One of our offspring was posted to Prague for a six month stint so it was inevitable that mother would blag a week's free accommodation during that period. A couple of days were set aside for a trip to Vienna. Prague main station is an impressive affair boasting many platforms and some interesting looking double decker commuter trains such as this one:-



The train to Vienna was made up of Czech railways coaches hauled by an OBB Taurus. The trip takes about four and a half hours which is not particularly fast but the line follows several river valleys on its way to Brno before crossing the border just beyond Brecslav. In the Czech Republic, the train travels on the right hand line and in Austria it's on the left. The service stops at several outlying stations in Vienna, with Wien Miedling being the one with the metro link into the centre.

After a couple of good days sight seeing a night at the Volksopera, a lot cheaper than the State opera, we returned in good time for our return trip of four and a half hours. During the thirty minutes or so of waiting, a wide variety of trains passed through. These are some of them.

The OBB seems to have a very large number of Siemens Taurus locos. This one is on a suburban shuttle service


where the shuttle has been named "Wiesel"


This non Taurus hauled train is heading for Maribor in Slovenia


And this service originated in Warsaw and consists of Polish railways coaches behind an OBB Taurus. The last coach in this train was also OBB stock.


The tail end of a departing Wiesel.


The station also hosts Railjet services. This one was bound for Budapest


And a video of three trains. The first and third capture the characteristic Taurus start up sound. The second was our train to Prague complete with Czech Railways coaches.