Westbahn (company)

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WESTbahn

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 2008
Seat Vienna , Austria
management Erich Forster (Managing Director WESTbahn)

Benedikt Weibel (Chairman of the Supervisory Board Rail Holding AG)

Number of employees approx. 200
Branch Railway company
Website westbahn.at

The company Western Railway (full company name Westbahn Management GmbH ) is a subsidiary founded in 2008 Austrian Rail Holding AG , which as since 11 December 2011 railway company a long distance between Vienna and Salzburg on names like West rail line operates. The name WEST is not only derived from the route, but also from the founder WE hinger ST efan.

history

Route of the Western Railway (_ Light Blue)
A double-decker train of the Westbahn (Stadler KISS, similar to the SBB RABe 511) on a test run in Switzerland

On June 30, 2009, a framework agreement was concluded with ÖBB Infra on the allocation of track capacity for the years 2011 to 2016. This ensured that the Westbahn could offer regular service between Vienna and Salzburg.

After the ÖBB canceled the direct connection between Graz and Linz with the timetable change in December 2010 , it was announced in early February 2011 that the Westbahn was considering operating this line as well. Shortly afterwards, when the ÖBB announced that they would be operating this route again with a direct connection, these plans were discarded. From February 2011, managing director Stefan Wehinger hired two lobbyists who were supposed to discredit ÖBB in public and in politics. The order was placed without the knowledge of the supervisory board.

After speculation, the Westbahn confirmed in July 2011 well-advanced negotiations with the French railway company SNCF about a possible joint venture . On August 23, 2011 it was announced that the transaction had been completed the day before, and that SNCF now held a 26% stake in the company. Nevertheless, the company did not want to serve the international route Vienna – Paris, as one would be better served by plane.

The WESTbus GmbH was a joint subsidiary company of Blaguss Reisen GmbH and Rail Holding AG . Blaguss GmbH held 51% of the company and Rail Holding AG 49% . In 2016, Rail Holding withdrew from the bus business and sold its 49 percent stake in Blaguss.

Companies

Corporate structure

The owner of the Westbahn is Railholding AG . This was founded on October 16, 2008 by Stefan Wehinger and Hans Peter Haselsteiner with 50% each . The Westbahn Management GmbH was simultaneously registered as a 100 percent subsidiary.

  • Shareholder:
    • Until August 22, 2011: Haselsteiner Familien-Privatstiftung (35%), Stefan Wehinger Beteiligungs- und Beratungs GmbH (35%), Oldro AG (30%)
    • Until June 5, 2012: Stefan Wehinger Beteiligungs- und Beratungs GmbH (almost 26%), Haselsteiner Familien-Privatstiftung (26%), SNCF (26%), Augusta-Holding (Switzerland; 22%)
    • Until April 19, 2013: Haselsteiner Familien-Privatstiftung (35%), SNCF (35%), Augusta-Holding (30%)
    • Since April 19, 2013: Haselsteiner Familien-Privatstiftung (46.9%), SNCF (28%), Augusta-Holding (25.1%)
    • Since April 1, 2015: Haselsteiner Familien-Privatstiftung (49.9%), SNCF (17.4%), Augusta-Holding (32.7%)

Business results

The Westbahn made a loss of 23.45 million euros in the 2012 financial year. Operation of the Westbus resulted in a further 1.7 million euros in loss. When presenting the annual report, the company described the original business plan as too ambitious. According to its own statements, the company had operationally generated a positive result from summer 2013.

On June 5, 2012, Stefan Wehinger resigned from his position as managing director. Erich Forster took over the post.

The bottom line was that Westbahn Management GmbH closed 2013 with a loss of 14.5 million euros, while the parent company Rail Holding AG recorded a loss of 1.5 million euros.

In 2015 the company reduced its accumulated loss to 8.31 million euros compared to the previous year. The operating result was slightly positive for the first time at EUR 262,000.

