Even in the best run rail systems problems can happen

. . . rail transport is for many {locals} the main method of short-, medium- and long-distance transport. {my input}

I agree. In my first trip to Europe the only time I rode in a car was when relatives picked me up from Heathrow Airport. Once at our "base" we took the train on long distance trips & the bus for shorter trips.

I was once on a train from Vienna to Munich and was delayed several hours due to something occurring (an accident I gathered) ahead. This included sitting at a station for some 30 minutes, to getting off there to board busses, to getting back on the train to sit for another ?? minutes before moving ahead, to getting off at another station to catch a different train into Munich some 30 minutes later. A lot of unhappy people including a distraught young lady who was going to miss her flight. I missed an important meeting in Munich and had to completely rework my plans.

Accidents happen and the lesson is to try and stay calm and go with the flow.

This is exactly why IMHO it's never a good idea for anyone to ever count on an early morning long-distance train ride for arrival at the airport in time for an overseas flight back home. I don't blame people for wanting to take advantage of every possible minute of a hard earned vacation, but they are unaware of the problem the rail systems are having with the overnight theft of copper wires and other metals used on the high-speed lines that cause surprise cancellations and delays. SNCF deals with this daily.

My first reaction was "What was the TGV doing on the tracks between Aarau and Olten?" When I used it in January, it was going on the Zurich-Baden-Brugg-Frick-Basel line. They must have switched recently to the tracks on the route through Lenzburg, Aarau, Sissach, and Liestal.

This morning Sunday 21 settembre, Firenze SMN signs reported system failure and delays up to an hour, affecting both runs of Firenze-Roma-Napoli lines, but when I studied the departure board, it appeared that only some Regionale trains were canceled.

My high-speed train left on time at 10:04 AM, and I got to Roma on time. WooHoo!

@Bets. I am afraid I disagree. Disruptions and delays like this a very rare. That is why it was headlines on the TV news.
Changing from a flight to a train I would never book a specific train, Planes are frequently 1-2 hours late.

@Sam. The TGV's run non-stop Zürich to Basel, so they can go either by the Liestal-Aarau or the Frick-Brugg route. Most non-stop Basel - Zürich trains go by the Liestal route, it is slightly quicker (though by less than 5 minutes). Some trains are routed the other way, probably due to lack of capacity. I am sure while this blockage was on all trains were sent the Frick-Brugg route.

Thanks, Chris F. Always good to be remended...

I took Bets' post as a general reminder that 'stuff happens' and both of your posts as a reminder that CNN International is no substitute for local news coverage. Unless a railcar goes off a cliff or there are multiple fatalities, you won't learn of it from CNN (etc.). Unfortunately, most of us wouldn't be able to understand the local news coverage :-( At least this type of news story would typically be accompanied by photos or video. Of course, by the time I saw the video and realized it was a train problem, I would also probably have missed when and where it had occurred :-(

So...on departure day, be within a taxi ride to the airport. Just.In.Case.

And on Chris' point about buying rail tickets in advance for use immediately after arrival, I definitely do this when I can realize great savings on the ticket price. BUT I make the train departure for several hours after my intended arrival time to give me some time cushion; I think usually around 3 hours after I could reasonably make my way to the train station and NOT 3 hours from my intended airplane arrival time. So far, so good, but if I ever missed a train departure and had to buy a new ticket I would still come out waaay ahead than if I had been purchasing last-minute full-fare tickets all of these years. But I do know it's a gamble.

It's great that flights were delayed for late-arriving train passengers (which speaks to Chris' point about the importance and intergration of the rail system throughout Europe)...hopefully those flights were able to make up some of the time in air In order to avoid a domino effect of late arrivals and missed connections.

And YEA, Sandra! Woo-Hoo indeed!

"... BUT I make the train departure for several hours after my intended arrival time to give me some time cushion"

Waiting three hours to take a two hour train connection on a discounted ticket when you could take a regional train for three hours immediately for about the same price with a regional ticket hardly makes sense.

