My first ride on the ÖBB Nightjet - disappointing! Sleeper Cabin Review
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- Hello, and welcome back to another train trip report on my channel.
In this video I will be travelling on-board the ÖBB Nightjet from Basel Bad Bf to Berlin Hbf.
This was my first time trying out the Nightjet, and I had booked a Standard Sleeper cabin on this long route. Sadly I was left somewhat disappointed, find out why!
Enjoy the video. :)
#Nightjet #ÖBB #tripreport
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Journey Details:
Origin: Basel Bad Bf
Destination: Berlin Hbf
Company: ÖBB - Nightjet
Train: DB 101 + Nightjet
Accommodation: T3 - Three Bed Sleeper
Distance: 559 miles / 899 kilometres
Price: €229.90 (£208.30 / $271.30)
Time: 10h23m + 3L
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You can actually see the old DB-Style stickers everywhere , so this defnitely is an old DB CityNightLine train, and probably hasn't been refurbished since. ÖBB has already orderd new night jet trains.
FYI the upcoming nightjet sets will be used for the trains to Italy (Milan and Roma)
@@bernardbouzon5499 at first yes but they ordered 33 sets of 7 car trains so will be more then just those 2 routes
A really great report - and a super breakfast! But what a bummer, having no running water on board! Despite your unfavorable experience, I have to give ÖBB a lot of credit for reviving overnight sleeper service in western Europe after DB and SNCF dropped it. It may be a loss-maker now, but in the larger picture, I believe these trains will gain in popularity and become a financial success.
It was a let down, but I agree it's good to have so many routes back.
I seem to recall reading that it makes a profit?
They clearly forgot to refill water into carriage in Zürich, nothing else. I don't know what policy do they have there.
I travelled in the same sleeping car type - the Comfortline - from Vienna to Udine, and it is by far the best sleeper I've ridden to date. Of course the train came directly from Nightjet workshops in Matzleinsdorf, so it was fully equipped with water and both showers and taps worked perfectly.
If you want to try the double-decker sleeping car, be aware that "Economy" compartments are really small. Probably OK if you buy entire room ("Single"), but if you share in "Double" (like me), there is not enough place for two people and their luggage. Still the beds are very comfortable (like in Comfortlines) and they are very smooth riders, though the air conditioning system appears to be a little louder.
The main praise NJ gets for its breakfast. It is in its own league.
Interesting, thanks for the info. And I agree the breakfast is nice. :)
I took the NJ from Brussels to Vienna last September. During the night, the power was cut off, so no fresh air, no water to flush the toilets, etc. Upon arrival I sent a polite complaint to the ÖBB and without any fuss, 50% of my deluxe ticket was refunded.
Wow, good result there!
For on 6:14 maybe you can ask the attendant for restarting the water pump. I have same experience like that when i took Nightjet from Wien to Amsterdam last month, and it works and the shower flow nicely with a good pressure
Both stations in Basel are in two countries. The Bad Bahnhof is operated by DB and has a border crossing to Germany. The Basel SBB is operated by... SBB, but contains also the french part operated by SNCF where the border crossing to France happens.
Interesting, didn't think about that actually!
border crossing is not the same as geographical boundary.
Your new intro is fantastic! As to the trip, I would have been very disappointed with the lack of water. Like you, I've only heard great things about the service, so I'm surprised.
Thank you very much, made it myself! :)
I am booked on Nightjet twice more this year, so we will see how that goes.
I used to live in Switzerland 🇨🇭, know Basel Bad and Basel SBB well, started many a journey in one of these stations., usually travelling to visit friends in Bonn and Düsseldorf.....really interesting video..thanks..
Interesting! Thanks for watching, glad you liked. :)
The "discoball"? The Swiss are renowned dancers, especially at evenings in railway stations, where they mostly like to foxtrot! Lovely video. Thanks.
Sounds like I'm missing out. 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks!