In 2016, the annual loss increased again to 8.71 million euros including losses carried forward from the previous year.

Route network

WESTgreen line
Legend
  • Trains in the direction of Salzburg Hbf only stop for boarding
  • Trains only stop in the direction of Vienna Westbahnhof to get off
   
 km Travel time
End station - start of the route
 0 Vienna west train station 0:00
Station, station
  • 6th
 Vienna Hütteldorf 0:06
   
 30th Tullnerfeld until December 10, 2017 0:17
Station, station
 60 St. Pölten Hbf 0:26
Station, station
 126 Amstetten 0:48
Station, station
 190 Linz Central Station 1:12
Station, station
 215 Wels central station 1:26
Station, station
 246 Attnang-Puchheim 1:39
Station, station
 251 Vöcklabruck 1:44
End station - end of the line
 317 Salzburg Central Station 2:24
WESTblue line - Dec 2017 to Dec 2019
Legend
  • Trains in the direction of Salzburg Hbf only stop for boarding
  • Trains only stop in the direction of Vienna Praterstern to get off
   
 Travel time
End station - start of the route
 Vienna Praterstern 0:00
Station, station
Wien Mitte-Landstrasse 0:02
Stop, stop
Vienna Rennweg 0:05
Stop, stop
Vienna Quartier Belvedere 0:08
Station, station
Vienna Central Station (Südtiroler Pl.) 0:09
Station, station
Vienna Meidling 0:17
Station, station
 St. Pölten Hbf 0:41
Station, station
 Amstetten 1:04
Station, station
 Linz Central Station 1:30
Station, station
 Wels central station 1:44
Station, station
 Attnang-Puchheim 1:57
Station, station
 Vöcklabruck 2:02
End station - end of the line
 Salzburg Central Station 2:42
Multiple unit in the interim design (with white headlight surround but still without blue belly band) at Vienna's Westbahnhof, 2012

Since December 11, 2011, the company has been offering long-distance services every hour on the 317-kilometer route between Vienna Westbahnhof and Salzburg, competing with InterCity trains . Until September 1, 2013, the trains were extended to Freilassing with an intermediate stop in Salzburg Taxham Europark due to a lack of storage capacity at Salzburg Central Station. Thirteen pairs of trains run between Vienna and Salzburg from Thursday to Friday, and up to fourteen pairs of trains between Vienna and Linz. The travel time since the opening is a high-speed section in Lower Austria two hours and 30 minutes. Intermediate stops are Vienna-Hütteldorf, St. Pölten Hbf, Amstetten, Linz Hbf, Wels Hbf, Attnang-Puchheim and Salzburg Hbf. Like ÖBB-Personenverkehr, the ÖBB Infrastruktur company has to pay three euros per train-path kilometer.

On May 14, 2012, three trains on the edge of the day were canceled and an additional afternoon train from Vienna to Salzburg was used.

At the beginning of 2013 it became known that the Westbahn had not received any money from the Salzburger Verkehrsverbund for the operation of the Salzburg Hauptbahnhof - Freilassing line and therefore no longer served the Salzburg-Taxham-Europark stop and Freilassing train station. At the beginning, the route was only offered because Salzburg's main train station did not have sufficient parking spaces due to the renovation. After the introduction of the regular timetable and due to insufficient capacity utilization, the Salzburg – Freilassing section was no longer served from the beginning of September 2013. In December 2013, the company announced its de facto exit from the Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region (VOR). The reason for this was the request for higher payments, which the VOR rejected, than was granted to the company according to the VOR's revenue distribution key.

Up until 2015, the Westbahn company planned to extend the route from Vienna via Salzburg via the Salzburg-Tiroler-Bahn to Innsbruck Hbf . However, this plan was rejected for the time being because the necessary route infrastructure was lacking.

