On my journeys through Europe I had to travel from Salzburg in Austria to Lucerne in Switzerland by rail.This journey required a change of trains at the boarder. The time gap for the transfer was about five minutes.(which is ample by European standards)
We boarded at Salzburg and just as we were getting comfortable, the conductor informed us, that there was a mega block on the line from two stations down but alternative arrangements had been made.
We were very apprehensive about the alternative arrangements and in our minds we said ’’auf vider zen’’ to our connection.
Two stations down the line our train comes to a halt. Special porters board the train to help the old and infirmed. There are conductors standing at regular intervals on the platform to guide us to the temporary ramps specially put on the tracks so that we could proceed without much delay to the buses waiting to take us to the stations of our destination.
Our final destination was the last station on the Austrian line so the bus we were supposed to board, was going to transport us to that station from where the train services were running till the end of the line.
As Austrian countryside is second to none in beauty, we decided to be true travelers and enjoy the journey, instead of being in a hurry to reach the destination and miss out on all the secondary adventures taking place.
So, there we were, directed to our bus.The train was totally emptied and all the buses were now leaving fortheir respective destinations. Time gap between the train coming to a halt and the buses moving out. EXACTLY THREE MINUTES. The same time as the scheduled halt of the train on that station.
After traveling through breathtakingly beautiful countryside we reached our destination where a train was awaiting the arrival of the bus, with ramps and porters and conductors all in place to make the reverse transfer as hassle free as the original one.
Again, within less than three minutes we were off.With clockwork precision the entire transfer had taken place.All lcontingencies had beeen thoroughly provided for to ensure that the passengers were not inconvenienced in anyway whatso ever. Now we were certain that barring an Act Of God we would NOT miss our connection.
We FINALLY arrive at the last station on the line.
The Time: A minute before the scheduled arrival time of our original train.
With a BIG SMIILE on all our faces from the impromptu adventure, we boarded the Swiss train and The Swiss being the Swiss we depart on time.
The logistics and the perfect timing of this choreography by the Austrian railways holds me in awe whenever I remiss about this particular journey
God knows what we would have faced if this kind of a situation had to be tackled on the INDIAN RAILWAYS?