What date was that trip exactly?
Always report problems like this (low water pressure or hardly any water at all, but also the broken latch on the sink door) to the train staff. It's unlikely they can repair it on the run (probably a broken pump or they have forgotten to refill fresh water in Zürich?) but it helps to get it repaired sooner. However with the 4-day rotation this car is in (Wien - Zürich - Berlin - Zürich - Wien) it will be two more nights before they can go to the workshop in Vienna (if this is not something that can be fixed in a few hours).
These sleeping-cars were built 2003 to 2005 for Deutsche Bahn and sold 2016 to ÖBB. Since the network is being expanded, they will remain in service as new units are delivered from 2023. I guess it's time for a refurbishment (having only one charging outlet per compartment, plus one for the shaver, is another thing frequently criticized). But I assume that can only start once the new units are in service because currently most cars are needed in service.
A workaround to clean up yourself would be to go to the adjacent couchette car and use the washroom there when it's free ....
I had a terrible experience on the Nightjet.
I was travelling with my wife and daughter from Brussels to Vienna. We had booked a 4 bed sleeper.
There was a defective carriage so they squeezed 7 people into our compartment.
The staff we very unhelpful and rude.
The beds were uncomfortable.
We were over a n hour late into Vienna.
I complained to the company but didnt get any kind of response or compensation.
I would recommend steering well clear of the Nightjet.
Had a deluxe single from Munchen to Rome in 2018. Loved everything about it...
I bet that's an experience! So many routes I'd love to do... 😎
Quite expansive. I had a similar experience on NightJet last autumn from Milano to Munich.
My main complaints: price and the lack of space. Of course I travelled in 3 berths Sleeper Cabin having the higher bed. Very very uncomfortable. At least the showers were working fine.
I mean is not a very bad night service, just that it is very expensive than the quality they provide.
Have a nice day and thanks for the video.
Hello, I don't know who you are, but I react to your comment. Travel is only for the rich. When I see the price of the trains, I pass out!!! It's appalling.
I guess I had a bang of a deal then. I just bought my Euronight tickets from Krakow to Vienna. Total of about 50 euros, including ticket and lower bunk in 3-people sleeping compartment. Hopefully the water is working, though I will probably enjoy the journey regardless! Sleeper cabins in my country (Finland) seem to be a lot more expensive, as well as the ticket itself for a journey this long.
Did you speak to the attendant about the shower and low water pressure in the carriage?
Mark 3 Coaches In The UK Are The Most Quietest And Most Cozy Coaches For Travel & Sleepers
On the old CItyNightLine I have been in a 4 sleeper and 2 sleeper and I loved both of them Zurich to Berlin and Duisburg to Vienna. Though that was 21 and 16 years ago. I guess if the carriages have not seen much love it will effect experience. I plan to take a another Amtrak holiday in February next year. Their sleepers are very expensive and the food service has sadly gone right down since I last rode their long distance trains.
I travel often on the Zurich-Vienna nightjet and am usually booked in the double decker which is often rather uncomfortable as the cabins there offer ridiculously little room. I was once forced to share a compartment with another passenger in a double due to the train being fully booked and there was absolutely no room for anything. It hardly fit me alone there. A single is a bit better but no comparison room-wise to this standard oebb sleeper you traveled on.
Interesting... I will have to try one of the double-decker sleepers to see what I think!
You got off quite lightly. The other week, I did the Nightjet from Brussels to Vienna. The sleeper cars weren't available, so I was given a couchette room instead. Terrible night's sleep. Was nearly 2hrs late into Vienna due to the portion from Amsterdam being held up. Got a considerable refund. Despite that, it's still more comfortable than flying economy 😄
Oh no!! That sounds really really bad. :/
I went from Cologne to Innsbruck, and it was fabulous! And the shower worked perfectly, too, I seem to remember. Did you mention it to the attendant, and if so, what did they say?
