from Villach Hauptbahnhof to Hamburg-Altona via Klagenfurt, Vienna, Brno, Prague, Dresden and Berlin.^[3]

References

1. ↑ ČSD timetables 1967/68, 1969/70, 1975/76 and 1976/77
2. ↑ Zdeněk Michl: Vindobona, zelpage.cz, 2007
3. ↑ Řazení vlaků na stránkách zelpage.cz