City Airport Train
| City Air Terminal Betriebsgesellschaft mbH
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | Company with limited liability |
| founding | February 2002 |
| Seat | Vienna Airport, Schwechat , Austria |
| management | Martin Polak |
| Number of employees | 40 (2017) |
| sales | € 13.3 million (2017) |
| Branch | Railway company |
| Website | www.cityairporttrain.com |
The City Airport Train , CAT for short , is an Austrian shuttle train that shuttles between Vienna Airport in the municipality of Schwechat and Wien Mitte station without stopping on the Pressburger Bahn .
business
A separate operating company, City Air Terminal Betriebsgesellschaft mbH, was founded in February 2002 to operate the CAT ; it is jointly owned by ÖBB-Personenverkehr AG (49.9% of the shares) and Flughafen Wien AG (50.1% of Shares). The company is based at Vienna Airport. The concept of the train type was presented to the public at the Danube Island Festival 2003, and the train operation started on December 14, 2003.
The trains run between the Vienna Airport station and the Wien Mitte station every half hour from early morning until around midnight. (36 trips per direction and day) The CAT needs 16 minutes without intermediate stops for the approximately 20-kilometer route. In the 2017 financial year, 1.6 million passengers were carried, which corresponds to an increase of 4% compared to 2016.
Since March 19, 2020, trains have temporarily stopped running due to the COVID-19 pandemic .
Departure stations
Both at the airport and in Wien Mitte, the CAT trains depart from their own underground station areas. In Vienna, the departure point called City Air Terminal with the check-in counters for various airlines is on the ground floor in the entrance area of The Mall shopping center; near the Marxergasse exit. At the airport train station, the train stops at the eastern end of platform 3.
Rolling stock
.jpg)
A CAT push-pull train set usually consists of a 1016 series locomotive and three double-decker cars , one of which is a control car . The cars are specially adapted for traffic to the airport and have air conditioning , special seats, storage space for luggage, power sockets, WiFi and an infotainment system for the passengers. At the end of 2012, the multi-system 1116 locomotives were exchanged for the pure 15 kV 1016 variant. Before the 1116 series was used, the trains were hauled by 1014 series locomotives. Each train set of the CAT offers a seat for 243 people.
service
With its conception and pricing, the CAT aims at a different market segment than other public transport products. CAT passengers have the option of checking in for their flight in the City Air Terminal and also checking in their luggage. This option is now offered for around 80 percent of all flights. This so-called city check-in is possible up to 75 minutes before departure and in many cases 24 hours in advance. (A list of all airlines and the respective acceptance times can be found on the CAT homepage) After the city check-in, the luggage is taken into the custody of the respective airline and is automatically forwarded at the airport.
There are manned information desks in the City Air Terminal and at the airport. In every set there are also train attendants for questions and ticket inspection or sales.
Daily newspapers and magazines in German and English are available free of charge on the train and in the Wien-Mitte terminal, and free access to ePapers is offered in the CAT WLAN. In addition, a validated CAT ticket gives you reduced access to the lounges operated by Vienna Airport .
The CAT BONUS CLUB is the customer club of the City Airport Train. Bonus Club members collect bonus points that can be exchanged for rewards. Membership is free.
Ticket options, fare and alternatives
Tickets can be purchased at both terminal stations at the information desk or at the ticket machine, on the train (for a surcharge) or online in advance. Single, return and multi-trip tickets as well as an annual ticket are offered. A combined ticket can be purchased for onward travel in the entire Vienna urban area ("Vienna core zone"), which includes the journey with the CAT and a Vienna single ticket or is optionally valid for 24, 48 or 72 hours. The City Airport Train is the most expensive airport connection at 12.00 euros for a single journey and 21.00 euros for a return ticket. The train type is a premium product with a corresponding price structure. However, a discount is granted for holders of different customer cards. Children up to 15 years are transported free of charge.
The rest of the rail traffic to the airport is part of the Ost-Region transport association . The S-Bahn line S7 takes just 9 minutes longer (25 minutes in total) for the same route, but with stops at all stations, and also runs to Floridsdorf and Mistelbach / Laa an der Thaya. Similar to the CAT, the S-Bahn trains run from early morning until around midnight at half-hourly intervals compared to the CAT. The S7 trains use different station areas in Wien Mitte and at the airport. A trip costs 4.20 euros without a reduction and applies to a single trip with a change to all destinations throughout Vienna. Without a ticket for the Vienna public transport network, a ticket costs 1.80 euros.