Cool video, I enjoyed watching it. Hello from South Africa.
Thank you. :)
I caught the NightJet the other day from Munich to Amsterdam. It looked identical to this one, although the shower worked. I was interested to see how you got the table to work. I didn't realise there was one. I think Nightjet need to include a cabin guide. The attendant explained the lights and asked when I wanted breakfast.
Some of the fixtures can be a bit of a challenge, I can't even remember how long it took to figure out.
Did you happen to enquire to the sleeping car attendant if you could have been moved to a different cabin/car with functional services or were you stuck with what you reserved? 🤔
Sadly it was the only sleeping car on this route, the others being couchette/seating without a shower anyway.
The rest of the sleeping cars were going to Hamburg.
Ha! The table: When I rode in one of these sleepers in summer 2022, the attendant was struggling and telling me these tables do not work properly...
We have to remember, that these sleepers, WLABmz 73-90, are reaching 20 years already!
The double-deckers, they were built in the 90's....
Looking forward to the new NJs!!
I definitely want to see a video between Basel - Hamburg on that double decker unit. I do believe they run from Basel - Vienna too if I am correct? I really want to ride ontop one of those sometime.
They have a few routes yeah, I'd love to try such unique carriages.
Is the sleeper cabin you got just a standard couchette but with the rest of the beds folded up to create more space?
Hi! Could you explain how you got a discounted ticket with the Interrail Pass and how to get one eventually? Did you purchase the ticket through the OBB website or through another platform? Thx.
You'll want to go to this link:
tickets.oebb.at/
Then select 'Interrail / Eurail Global Pass' as your discount when specifying the passengers.
In your case I think I might have made a fuss with the attendant, he could have gotten the shower working and fixed the broken hinge or changed you to a different room where everything worked. Sometimes it pays to be a pain in the tucus.
Great report and very fair. I'd heard nothing but praise for NightJet so it was disappointing to see so many failings on this journey. Was there a buffet car available, or disabled access?
No buffet car, snack service available from the attendant. Wheelchair access was good, with a dedicated room in the couchette car.
I was on a similar OBB night train from Wroclaw to Vienna in the deluxe ensuite with shower cabin which was very good with unlimited hot water. Due to post-covid there was no bistro car and the attendant disappeared so I could not order food but luckily I brought my own. All-in-all I hope the improved nightjets will be the future of travel in Europe!! :)
So if I want to Travel to Zurych or Munich it is better to start on German station?
This makes you wonder if Europe is really serious about the revival of overnight trains. Nightjet starts a service with exactly the same equipment that drove people away from overnight trains in the past. The same thing in France, bring back overnight sleeping car train with a mixture of 1960's hippy trail 6 berth sleepers and suburban type coaches. None of this is serious. It's all some sort of half-assed ESG theatre.
Low cost flights drove people away from overnight trains, not the trains itself. In fact, they are coming back for nostalgia and that climate bulshit, not because people really need them.
The six berth 'hippy style' sleepers as you call them never went away - they are called Couchette coaches and most Nightjet consists include at last two alongside a full sleeper and a seated coach. In France, it was SNCF trying to save money that spelled the end of sleepers - but even that is now being reversed. Catering on Nightjet is performed by Newrest - otherwise known in a previous life as Wagonlits, hence the high standard. You complain about the cost but factor in that not only are you travelling, you are also getting a bed for the night so saving hotel costs.
Did the Nightjet from Venice to Vienna yesterday. Terrible experience, no running water in the toliet, closest toliet broken, a cupboard in the aisle swinging open and closed all night. No welcome bag, attendents didn't show us our room properly. The train was noisy and uncomfortable.
There is option of standard and first clas what’s the difference
It has to be mentioned that all of this equipment is a temporary solution, second hand from previously failed DB CityNightLine in this case.
