HEADS-UP! All Nightjets to/from Italy (except to Venice) aren't running in July of 2022

  • 17 February 2022
  • 11 replies
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Yeah, what I said in the title really…

These are among the most popular night train routes on the continent, and not only is July peak season on a normal year, but 2022 will also be the first proper chance many people have had to travel abroad since the pandemic began. Accordingly there will be a lot of travellers planning to use these trains in July, and this track work couldn’t really have come at a worse time. :-(

I’m aware that quite a few of the more expert users of this forum will already have known about this, but hopefully anyone who didn’t - and was counting on these trains for their itinerary - will see this reminder and adjust their plans accordingly.

One possible alternative option for those who had been planning to come from Munich is the Trenitalia sleeper from Bozen, but this is on weekends only and only works for those travelling to Rome.


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Userlevel 3
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Source?

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I initially noticed it on a warning indicator when route-planning on OEBB’s Scotty app, but it’s most simply evidenced on the Nightjet website, under Italy. https://www.nightjet.com/en/reiseziele/italien

Expand every single service box on the above page and you’ll find all say “(except July)”, apart from Munich to Venice and Vienna to Venice.

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Oh, I see. Bad news :/

Userlevel 5
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I know :-(

It’s worth noting that, on closer inspection (run an enquiry for July on Scotty to see the detail of this,) the closure isn’t of the Tarvisio line at large, but only the 1.5km between Villach Hbf and Wbf - and they say rail-replacement buses are being arranged.

Hopefully this will mean Micotra services can still run (albeit starting from Wbf), but I don’t know about the Vienna-Venice Railjet - presumably OEBB would just run extra IC buses on their Villach-Venice route instead?

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The Nightjet Vienna/Munich to Venice will run via Ljubljana instead of Tarvisio, due to works on the line between Villach and Udine. 

 

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Looking at alternative north-south routes on OEBB Scotty, there are also other unfortunately coincidental track improvements OEBB are simultaneously embarking on in mid-late July.

There’s works between Bregenz and Feldkirch, as well as between Mittenwald and Innsbruck, at the same time as DB are working on Munich to Rosenheim (impacting trains both to Salzburg and to Innsbruck). The Mittenwald route, being entirely single-track, will not be operating at all during this time, but trains on the others will only be subject to timing changes (though to what extent I don’t know).

It’s my first time interrailing this summer and I’m trying to make a seat reservation on the Vienna to Venice night train on the 27th July. However, both the interrail app and the OBB website say that tickets are unavailable. Is that because they haven’t been released yet, or has it really been fully booked up now that this is apparently one of the few night trains in Italy this summer?

Userlevel 7
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@cshel  The train won´t be fully booked yet. I guess the train is just not open for bookings :) As in July the train will take a different Route and they haven´t yet the new timetable.

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Hmmm, having run your query myself just now I can see what you mean. It’s not allowing reservation at all, but it still does in August, after the works have finished - so it’s not that you’re ahead of the booking window.

However, the July train should still be running, and you can see the effect of the Slovenian rerouting Angelo mentioned in the delay that displays on the results screen. I don’t believe for a moment that it’s already entirely booked, because it’s similarly impossible every other day of the month I tried and there are an awful lot of berths, bunks and seats to fill on one of these trains.

What I’d do is fill out a query form with OEBB themselves at this link: https://www.oebb.at/en/reiseplanung-services/kundenservice/allgemeine-anfrage

I asked them something the other week and they got back to me within a few days, which is certainly a much better response rate than some rail companies (*cough* Trenitalia)...

Hi ! 
I just ran into this problem. I really wanted to take the nightjet from Munchen to Florence. Does anyone knows other routes that wil get me to Florence? Daytime trains are also fine..?  If i look on the planner app it says that there is a train from Munchen to Travisio and then Travisio to Florence. But the traincode also says NJ which stands for NightJet so that got me quite confused.. 

Can some one help me? Thanks! 

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Hello - by daytime train this should be reasonably straightforward if you aren’t averse to paying a few extra fees. There are several direct EC trains every day between Munich and Bologna, and Bologna is just half an hour away from Florence through tunnels under the Apennines.

If you want to save €10 on the last bit, you can get from Bologna to Florence via the old route on reservation-free regional trains with a change at Prato, or directly with the occasional IC train for €3.

You should now be able to make any necessary bookings for this trip at oebb.at, but if you are booking both an EC and an IC/Frecciarossa you may need to buy the two parts in separate transactions.

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