With the timetable change in December 2017, the Westbahn doubled its offer between Vienna and Salzburg. The number of daily departures per direction increased from 16 to 31; the company invested 180 million euros for this. The number of employees rose from 250 to 400. The new timetable stipulated that a pair of trains called WESTgreen would continue to serve the route Vienna Westbahnhof - Hütteldorf - St. Pölten - Amstetten - Linz - Wels - Attnang-Puchheim - Salzburg every hour. Another, also hourly service forming pair of trains called West Blue began Wien Praterstern and used the original route of the train with stops at Vienna Praterstern , Wien Mitte , Wien Rennweg , Wien Quartier Belvedere , Vienna Central Station (Südtirolerplatz) , Vienna Meidling , drove via the Lainzer Tunnel to the Westbahn and then also stopped in St. Pölten, Amstetten, Linz, Wels, Attnang-Puchheim and Salzburg. This new line was discontinued with the timetable change in December 2019.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the stations in Vienna Meidling , Tullnerfeld and St. Valentin will be served from April 20, 2020 until July 7, 2020 ; the stop in Vienna Hütteldorf will no longer apply.

vehicles

Set 4010 003 at the exit from the Vienna Westbahnhof

The company has 17 multiple unit sets from Stadler Rail :

  • KISS 1: seven six-part multiple units of the 4010 series (4010 001 - 007) with 501 seats, 150 m long, delivered in 2011;
  • KISS 2: a six-part multiple unit of the 4010 series (4010 008) with 523 seats, 150 m long, pressurized, delivered in 2017;
  • KISS 2: nine four-part multiple units of the 4110 series (4110 009-017) with 323 seats, 100 m long, pressure-ready, delivered in 2017 (one of which was out of service after an accident).

The entrances at a height of 570 mm are barrier-free. The multiple units reach a top speed of 200 km / h with an acceleration of 0.85 m / s² (four-part units 0.9 m / s²). In terms of design, these are based on the RABe 511 multiple units of the Zurich S-Bahn, also manufactured by Stadler, and are referred to by the manufacturer as KISS . All wheel sets of the end cars are powered, the intermediate cars are non-powered. Only the sets of the series 4110 and set 4010 008 delivered in 2017 are pressurized .

Leather seats and free WiFi are available to travelers . Almost every car is looked after by its own train attendant / steward. The trains are not handled by a train driver , as is usual with the large railway companies , but by the driver . Around 85% of the company's 200 or so employees are said to be on the move.

A western café with eight seats has been set up in each of the middle cars , where hot and cold drinks can be purchased from coin-operated machines. The train attendants, known as stewards at the Westbahn , sell tickets and catering products and clean the train. In one of the trains in the first series there is a smoker's lounge with 16 seats, from which, with the use of a separate air conditioning system, no smoke should be drawn into other areas of the train. Due to legal actions, smoking was banned there in mid-January 2012, but allowed again in mid-September 2012 following a ruling by the Independent Administrative Senate. However, by May 2018 at the latest [out of date] , smoking must be completely banned, as the Tobacco Act requires this. In the sets, which were built in 2017, smoking lounges have already been dispensed with. In the middle car the seats are arranged one behind the other, in the end car opposite each other at tables for four. One end car (W 600) is designated as Westbahn + and can be used for a surcharge of 13.90 euros (up to 200 km) or 19.90 euros (over 200 km). There are two seats available for each passenger, and the price includes a daily newspaper and a small cold drink, which - as well as various snacks from the steward - are served at your seat. Three intermediate cars are equipped with separate toilets for women and men, with a separate urinal in the men’s toilet ; the wheelchair accessible car (W 400) has a wheelchair-accessible toilet on the lower level. On the lower floor of the intermediate car there are luggage racks with a shelf that can be folded down to accommodate bicycles that you have brought with you . Bicycles can also be attached to the entry platform with brackets so that up to 16 bicycles can be carried.

