The checks by the German federal police at Freilassing (Salzburg) train station are a long-standing problem that causes many problems for train operators and passengers alike. Now a railway construction site on the route between Munich and Salzburg threatens to significantly worsen the situation.
A murmur goes by Railjet number 64 from Salzburg to Munich. “That can’t be true, we’re too late now,” says one passenger, annoyed. Others look nervously at their watches and worry about the connecting train. Reason for the excitement: the border controls of the German federal police at the Freilassing train station. There, officials closely monitor every train and every passenger. As recently became known, the checks will last at least until November.
The forced pauses result in a rat tail. This can be an odyssey for travelers traveling on long-distance trains from Munich. “I often don’t go home until the evening. If I miss the connecting train, I can see where I am,” says Annette Müller, who commutes several times a month between Leipzig and Salzburg. She doesn’t understand “why the police don’t just check Salzburg like they used to”.
Construction site will overturn the timetable
“In fact, we are already late with every train,” says Arnulf Schuchmann, director of the Bavarian Regional Railways (BRB). In the checks he locates a “violation of EU law”. The delay in regional traffic is usually eight to fifteen minutes – long-distance trains, however, often take half an hour or more in Freilassing. Even though that is annoying enough and causes missed connections and irritated passengers, Schuchmann predicts “mad chaos” for the summer. The reason for this: construction work by Deutsche Bahn between Salzburg and Rosenheim. “The route will then become single-lane, which means that the entire timetable will be thrown overboard,” the Bahn boss is sure. That is why the company is even considering temporarily no longer going to the Salzburg train station,
The delays caused by the controls are also “inconvenient” for ÖBB, says railway spokesman Christoph Gasser-Mair. Even at the Westbahn people are not very pleased with the controls. “We always have delays. How fast it goes depends on how well the travelers are prepared,” explains spokeswoman Iris Volpert. In any case, it was promised that the officials in Salzburg would board for the duration of the construction site and check the journey to Freilassing, explains Volpert.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
