I only heard about the Gotthard tunnel disruption a couple days ago - the joy of holidays - but surely the rail-planning apps have been working hard all week updating their schedules, right?
Let's find out trying to plan a Zurich-Milano trip next Tuesday (August 22nd at 7:30am). Of the 10 apps I checked on August 18th (8 days after the accident), only 2 passed the "Gotthard tunnel test" of showing an optimal schedule 😬
TLDR (details in next toots):
- 2 optimal* ✅️: SBB/FFS/CFF (🇨🇭), DB (🇩🇪).
- 1 challenger 🐌: Rail Europe (🇪🇺).
- 6 incorrect ❌️: Trenitalia (🇮🇹), ÖBB (🇦🇹), SNCF (🇨🇵), Google Maps (🗺), Interrail (🇪🇺), Trainline (🇪🇺).
- 1 don't-take-the-train 🚫: Omio (🚌).
Overall, only 2 apps show the optimal schedule (7:33-11:50), while 6 show trains that don't exist anymore, 4 of which will gladly sell tickets/reservations at the EuroCity premium price.
*There's a big caveat though: the SBB schedule is only updated until August 23rd. So booking a train from the 24th still shows the old timetable even though it's clear at this point that passenger schedules won't recover for months. Only the fine print says that the schedule will be updated later...
#CrossBorderRail #GotthardTunnel #EuroCity #EuropeanTrainTravel @jon