Set 4010 008 (with single-leaf entrance doors)

In 2015, another six-part and nine four-part train sets (4110 series) were ordered from Stadler, which were delivered until 2017 and can be coupled to the existing six-part trains. The new trains were equipped with single-leaf swing-sliding doors that close pressure-tight; the front window was made narrower. The Westbahn plus car was equipped with wider seats in a 2 + 1 arrangement.

In March 2019, it was announced that all 17 KISS trains were to be sold, which ÖBB was also interested in, in order to be able to replace older 4020 multiple units earlier. As a replacement, trains from China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation were to be purchased first. Instead, 15 new six-car trains were again ordered from Stadler Rail, which are identical to the set (4010 008) delivered in 2017 and each have 526 seats. From December 2021 there will be again a half-hourly service between Vienna and Salzburg.

In July 2019 it became known that the 17 previous KISS sets would be sold to DB Fernverkehr through the bidding process . Use of the double-decker multiple units is planned to expand the range of services on the Dresden – Berlin – Rostock IC route from March 2020. In order to achieve this goal, Stadler Rail, as a manufacturer, has been commissioned with conversion work on all vehicles as well as with the subsequent recommissioning and implementation of the required national approvals (Germany, Switzerland and Austria). The first converted vehicle (multiple unit number 4109) was presented in February 2020.

Ticket sales and tariffs

Since the beginning, tickets have been sold on the Internet and by train attendants on the train. Since May 2012, part of the range of tickets has also been available in around 3,000 tobacco shops across Austria . Some offers and discounts are only available online. Around 80 percent of tickets are sold on the train (as of 2012).

The ticket offer includes various single and group tickets , season tickets (including an annual network ticket ) and a kilometer bank in three variants. There are also various discounts. Members of the ÖAMTC and ARBÖ transport clubs also receive discounts on Westbahn tickets , and there is also cooperation with the Viennese newspaper publisher Kronen Zeitung .

The ticket prices are based on the prices of the ÖBB for 2nd class with Vorteilscard .

From September 9, 2013, the company charged travelers with tickets from the Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region and Verkehrsverbund Niederösterreich-Burgenland at peak times. Since December 13, 2013, the company no longer belongs to the VOR / VVNB transport associations.

On March 1, 2014, the company raised prices and tariff kilometers and caused annoyance among kilometer bank customers because the assignment of routes to kilometers was changed and the minimum value was raised. This made long-haul tariffs cheaper, but short-haul routes sometimes more expensive than the normal tariff of the ÖBB or the respective transport association . There were complaints from the Rail Control and Upper Austria Chamber of Labor that they were violating passenger rights and demands for a corresponding change.

With the timetable change in December 2014, the original tariff concept was relaxed. With the exception of the Vienna – Attnang-Puchheim and Vienna – Salzburg routes, the prices are now higher than the ÖBB Vorteilscard tariff. The surcharges for the “Westbahn Plus” car have also been increased. Since spring 2015, a surcharge of 1 euro per ticket has been charged for certain busy trains on weekends when selling tickets on the train and in the tobacco shop. In order to persuade owners of an ÖBB Vorteilscard to switch to the Westbahn, the Westbahn offers its own discounts for owners of an Vorteilscard, which means that the tickets are a little cheaper than the ÖBB Vorteilscard prices.

The FlixMobility GmbH markets the route through their website, the Western Railway marketed in return FlixBus- and FlixTrain connections.

Incidents

In December 2012 there were two incidents in which the doors of Westbahn trains moved when trains met. On December 9, 2012, two train doors loosened during an encounter with an ÖBB Railjet train in a tunnel in Tullnerfeld. As a result of the incident, which the company management had not reported to the Ministry of Transport, the speed of the trains on the new Vienna - St. Pölten line was reduced to 160 km / h. A similar incident occurred on December 13th. In July 2013, one of the company's trains got stuck in the Wienerwald tunnel for three hours after a fault in the drive system. A few days later it became known that the summer heat was causing problems with the power supply for the sets.