Furthermore, the long-distance lines ( Railjet ) can also be used with composite tickets to and from Vienna . These also run every half hour from the airport to Vienna Central Station and Vienna Meidling and beyond (subject to a surcharge) to western and southern Austria. The travel time between the airport and the main train station is 15 to 18 minutes.
A comprehensive list of the transport connections to Vienna Airport can be found at: Transport connections to Vienna Airport .
Corporate Design
The entire interior and exterior design as well as the branding of the City Airport Train come from the Vienna-based company Spirit Design, which specializes in strategic design . It has received several awards: nomination for the uniform CAT corporate design at the Corporate Design Prize 2004, Design Prize of the Federal Republic of Germany in Silver 2006, D&AD Award (yearbook entry), Design Management Europe (Honorable Mention), IDEA 2008 (nomination). The CAT website also won first prize at the 2006 Crystal Web Award and a “Signum Laudis in Gold” at the 2006 TAI Advertising Grand Prix.
The following NCS colors were used for the paint scheme of the vehicles:
- S 0500-N (white): side surfaces & CAT lettering on the front
- S 0575-G40Y (yellow-green): CAT stripes and surrounding decorative lines
- S 3502-B (light gray): roof area
- S 5502-B (light gray): buffer area, frame, apron, bogies & track clearers
- S 7502-B (dark gray): CAT lettering on the sides and forehead areas in the area of the windows
- S 8502-B (dark gray): deposit lines above and all around below
A refurbishment project was started in August 2010. Two months later, the first set, including the locomotive, appeared in a new design. The interior has also been completely modernized. Since the beginning of 2011, all sets have been redesigned both inside and out.
environment
The CAT is operated with emission-free traction current from 100 percent renewable energy (92% hydropower, 8% wind power), and the airport train has been a klima: aktiv partner since 2012 . At the European Rail Congress Awards 2013, the completely CO 2 -free traction current "railpower zero" from ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG , which the operating company has been purchasing as the first customer since 2011, was awarded first prize in the Excellence in Environmental Sustainability category. While this actually avoids CO 2 emissions on the ground, this gain is completely wiped out by the growth in air traffic; therefore Flughafen Wien AG is accused of greenwashing.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ CAT - About Us , accessed June 10, 2016.
- ↑ 5 years City Airport Train ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , from January 14, 2009
- ↑ Record year for City Airport Train on June 8, 2016
- ↑ Imgur: Imgur. Retrieved July 8, 2020 .
- ↑ Wien-Mitte opened by the Federal President on November 7, 2012
- ↑ CAT has a record record from June 7, 2016
- ↑ Free high-speed WiFi in the trains of the City Airport Train (CAT) ( Memento of the original from January 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from December 1, 2016
- ↑ City Airport Train reports a new passenger record ( memento of the original from February 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed on June 10, 2016
- ↑ CAT - City Check-in , accessed on June 14, 2016.
- ↑ CAT - Conditions of Carriage , accessed on June 10, 2016.
- ↑ New service plus for CAT customers ( memento of the original from January 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from January 21, 2016
- ↑ Bonus Club Registration , accessed June 10, 2016.
- ↑ CAT - Tariff & Price Details , accessed June 14, 2016.
- ↑ CAT - advertising folder ( Memento of the original from June 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 14, 2016.
- ↑ City Airport Train: New look for 1 million satisfied CAT customers per year from January 11, 2011
- ^ ÖBB: 1st prize at the 2013 European Rail Congress Awards on November 19, 2013
- ↑ City Airport Train receives environmental award from November 25, 2013
- ↑ Air traffic - greenwashing. Retrieved October 26, 2019 .
- ↑ Stop Greenwashing - System Change, not Climate Change! Retrieved October 26, 2019 (German).
- ↑ katharina.zach: Vienna: How, of all things , an airport wants to become CO2-free. Retrieved October 26, 2019 .
