Last leg of the Germany Tour 2016 was the ride from Berlin back to my current home base Linz, Austria. The trip started in the morning at 8:30 and got me to my destination by 6:18 in the early evening. That sums up to a total travel time of almost 10 hours with exactly 9 hours on a train. During the journey I had to change trains in Fulda and Munich. Connections were good and well arranged and leads to an average speed of  77mph/124kmh for the overall trip (81mph/124kmh without lay overs). Again, not bad for a distance of 753mi/1209km and the fact that quite some mileage was conventional track. But there were some sections of modern high speed right of way, especially between Göttingen and  Würzburg  where the ICE train sets reached up to  155mph/250kmh. And even the RJ could max out to 124mph/200kmh on some straight track on it’s way through the foothills of the Alps. Again, punctuality was great. I ended up in Linz 5 minutes late, mostly due a delayed departure from Salzburg as it took a tad longer to connect to the RJ from Innsbruck. Giving the fact that those 5 minutes were the only delay I experienced during the whole trip I can see how travelers who get used to such clockwork like operation get upset if things get out of pace. Utilizing the early bird offer called “Sparschiene” the cost for the ticked was EUR 59.- This option requires travelers to use specific trains listed on the ticket. Reservations are EUR3.- extra for each train but highly recommended!

ICE 279 Berlin – Fulda

I departed Berlin on ICE 279 who connects the German capital and Basel in Switzerland. Leaving Berlin Central station from one of the top platforms the train took us on the historic “Stadbahn” via Spandau and further on through the flat lands of Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt towards Wolfsburg (home of the Volks Wagen cooperation). At Göttingen we reached high speed tracks and zipped down to Fulda where I stepped off in order to get on the connecting  ICE which departed from the same platform about 10 minutes after deboarding ICE 279.

ICE 535 Fulda – Munich

This ICE unit came from Bremen with final destination Munich. Moving on from Fulda on the modern high speed track till Würzburg and navigating conventional trackage till Augsburg where we picked up speed again till reaching Munich Central station. This was an interesting train as it only stopped in Würzburg and then went on a steady pace towards its final destination. Shortly after Würzburg the overcast sky gave way to the sun and I enjoyed the ride through beautiful fall colored hills.

Rail Jet 69 Munich – Linz

In Munich, one of the great head end stations in Germany, I had about half an hour to get from one platform to the other. In doing so I came across an interesting composition.  The odd looking consist with a RJ branded “Taurus” class 1216 and some IC coaches in tow shows the advantage of “conventional” locomotives used for RJ service as these units are technically suitable for any service. It seems this one jumped for a RJ. At least the locomotive faces the “right way”.

Further on to platform 11 were “my” Rail Jet already was ready to board. On one hand side I was lucky to get to travel a “real” RJ unit but on the other hand ÖBB operated this one with the locomotive facing the “wrong” way. This is not an uncommon sight as shuffling locos and car sets as well as balanced wear and tear patterns make such practices more important than unobstructed brand appearance.

Nevertheless the ride from Munich towards Salzburg and on to Linz was smooth and pleasant. Its getting dark early at this time of the year and once we crossed the border to Austria there was not much to see outside. Last but not least, recognizable only by a soft bump, our train got connected with another RJ unit from Innsbruck in Salzburg. Such maneuvers are pretty common nowadays in long distance rail operations in Europe. The particular unit will travel as a pair till Vienna Central station where it gets separated again in order for the leading unit heading on some more miles to Vienna airport.