On August 23, 2017, one of the brand-new sets collided with a freight train from CargoServ during an inspection run in the Linz marshalling yard . The train driver of the Westbahn was seriously injured and two other passengers were slightly injured. The remaining five passengers were able to free themselves from the train unharmed. The triggering cause of the collision was the crossing of a stop signal by the Westbahn train driver.

literature

  • Christian Auerweck: Competition on Austria's rails. Westbahn is kissed awake . In: railway magazine . No. 5/2011 . Alba publication, May 2011, ISSN  0342-1902 , p. 30-31 .

Web links

Commons : WESTbahn GmbH  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ WESTbuch 01/2014
  2. ↑ Ex-SBB boss Weibel will challenge Austria's state railways from 2011. In: Tages-Anzeiger , June 19, 2009.
  3. ↑ WESTbahn connection Linz-Graz planned. In: ooe. orf.at , February 2011, accessed on February 2, 2011.
  4. ↑ Westbahn and ÖBB are heading for a tough confrontation course. In: Wirtschaftsblatt , February 8, 2011, accessed on May 27, 2011.
  5. ↑ Western Railway "What schreib'ma on the bill?" In: Courier , October 28, 2012
  6. ^ Bahn: partner for "Westbahn"? In: Die Presse , July 22, 2011, accessed July 30, 2011.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f France joins Westbahn. In: Vienna. orf.at , August 23, 2011, accessed on August 23, 2011.
  8. ↑ Westbahn leaves the bus business. In: ORF. December 6, 2016, accessed January 16, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Ex-ÖBB board member makes rail competition. In: Format , October 2008.
  10. ↑ Swiss investors for Haselsteiner's Westbahn. In: Der Standard , January 29, 2010
  11. ↑ Westbahn owner trio takes over Wehinger's share aliquot ( Memento from July 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: Wirtschaftsblatt , June 29, 2012. Accessed on July 8, 2012.
  12. ↑ Haselsteiner becomes the main owner. In: Kurier , April 23, 2013.
  13. ↑ Westbahn: Haselsteiner increases. ( Memento from May 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: oe24.at , April 23, 2013.
  14. ↑ a b APA report: Westbahn buys ten new trains. In: derStandard.at , May 11, 2015, accessed on May 11, 2015
  15. ↑ CV Board of Directors. Retrieved December 12, 2017 .
  16. ↑ Westbahn drives around with losses . In: Vorarlberger Nachrichten . 5th October 2013.
  17. ↑ Engine driver leaves. Stefan Wehinger leaves the Westbahn. In: Der Standard , June 5, 2012.
  18. ↑ Flying change on the Westbahn. In: Der Standard , June 5, 2012.
  19. ↑ International reports . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . No. 10 , 2014, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 512 .
  20. ↑ Westbahn operationally in the black for the first time. In: The press . October 6, 2016, accessed April 27, 2017 .
  21. ↑ 8.7 million euros loss for Westbahn mother. In: orf.at , December 5, 2017
  22. ↑ a b From December 15: New Westbahn hourly service with additional offers , Kleine Zeitung, accessed on December 23, 2019
  23. ↑ Westbahn no longer to Freilassing. In: Bahn-Report , issue 5/2013, p. 32, publisher: Interest Group Rail Traffic eV, Rohr, ISSN  0178-4528
  24. ↑ a b c d The Westbahn half a year after it started . In: Eisenbahn Österreich , issue 8–9 / 2012, p. 400 f.
  25. ↑ Clash with transport associations: Westbahn is becoming more expensive. In: Der Standard , December 9, 2013
  26. ↑ Private Westbahn fights for routes to Innsbruck. In: Tiroler Tageszeitung Online. August 13, 2015, accessed March 12, 2020 .
