CD Avis 12

Almost 6 hours from Vienna to Prague on a direct " express" railjet, for a 350 km distance, due to apparent construction works all over the Czech rail net. Well, at least the fare was cheap!

Everything is wrong, the train was late, we had to change trains because of a problem, which means i had to get off with baggages and get on another one
Plus, our reserved seats from the previous train was already used by other people in the new train, although the driver said that we could go to our same seat number, what a scam.
My baby had to sit in the stroller, my other 2 kids had to sit separately, we had to stand, what a terrible experience.
Will never ever use the same train company in this lifetime

I recently traveled on ČD Train 78 from Vienna to Prague on June 4th, 2025, with a first-class ticket purchased through Trainline.com. Unfortunately, the experience was far from what I expected.

Upon reaching Brno, a large number of passengers boarded and claimed the seats we occupied, citing last-minute reservations. This was particularly distressing as I was traveling with two elderly individuals and a 5-month-old baby. Despite our situation, the new passengers immediately took our seats without waiting for us to gather our belongings.

Before leaving Vienna, a train attendant assured us that it was fine to sit in unreserved seats all the way to Prague, without informing us about the option or necessity of booking seats. When we sought help from a ČD staff member on board, we were told that our first-class ticket did not guarantee a seat and that we should have used the ČD website to reserve seats. As travelers from the UK, we were unaware of this requirement, and it was not communicated by Trainline or train staff.

So there were no seats left in the first class wagons so we had to stand. When we went to speak to the train person of cd.cz he said "you booked a ticket and not a seat". Which means that there is no guarantee of a seat. So I asked: "Does this mean we bought a 1st class ticket to just stand?" - he said "yes".

I hope ČD improves their communication regarding seat reservations to prevent similar issues in the future. This experience was disappointing and not reflective of the first-class service we anticipated.

Kvôli nim musela mama platiť ďalších 90 € lebo meškal vlak 33 min a kvôli tomu sme zmeškali druhí. Neodporúčam cestovať z českými dráhami

Absolutely appalling. I paid extra for three passengers to travel in First Class. We needed a table and wi-fi due to work. The cartridge was broken so we traveled on an old fashion train, no WiFi no Aircon and no table. With no options for refund. Our last CD journey.

Den 1-7 2024 rejste jeg med De tjekkiske Statsbaner fra Berlin og til Prag.
Jeg havde billet til 1. klasse, men det ville svare til en billet på 2 klasse med DSB.
Toget var gammel og meget ubekvemt, men det kom da frem til Prag.
På tilbagevejen den 9-7 gentog det sig, dog med den lille forbedring at man blev tilbudt en flaske vand.

Very unprofessional, we had a reservation and we wanted to buy a ticket on a train that we had the reservation and salesman sold us another ticket which was more expensive (twice!!!) without telling us that we bought a ticket valid for 3 days on any route. Now its too late to refund :)

Worst experience ever i had on a railway. When we wanted to buy tickets, they were so rude and umpathetic. No other options were offered. On the train the staff was unprofessional, rude and sexist. No normale convo to have. terrible experience.

# Introduction
I will stay forever marked by my travel with Ceske Drahy. It is 6 hours in this ride, and I am stained with shame, pain, and regret.

# A purgatory
Ceske Drahy was the embodiment of purgatory. Indeed, its trains made me suffer through my sins, in an interactive and ludique way.

1. Gluttony
Indeed, the departing station offered only a Burger King, which did not equal the quality of France, and was painful to eat.

2. Greed
My sin of greed was paid off by the tortured I received for my lack of reservation. Swindled between carriages, I lay violated of my right to a good night's sleep.

3. Lust
Ceske Drahy has shown me a lustful sight, accompanied with its comfort. I was then ripped away from it and off to a sight of horror and agony.

4. Sloth
Once I was pushed down to hell, it took for me to regain heaven was to ask, for the angels sympathised with me. But my fear and my fake honour has grounded me in Hell.

# A double edged metaphor
Ceske Drahy was a double metaphor to me. Nevertheless, it is, in my honest opinion, the embodiment of the two afterlife, heaven and hell. Heaven, with sighs of beauty, relaxation, and laughter; and Hell, with its sights of horror.

Nevertheless, Ceske Drahy was able to show me the beauty of the sin, and of the sinner, as not everything went bad in the said Hell.

# A complement to the SNCF experience
This experience complemented SNCF's previous mind scrambling.

# Lessons learned
Ceske Drahy taught me love, it taught me deception, deceivemement, and sorrow. But all was not lost for it then showed me that it is once again a result of my conditionnement that pushes me to sorrow and agony.

# Conclusion
I will never forget my trip with Ceske Drahy, for it was an eye opening and enlightening experience, about life, heartbreak, satire, and agony.

More conductor presence would have been appreciated (despite the only conductor having to suffer through my bothering) and maybe a bit better customer service & amenities in the train? Facilities such as bathroom were dirty and the cleanness of the train was a bit dubious. worth 2/5, would recommend for short trips.

I was travelling on interrail with a friend. CD trains website says, that the interrail ticket is accepted on all CD trains. The interrail app also said, that our tickets were valid on the chosen CD train. When we got on the train, the conductor said that our tickets were not okay and we should pay for new tickets. He called us "f****** b**ches" to our faces and forced us to pay. After arriving to our station, we went to the information desk to ask if our tickets really weren't accepted on that train. The woman in the information desk was very surprised that we had been forced to buy new tickets and said that our interrail tickets should have been okay. We still didn't even get a refund, we just had to fill out a form that they didn't even have in English, and nobody has contacted us since, even though it has been almost a month already. I do not recommend CD trains to anyone.

Got a train from prague to pilsen return, both trains were over booked the 2nd train terminated(when it wasn't meant to) so a already crowded train went onto another over booked train resulting in a nightmare you could barely stand in one spot. Both trains were the worst experience I've had on a railway.

Both the trains and website are way better than it used to be. On virtually all routes from abroad to Czech Republic (Prague) it is the only choice, mostly up to Western standards for very reasonable prices (around 14-19 EUR from Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Vienna, Bratislava, Krakow etc.). The competition on the routes to Ostrava and Slovakia by RegioJet and LEO Express is also helping to raise the quality - I would prefer RJ over ČD, but ČD over LE.