The journey between Bratislava and Vienna is relatively easy, it’s a train that runs every hour which doesn’t require a prior reservation and there’s only one class of ticket available. There are delays at the moment electrifying the line in central Bratislava, so that meant that I had to take the REX6 train from Bratislava Petrzalka station.
The whole thing did seem a little dated and as if it was last restored in the 1980s, but it was clean and the signage was clear. I purchased a single ticket from the ticket office and managed to somehow get a return ticket (maybe they just wanted me back), but that has worked out well. They could ideally use some ticket machines though to smooth this element out.
Mine was the 15:16 train.
My train was departing from Platform 1 and I realised that it arrived early, so I thought I’d go and have a look at it.
In a typical European compromise, half the train is Slovakian and the other half in Austrian. This is the Slovakian bit.
And here’s the Austrian bit.
The Austrian half had no tables, no power points and no air conditioning. It was also noticeably dirtier than the Slovakian half, but that must have been bad luck as I can’t imagine they have different cleaning teams (or maybe they do….).
Which meant that I went to sit in the Slovakian half. There’s nothing decadent about either half of the train, neither have First class and neither have catering.
I’m not convinced that this is the best place to put the power outlet, but there we go.
Safely into Vienna’s main station on time. It was a smooth journey, costing just under £10 and taking just over an hour. There are no ticket barriers, but my ticket was checked en route and the staff member seemed friendly and personable, with the whole arrangement feeling organised with announcements in Slovakian, German and English. Crossing borders has never been so easy…..