The actual Nightjets will be completely new highspeed push-pull train sets similar to Railjets, supposedly in regular service from next year:
ruclips.net/video/8e54969RNVs/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/3QWMQ_sE3t0/видео.html
I thought the plan was to run both of them, for a massive expansion?
Very informative.
Thank you. :)
Great trip report
Thank you :)
Amazing and do make video of double decker carriages.
Thanks, I will try to soon!
You didn't tell the attendant that the shower wasn't working and the tap in your compartment had no water pressure? That's the first thing I would have done.
Was there no alternative shower in an other coach?
This was the only coach with shower on my route.
Okay, für 230 € kann man etwas mehr erwarten. Mein Englisch reicht nicht aus, um Details zu verstehen. Negativ war offensichtlich besonders das fehlende Wasser. Oder sehe ich das falsch ? Danke, dass endlich mal ein Video über den Badischen Bahnhof von Basel gemacht wurde. Über diesen Bahnhof von Basel wird in Videos sehr "stiefmütterlich" informiert. Eine riesige Empfangshalle. Alles wirkt etwas überdimensioniert. Hoffentlich kann sich der Badische Bahnhof halten. Danke für die Mühe des Videos.
Thank you. :)
Too much expensive than italian Trenitalia IntercityNotte, whose sleeper coaches are, in my opinion, pretty the same thing. Anyway, the kit offered for the night is great for me. P.S. I've experienced lack of shower also on IntercityNotte
True, the ICN is a lot cheaper!
Suppose it’s not the best sleeper train and is probably the worst sleeper train in Europe. Still I like your videos and content as always so keep up with the good work. ☺️
You have not been to Ukraine yet …
@@janv777 Probarly not but I do wish Ukraine good luck and hope that they can win the war.
I wouldn't say it's the worst in Europe by any means, just an unfortunate journey.
Ukrainian sleeper trains are lovely, I've done lots of them in 2019, 2021, 2022... 💙💛
@@SuperalbsTravels I've seen some lovelly sleeper trains, but many horrible too.
thank you, superalbs travels! Your video is very interesting. Traveling is a luxury. It's for the rich. It's very complicated to organize, and in the end it's very expensive. The main thing is to travel, that's all. Thanks for your video.
Thank you Louis LE GRAND. :)
Can you ride metronom bahn in Germany 🇩🇪 👍 nightjet is a good train
Video's score: 10
....again.
Thank you! :)
Plz do a 374 review like u promised to
When did I promise that?
The Javelin review and the oldest TGV review
Hi there, I have booked OBB Nightjet from Vienna to Berlin in May at Seating cariage, but I didn't chose compartment Coach 2nd class, I chose Comfort Ticket/Flex at Private compartment - exclusively for you or your group(max. 3 adults per compartment). Do you have any idea what the difference is? Is it better?
It is a little more expensive than compartment Coach 2nd class. We are 3 persons and we want to know if we can enjoy a little rest, bearing in mind that in the normal compartment we can make the seats into beds only if we are the only ones in the compartment of 6.
Thanks.
why doesn't Basel buy this station for itself? It's like the airport which is split in two pieces one for France and one for Switzerland. I've never seen this stupidity on earth like in Switzerland.
your report is just way too positive for this train (be it the Hamburg or the Berlin sections). The cars are very old and worn out, the attendants were lazy and unhelpful, the public toilet and shower was filthy and NOT inviting, we got no nitecap (cheap carbonized wine), and in the morning the attendant did not bring any breakfast until after we had reminded him twice. The train arrived late, due to the customary DB delays, we were not advised we had reached our destination. ETC. I have already written twice to their customer service, and just got apologies but I fear the spirit was not to please the customer but to save money with everything. I might take sleeper in 2024 but.... Night train service has never been a pleasant experience in Central Europe. Except in Scandinavia.