  27. ↑ Westbahn wants to travel from Vienna to Innsbruck from 2018. In: The press. April 21, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2017 .
  28. ↑ Westbahn invests 180 million and doubles its offer. In: The press. September 7, 2017. Retrieved September 7, 2017 .
  29. ↑ Westbahn runs more often - and also from the Praterstern. In: kurier.at. Courier , September 7, 2017, accessed September 10, 2017 .
  30. ↑ Timetable 2018 - the new "WESTmobilität". WESTbahn, archived from the original on October 29, 2017 ; accessed on October 29, 2017 .
  31. ↑ WESTbahn. Retrieved April 21, 2020 .
  32. ↑ How accessible is the WESTbahn? In: bizeps.or.at , October 2, 2011
  33. ↑ Electric double-decker multiple unit - KISS for WESTbahn Management GmbH, Austria . Datasheet (PDF; 231 kB) from Stadler Altenrhein AG .
  34. ↑ Not a big train station for the "newbie". In: Die Presse , June 4, 2011.
  35. ↑ Westbahn closes smoking lounge on trains. In: Die Presse , January 16, 2012
  36. ↑ Westbahn again allows smoking on their trains. In: orf.at. August 29, 2012, accessed October 9, 2015 .
  37. ↑ Westbahn buys new trains. In: derStandard.at. Retrieved May 11, 2015 .
  38. ^ Westbahn to order more trains. In: Railway Gazette International . May 12, 2015, accessed May 15, 2015 .
  39. ↑ ÖBB are interested in trains of the Westbahn. In: OÖ-Nachrichten. March 26, 2019, accessed March 30, 2019 .
  40. ↑ Luise Ungerboeck: Westbahn becomes a launch vehicle for train builders from China. In: The Standard. March 25, 2019, accessed March 25, 2019 .
  41. ↑ a b Westbahn sells all trains to Deutsche Bahn. In: OÖ-Nachrichten. July 22, 2019, accessed July 22, 2019 .
  42. ↑ Deutsche Bahn expands its intercity fleet | Deutsche Bahn AG. Retrieved February 7, 2020 .
  43. ↑ WESTbahn tickets are now also available from your tobacconist. ( Memento of October 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Company press release from May 2012 (PDF)
  44. ^ Westbahn against ÖBB: No "price war". In: Austria. orf.at , April 3, 2011, accessed on August 23, 2011
  45. ↑ Westbahn increases prices for commuters. ORF Vienna, September 2, 2013
  46. ↑ Currently in VOR: Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region. Archived from the original on November 27, 2012 ; accessed on December 12, 2017 .
  47. ↑ Verkehrsverbund Ostregion stops payments to WESTbahn! Archived from the original on January 6, 2014 ; accessed on December 12, 2017 .
  48. ↑ westbahn.at , cf. ÖBB ticket shop  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) for the route Vienna Westbahnhof - Vienna-Hütteldorf@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / ticketing.oebb.at
  49. ↑ The Westbahn "extends" routes for higher tariffs. In: orf.at , March 29, 2014, accessed on December 11, 2014
  50. ^ Westbahn-Kilometerbank: price increase is illegal. ( Memento of December 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) April 24, 2014, accessed on December 11, 2014
  51. ↑ WESTbahn. Retrieved March 25, 2019 .
  52. ↑ WESTbahn website. Retrieved June 24, 2015
  53. ^ Dangerous meeting on the Western Railway. In: Kurier.at , December 11, 2012.
  54. ↑ Problems with the doors again. In: Courier of December 13, 2012
  55. ↑ Stadler Rail trains have to cross more slowly. In: Tages-Anzeiger , December 12, 2012
  56. ↑ Dozens of passengers were stuck in the Wienerwald tunnel. In: Kurier , July 24, 2013
  57. ↑ After a standstill in the tunnel, “braking problem” causes excitement. In: Kurier , July 26, 2013
  58. ↑ The stop signal being driven over led to a train accident in Linz. In: diepresse.com. Retrieved August 24, 2017 .