Breakdown of Trotz aller Eile erreichte ich den Zug, unterschrieb das Formular unterwegs und fühlte mich endlich sicher.
Questions & Answers about Trotz aller Eile erreichte ich den Zug, unterschrieb das Formular unterwegs und fühlte mich endlich sicher.
Yes. You can replace the prepositional phrase with obwohl + clause:
“Obwohl ich es eilig hatte, erreichte ich den Zug, unterschrieb das Formular unterwegs und fühlte mich endlich sicher.”
Here obwohl introduces a full clause (ich es eilig hatte), so the finite verb hatte moves to the end of that clause. Using trotz aller Eile is simply more concise and focuses on the noun phrase.
In written narrative (reports, stories, diary-style accounts) German normally uses the simple past (Präteritum). In everyday spoken German you’d usually choose the present perfect:
“Ich habe den Zug erreicht, habe das Formular unterwegs unterschrieben und habe mich endlich sicher gefühlt.”
But in writing or more formal retellings, Präteritum is preferred.
unterwegs is an adverb meaning “on the way” or “while traveling.” In German the typical position is after the direct object, as in unterschrieb das Formular unterwegs. You can also move it to the front for emphasis:
“Unterwegs unterschrieb ich das Formular.”
Or place it between subject and verb: “Ich unterschrieb unterwegs das Formular.” All are grammatically correct, though the original order is most natural for a quick sequence.
In German you must separate two main clauses without a conjunction by a comma. Here you have three main clauses coordinated in a series:
1) Trotz aller Eile erreichte ich den Zug,
2) unterschrieb das Formular unterwegs,
3) und fühlte mich endlich sicher.
Clauses 1 and 2 are joined asyndetically (no conjunction) so you insert a comma. Clause 3 is introduced by und, and you never put a comma directly before und when it links clauses.
endlich is an adverb meaning “finally” or “at last.” When modifying a predicative adjective like sicher, it normally comes directly before it: endlich sicher (“finally safe”). You could move endlich to the very front for stylistic emphasis:
“Endlich fühlte ich mich sicher.”
That changes the focus slightly (putting “finally” at the beginning), but both orders are correct.