DO YOU BELIEVE THIS ????

It was on the train from Vienna to Hamburg. Normally about a 12 hour train ride.
This time, though, the train ran late. Due to a construction site, the train had to be re-routed and therefore had lost precious time.
There was great jubilation and several passengers with obvious glee took photographs of  Hamburg's station clock, so they might have a record of this wonderful experience. It is, of course, not every day that a train from Vienna to Hamburg arrives 121 minutes, that is 2 hours and 1 minute, behind schedule. This is true reason to celebrate. Isn't it?
You think these passengers had all gone a bit crazy, maybe due to the pressure and anxiety of coming 2 hours late to an important business meeting, or maybe to their own wedding ?
I mean, how often do you hear about passengers on a train celebrating the fact that they are arriving at their destination late? Two hours late? Two hours and one minute late?
It does seem a bit Kafkaesque, doesn't it?

What then did those passengers celebrate?
Very simple! They celebrated the fact that, due to the delay of their arrival they will be refunded part of the price of the ticket:
If the train is late by one hour or more, each passenger who completes a request-form receives a refund of 25%. Should they be so lucky as to run 2 hours late, they receive a 50%  refund. It matters not if the delay was caused by 'force majeur' such as a flood, or a mud slide or any other natural disaster, out of the control of the railway, or however caused. The refunds are payable upon request. 

The number of travellers who are lucky enough to obtain such refunds climbs from year to year, although the rate of punctuality seems to improve. In the year 2010 there were 10.400 lucky travellers. This number climbed in 2011 to 21,000, 
At the end of 2012 the Austrian Railways paid a cool 358,000 Euros ( about 482,000 Dollars) to its lucky customers. Due to Europe-wide flooding conditions it is expected that this years pay-outs will establish a new record.

Now, it is not as if the Austrian Railways made huge profits in their operations and could well afford this generosity. The fact is, that the ÖBB is writing huge deficits which must be covered out of the Governments General Revenue, the ÖBB being a State-run organisation. This means that if a train runs late, the Austrian Taxpayer finances the penalty.

Sorry... can't talk to you any more... gotta rush to catch my train, hoping that it will NOT arrive on time.

Bertstravels....