For instance, if you were arriving at FRA and going to Rothenburg, you could buy an RMV ticket to Kahl and use a Bayern-Ticket from there. The trip would take about 3¾ hrs. Cost would be 23+7,80=30,80€ for one, 27+15,20=42,20€ for two.

With advance purchase, depending on how early you book, you might get tickets for 19€ for one, 29€ for two, for a 2¾ hour trip (plus an extra 15 min getting out to the Fernbahnhof).

So, with regional tickets, you might pay 12-13€ more, but, unless the flight is two hours late, you'd get to Rothenburg sooner.

Chris, You are absolutely right that the actual delays of this magnitude are rare. When it happens in France, there are reports on the French news, as well, which is how we've seen on both the news and the "mags" (we have TV5 and France 24) that SNCF is dealing with overnight theft all over France and has crews out inspecting and replacing materials daily. So as Eileen said--be no more than a cab ride away. Don't count on the 6 am train from Avignon getting you to CDG for the 1 pm flight. Anything could happen.

I think it varies from country to country where and when train delays happen.

Sometimes it is wires, sometimes it is people who have reached the end of their tether. Sometimes it is weather.

In my part of the world, while my company runs more than 9 out of 10 trains within 5 minutes of scheduled arrival at destination, when things do go pear shaped we can end up with hours of disruption. If something is important to me I leave one or two trains ahead of when I normally would.

Often even only moderate issue of an hour or so can wind up with crews and trains out of position can drag on for quite a long time.

While it is rare in Switzerland I have also suffered delays there. Last year my Milano to Basel train had to detour around Olten because that line was closed due to a person with issues.

If time is critical, even in Switzerland, I always leave a buffer.

I'm having trouble wrapping my gourd around the flight delays.

How many people are one a train?
How many of those people were headed to the airport?
Of those headed to the airport, how many had imminent departures?
Of those with imminent departures, how many were on the same flight/s?
How much does it cost an airline to delay a flight by fifteen minutes?

I think I know the answer to only the last question.

"Waiting three hours to take a two hour train connection on a discounted ticket when you could take a regional train for three hours immediately for about the same price with a regional ticket hardly makes sense."

No it doesn't. But I'm usually saving around 200-250€+ for the two of us, so it makes sense for us. If traveling a bit down the road and a regional train is an option...then yes, I'll probably wait and buy the tickets there for a little more money in exchange for more flexibility. In the meantime, those 2-3 hours are used to freshen up, endure passport control, find and eat breakfast/lunch, stretch our legs a bit, buy some picnic supplies...so definitely not wasted time just sitting on a bench.

So sorry to hear the copper (etc.) thefts are popular there, too :-( They're both expensive (replacement materials and labor, plus man hours spent checking equipment around the clock for theft) and dangerous.

@Ed: How many people are on the train: a TGV holds around 750. But it wasn't the TGV passengers who caused the airport delays, that train was heading in the opposite direction, coming from Zürich.

A typical Swiss 10-coach intercity train like this one has 1000 seats. The line was blocked in both directions for 2 hours, plus delays for some hours thereafter. At a quick check of the timetable Bern to Zürich shows 3 intercities per hour, and and a similar number of stopping trains,. Plus two intercities per hour from Basel, plus local trains. All stuck waiting to go down this one section of track.

I guess somewhere between 50% and 75% of the passengers flying out of Zürich airport arrive by train. Those from Zürich city and Eastern Switzerland would have been OK. Most of those from Western Switzerland would have been affected.

Let's say 10% - 20% of the passengers arriving to fly out of Zürich airport over a 4+ hour window were delayed, some by many hours. And the check-in time for a European flight is 1 hour for a cheap airline, less for other airlines. So people aim to get to the airport about 2 hours before departure. When that many passengers are arriving late, and get stuck in queues in check-in and security, that will delay flights.