Train passengers want more connections

Train passengers in Austria would like more connections throughout Austria, a train ticket which covers the whole country as well as train plans which connect the whole country.

This is the result of a study by the Austrian Traffic Club.

Older passengers were more positive about the Austrian train service than others. Those under thirty found it worst and those over 60 found it best.

Christian Gratzer, Austrian Traffic Club spokesperson said: “Older passengers can remember the train service 20, 30 years ago and see the considerable improvements over the last years.

56 per cent of those interviewed said they thought the quality of Austrian train service has improved over the past 12 months. 8 per cent sad it had got worse.

Major improvements were noted in the stations, in the total journey time followed by the punctuality and quality of the trains themselves.

Gratzer added: “The least improvements were seen in the number of connections. Only 49 per cent of those questioned said they saw an improvement in the connections, 14 per cent said the connections had got worse. One in four said they were unhappy with the number of train connections. This is something which needs to be looked at.

91 per cent of those asked said they were in favour of an Austria wide connection plan for the trains. 88 per cent said they would like to see the introduction of a ticket that covers the whole country. Two thirds said they would like to see the introduction of electronic ticketing.

Of those people questioned one in three said they had travelled more with the train this year than last year. Around half said they use it about the same.

On average each Austrian travels 1,330 kilometres with the train per year.

As part of this survey 15,047 train passengers were questioned.