ESNtrain project cancelled

Fri 06.11.2009
The following email was sent to all participants:

Platform GmbH urges the ÖBB-Board of Directors that ÖBB compensates
the damage caused by their cancelation of the ESNtrain-Project,
March 2009. Furthermore, to immediately return the prepayment made
by platform GmbH. In addition, platform GmbH is taking measures
against untruthful and insulting E-mails and blog postings, which have
been made public after the cancelation of the project.

With letter dated 14 October 2009 platform GmbH requested from the Board
of Directors of ÖBB full compensation of the immense damage caused to
many by the one-sided and unnecessary cancelation of this unique
project. Platform GmbH is supported in this matter by law firms
domiciled in Vienna and Zurich.

The train journey had been prepared by hundreds of railway specialists
and student volunteers over a long period of constructive and fruitful
cooperation by all parties, especially ÖBB. This intercultural
undertaking was impeded at the day of departure, 27 March 2009.
Thousands of participants from 98 nations from all over the world, who
had paid for their tickets already, had to end their travel plans with
disastrous outcome. Not to speak about the damage caused to other
parties such as suppliers, security and many others, including the many
participants organizing the events on the more than 40 stops along the
train’s route.

Since the cancelation platform GmbH has limited public discussions to a
minimum in order to find an amicable solution with ÖBB. The numerous
attempts went unheard.

The public interest for a follow-up project is huge. But first the past
must be settled.

Sincerely,
platform GmbH,
Bernhard Jäggle

Thu 18.06.2009
The following email was sent to all participants:

Dear all

Soon it will be 3 months since the project was cancelled on
Saturday, 28 March 2009.

What were my undertakings besides the crisis management in the first
hours, days and weeks?

1. I reclaimed the prepayment of € 100’000 made to ÖBB by
platform GmbH, as it was agreed upon in written. That money was
never returned. The opposite happened: I received an invoice by ÖBB
over € 69‘358.54, due by 28 June 2009.
2. I kept the participants and other parties informed on the
ongoing. A difficult task, as I did not want to endanger the
activities regarding point #1.
3. I dealt with and for ESN, respectively their spokespeople.
4. I dealt with the suppliers, respectively their claims.
5. I dealt with the press provided I got contacted by them [1].

At this stage and as a consequence of point #1, it is impossible to make
any statements whether or not justified claims made by participants will
be paid back.

The further, I had to regain strength after this totally unexpected,
immense and unnecessary blow. In this context, I would like to thank for
the encouragement I have received from many sides. In me, the vision of
the ESNtrain, to create a communication platform fostering the
intercultural dialogue and revealing the beautiful cultural diversity
within Europe, is stronger than ever before.

Sincerely,
ESNtrain team,
Bernhard Jäggle

Tue 19.05.2009 16:19
The following email was sent to all participants:

Dear all

Until today the prepayment made to the ÖBB (Austrian Railway Company) by platform GmbH on behalf of us all was not refunded. The reversal in case of cancellation of the ESNtrain was assured in written. This does not mean that the reversal will not happen at all, I just do not know when. I am personally embarrassed and barely can stand the situation.

The ESNtrain team will keep you informed as promptly and accurately as possible whenever something happens. In the meantime, I would like to thank the overwhelming majority among you, who show understanding, despite the justified claims.

Sincerely,
ESNtrain team
Bernhard Jäggle

Tue 22.04.2009 12:05
The following email was sent to all participants:

Dear all

We received all your emails and questions asking about when you will get your money back. We know you are disappointed and sometimes angry about what happened. We are also disappointed and hurt: So much energy and time went into the project and yet, it had to be cancelled. We did not expect that this could happen and sincerely believed the train would travel as it was planned, the wagons being lined-up for departure. You may think we were naive, the project too demanding. Definitely not.

The same way we did everything that the train could set out on its journey, we are doing everything for a speedy reversal of the prepayment we made. You may have guessed that this is not entirely in our control what causes our temporarily “taciturnity” towards you. Please don't forget too that we are all volunteers of the ESNtrain and were working for this project without expecting to get anything more from it than the pleasure of meeting you, travelling with you and enjoying the encounters with visitors.

Now, most of us went back to their jobs while a small team around Bernhard Jäggle does everything to bring the project to a good end. We'd like to thank for the support of a lot of you, despite all disappointment and adversity you experience. Also, we would like to express our thanks to the folks of ESN, having organized events at many places throughout Europe until yesterday, the train’s last day en route.

The phone hotline, that is for emergency cases only, will be available until next sunday 2009-04-26. Afterwards you reach us by mail.

We'll keep you updated and kindly ask you to remain patient for the reasons mentioned. Sorry that we could not answer all your mails personally, but we will inform you as soon as we make the payment.

ESNtrain team
Bernhard Jäggle

Thu 02.04.2009 18:05
As soon as the prepayment we made is back on our account, we will make a partial payment to the participants. Thanks for facilitating our task by providing us with your bank details. We'll inform you by email as soon as we make the payment.

