Published
Video length: 4 min
Transport: immersion in a car train linking Austria and Croatia
Transport: immersion in a car train linking Austria and Croatia
(France 2)
The auto-train, which allows you to take your car with you during a train journey, has not existed in France since 2019. In other countries, such as Austria, these trains still run.
Cars in the front and motorists in the back. Auto-trains are ecological means of transport that have disappeared in France. In Vienna, Austria, the France Télévisions teams went to meet fans of this service, starting with a couple with their motorcycle. The train runs three times a week and only in the summer. In 2023, 2,500 vehicles were transported, four times more than in 2021.
Austrian railway workers have a knack for getting cars on board the train. The journey begins in Vienna, continues through Slovenia, before arriving in Split, Croatia. On average, a third of passengers travel with their vehicle. Régis Vidal, a French holidaymaker, says he paid 800 euros for a round trip for three people and their car. In France, in the 1970s, it was possible to reach the Mediterranean or the Alps with these car trains. But the service was abandoned in 2019 by the SNCF, because it was not profitable enough. However, this alternative was more environmentally friendly.
