Vindobona (train)

Vindobona

175 DR diesel multiple unit in Bad Schandau in 1975
Overview
Service type Inter-city rail
Status Discontinued
First service 1957
Last service 2014
Former 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

Vindobona (Latin for Vienna) was 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 later years the route was 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 begun 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]

From 14 December 2014, the EC 172/173 Vindobona was replaced by the EC 172/173 Porta Bohemica Hamburg-AltonaBudapest Keleti, connecting in Praha hlavní nádraží to a Railjet via Wien Hauptbahnhof to Graz Hauptbahnhof and vice versa.

External Links

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