Westbahn: customers satisfied

According to a new survey, customers of the “Westbahn” appear to be pleased with the new railway service, but criticise the low numbers of trains. The company aims to balance the accounts this year.

As their competitor ÖBB does not present the figures of turnover and profit on the route Vienna-Salzburg, Westbahn did not present them either at a press conference held yesterday (Thurs).

It is, however, clear that the company were still in the red in 2012. Clemens Schneider, chairperson of Westbahn RailHolding, hopes that the break-even point will be achieved in the course of 2013.

The first quarter of 2012 was apparently a “difficult phase”, but the business has been going well since September 2012. The turnover in February 2013 was 80 percent more than in February 2012.

Price increases are not planned for the short term as the price is an important criteria for people to become customers of Westbahn. In the medium term, however, they will have to readjust the prices, said Mr Schneider.

Managing Director Erich Forster pointed to a survey for Westbahn carried out by the institute for strategic analysis. This survey shows high customer satisfaction with people using Westbahn. Two thirds (64%) declared the offer of the company as “very good”.

Almost 1,000 customers of Westbahn and 500 residents of the train route took part in the survey. The cheap prices and the service on the trains were the points mentioned the most.

Customers criticised that there are not enough trains because the route is too short. Nobody complained about the smoking carriages on the trains. Mr Forster stated that smoking on the trains will remain possible in the future.