David Mahon wrote:
Do the Austrian trains run on time like the Swiss, or are they more
like ours?

I've been maybe 30 mins late on this service once before. It was after fresh
snow. I think they tend to slow down when there's ice hanging on the power
lines.. makes for pretty sparks too.

In general the oebb services are punctual. If they ever do mess up and you
miss a connection, they'll even hire taxis for you.

As for snow chains, I've made the odd short trip to the alps in hire cars
without chains and even without winter tyres. It's very definitely a gamble
though. I'm very surprised at the number of french and italian rental car
companies which will cheerily send you off into the alps with summer tyres
and no chains available for rental.. I've never hired in Austria so don't
know if it's the same there.