Excellent video 🍷🍷🍷🍷🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥳🥳🥳🥳💖💖💖💖💖💖
Thanks 🤗
I frequently see a lot of trip reporters praise these overnight trains, but I don't really see why. Overnight trains can't live up to air travel yet, especially in terms of price. A lot of people see it as an alternative, but it's way more expensive, and even if you try to spend less, you'll need to share your room. No thank you, I'll rather sit in a cramped Ryanair aircraft for 2h than sleep with strangers for 10h for sometimes 5x the price. If overnight trains get cheaper, they might get to be an alternative, but currently they aren't.
Well, for travelling with Ryanair you may have first get to an airport. In my position this will be +2h. At the final destination: That often takes additionaly +1h plus 1h for receiving your luggage. You‘ve to get earlier for check-in, security queue…+1,5h. With a plane the trip will take around 7h.
I‘ll rather sleep 8h in a train to arrive at my destination in the morning instead of getting stressed at an airport … finally you arrive at afternoon and be happy only to get into your hotel…the day is finished. You might payed only 50€ for the flight, but have to pay around 80-130€ for the night in a hotel…you need to pay transfer from airport to hotel (London Stansted 25€) plus getting to the airport when starting the journey …25€. => 180-230€. I wouldn‘t save money by travelling by plane.
@@janv777 So the Night Train takes as long as a flight but is more expensive? That's what I said in my comment. If you book a Hotel or just use a flight that fits your schedule is your choice, so you can defnitely delete that from your list. Reciving your luggage does not take 1h since Ryanair flies to small airports (It doesnt take 1h at big Airports aswell). Check-In with Ryanair can be done online. Security Queues generally take 10min, not 1h as you said. Have you ever even taken a plane? Your comment makes me think otherwise.
And the annoyance of sleeping with complete strangers in a room is still much worse.
NJ is not the future of travel and train fans need to understand that. It might be in the future, but right now it's just not practical, too expensive and too uncomfortable
@@mstrmren Remember you save a night's hotel bill.
@@mstrmren i agree with you. Honestly day trains (especially on early booking or as part of a longer interrail trip due to lower ticket prices) are vastly superior, for them you can actually make an argument against planes as, yeah, travel time is a bit longer but comfort is also much higher. No such thing on these Nightjet trains. As you said, having to share a cramped cabin to be somewhat economical is a huge negative. You can say 'you save a night of hotel costs' but it's more like you save a 15 euro night at a cheap hostel dorm.
One thing I never hear people mention in these videos as well is the motion sickness or at least poor quality of sleep. Lying in a bed perpendicular to the direction of travel without a way to look outside on a flimsy mattress and over winding rail lines, one has to have quite a sturdy stomach and vestibular system not to suffer from it. I get that these 3- or 6-berth compartments were the way of the world in 1975 but there's a reason CNL went out of business for example. It would be so easy to re-imagine night travel for the 21st century in the rolling stock itself. Japan has some great examples of night trains or even luxury night buses that are much better value and comfort. Lying in a bed next to a window parallel to direction of travel, solo, no shunting shenanigans that lead to routine 3 hour delays, modern sanitary and room control technology. Even the new railjet stock sucks hard in comparison. If we really want to re-imagine overnight train travel in Europe as the European Union wants, we need to get some people designing trains that aren't stuck in 50 year old paradigms. As for now, this product isn't worth it.
@@BubblesBub434 look up the new Nightjets. They are way superior to these old ones. If prices would be half of what you pay today, they could really be a nice alternative.
Folding seat in shower: I suppose this is for people (like me) who can't (un)dress while standing.
Thanks, and glad you can travel with my videos. :)
like sleepers, but this is rather primitive!
I am also a fan, but it was disappointing...
horrible Swiss ? station, looks like a bunker
I like the discoball at least! 😃😃😃
Pls do a Dutch trip report 🙏🏻🇳🇱
Okay, I will try! :)
@@SuperalbsTravels thx very much man!
It's totally overpriced
Not really…
You weren't lucky that day. Did you get any refund ?