Tue 31.03.2009 22:54
Due to an error in our booking system the bank account could not be updated and you received an error message. It has been fixed in the meantime.

Tue 31.03.2009 19:50
The following email was sent to all participants:

Dear everybody

Currently we are contacting all parties involved in the ESNtrain project. Regarding the number of participants and the complexity of the project, this will take some time. You can help us already now by entering the detailed information of your bank account into the booking system -> login at http://www.esntrain.org/ and click on change bank account details.

Even if ESNtrain was canceled, many of you are out there travelling and spontaneously discovering Europe. Furthermore, many ESN sections are still ready to support travellers and to organize activities as it was already the case in Vienna and Bratislava. We encourage such activities to make the best out of the unfortunate situation. http://forum.esntrain.org/ is a platform where travellers can get in contact and sectios can offer their events or help. In this forum the participants can coordinate their travels and the ESN sections can offer support. In order to guarantee fairness in the moderation of this forum, the moderators are by no means associated with the organization of ESNtrain in 2008-2009. They are members (resp. alumni) of an ESN section. For example next Sunday, 5th April 2009, there are different activites organized in Prague, see the post in the forum.

The ESNtrain team

Remark:
The ESNtrain team wishes to clarify that the ESN sections are not responsible for the cancellation. They support the ESNtrain project but are neither financially nor legally linked to the platform GmbH, which is the organizer of the ESNtrain.

Mon 30.03.2009 23:30
Tomorrow a forum will be online on the website so that the participants and section contacts in the cities have a communication platform and can coordinate their travels and find help.

Mon 30.03.2009 09:50
The press release was published yesterday evening, you can find it in our press release section or directly here

Sun 29.03.2009 20:39
The following email was sent to all participants:

Dear passengers, We received your emails with your questions and demands. We unfortunately can't answer them yet. We are now sorting out all the details. We also supported the people who travelled to Bratislava and Vienna and tried to inform everybody about the cancellation. We would like to thank the ESN sections of Bratislava and Vienna for their support to find accommodation, transportation and the spontaneous organisation of events for the participants. We intend to reimburse your money. Therefore we will add a form to the registration page where you can submit your account details and deposit comments. This form will be in the registration system during Tuesday 31st of March. Next information will come as soon as possible and latest on Tuesday 31st of March in the evening.

The ESNtrain team

Sun 29.03.2009 15:40
We are still in Vienna getting all information ready and planing the further steps. Please be patient as we will inform you in the next few hours.

Sat 28.03.2009 22:02
The ESNtrain website was in maintenance mode as we need some time to collect and update the information. As we have written in the email at 17:00 to every participant, we are reachable by email team@esntrain.org and in emergency call +423 663 13 28 22.

Sat 28.03.2009 21:10
We, the ESNtrain team, have been the whole day in Bratislava and Vienna trying to catch the participants and to inform them. With great help from the local sections we tried to give information for further traveling, providing accomodation. For the people staying in town city trips and spontaneous activites have been organized.

Sat 28.03.2009 21:00
We are getting in touch with the event and activity organizers from the different cities where the train had a stop. As soon as we have more information we will post their contacts so that people that are going to one of the cities can get in touch with them.

Sat 28.03.2009 17:00
The following information was sent to every participant, a press release will follow tomorrow.

Dear ESNtrain passengers

Now it´s official, the ESNtrain project has to be canceled. All our efforts to make the project come true failed. All members of the ESNtrain team are sad and very disappointed. We would like to thank and apologize to everybody who put his time and effort in this project.

Especially, we want to thank the sections who planned an incredible amount of diverse events for the project. Furthermore, we would like to thank the ESN international board and the CNR for trying everything to save the project in the last hours. In the last days and hours there were lots of rumors and contradicting information spread out. Therefore we want to clarify some things herewith. The ÖBB (the Austrian Railway Company) supported us in organizing the train and the tracks in whole Europe and arranged all contracts with the different national railway companies for us without charging us anything. Until yesterday we believed that the project would be carried out. The reason why we had to cancel the project is that we were not able to raise the needed money before the train was supposed to start, as well as a misunderstanding with the ÖBB about the payment conditions. Several unfortunate circumstances and our hope that we can still save the project leaded to the situation that the project was canceled so late.

Our dream and the dreams of hundreds of people participating in some way in the project shattered and we can´t express how sorry we feel to make this announcement and to disappoint all those people. In the days to come we will do everything within our faith to clear all financial issues and to satisfy everybody.

Until now we have been busy trying to make the project work. First we will try to support the participants that already traveled to their departure city as much as we can. In the meantime we will evaluate our assets and we will send you further information on Tuesday, 31st march.

You can contact us at this email address, but please be patient as it can take some time until we can answer all your mails. In case of emergency you can call us at +423 663 13 28 22.

The ESNtrain team