Mr. Scratchy, without pulling this discussion too far off-topic, let's ask the question "If going by train from Miami to West Palm, who would you prefer to ride - Amtrak or Brightline"?
I don't think Amtrak would get too many votes.
But over there, Westbahn, with their Stadler EMU sets, competes "virtually head-to-head" with OBB; only reason for inserting "virtually" is that Westbahn serves Wien-Westen, which is an "adequate station" located some three klicks West of the "Stadtmitte", whereas of course, the OBB serves the magnificent Hauptbahnhoff (about 1.5 klicks South of "Stadt...") and further continues directly to the airport. Other main stations - Innsbruck, Munich, Salzburg, and Linz, are the same for each carrier.
I'm sure it is safe assumption that just like Amtrak and the host roads, there is the "who's got priority on the OBB owned tracks". On a Westbahn journey, an English speaking Conductrix (married to a retired US Air Force officer) said to me "if they pull it too often, we see them at Federal Court, and they get fined".
Westbahn fares are notably less than are OBB. If all you want is a ride and 2nd Class will do, Westbahn is your best bet. Now if you want 1st Class, and especially if you desire to imbibe with a "half" (375ml) of Gruner Veltliner and if you want an apparently "expensive and not too good" meal served at seat, then go with the OBB Rail Jet. On that point, Westbahn offers 1st Class as well, but only slot machine snacks.
So much for an Austrian travelog; understand if this is killed - especially since it's really all moot now that Amtrak has cast their chips to replace their entire "conventional" fleet with Siemens equipment.
Last edited by Gilbert B Norman on Thu Jan 05, 2023 8:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.