Bike trips by Lake Neusiedl
Austrian Federal Railways offers bikers a chance to see the countryside.
The bicycle trail by the Lake Neusiedl is one of the most traversed in Austria. Now, the Austrian Federal Railways have come up with a plan to make the journey from Vienna to the lake easier for bikers – as well as more environmentally friendly.
By checking in at the Vienna South Station, bikers are offered a free ride from the city to Lake Neusiedl in a new kind of train wagon equipped for the task. As opposed to riding in a regular wagon, having to stow their bikes away awkwardly, the new wagon is equipped to keep up to 24 bikes placed in a space friendly way, as well as 36 seats for bikers.
The new wagon can be recognised by its summer-themed appearance and biker motives. The initiative is yet another step on the way to more environmentally friendly mobility in Austria, says Michael Frölich, regional director of Austrian Federal Railways. “Basically, these trains go back and forth both in the mornings and again in the afternoons. Sometimes they also leave during lunchtime. We are committed to ensuring that we meet the needs of cyclists with these schedule times,” says Frölich.
Through the new “RegioBiking”, the regional governor Hans Niessl (SPÖ) hopes to see more people visit Lake Neusidl, since it is both a fast and a cheap way to travel. “I am pleased that the Austrian Federal Railways give people the opportunity to come out to the country with their bikes to spend a nice day there,” he says.
Already, one third of all Burgenland tourists come there just to bike around the countryside. There are plenty of possibilities: all-in-all, the Burgenland bike trail is over 2,500 kilometres long. The possibilities offered to tourists have increased lately. “There is now a connection between the Danube bike trail and the Lake Neusiedl bike trail; the so-called exploration route, which connects Petronell and Neusiedl,” says Burgenland tourism director Mario Baier. The official bike season opened at the 15th of April, and on the day there was a great race to the Lake Neusiedl meeting hall.