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Country info: Austria (Österreich)
Rail companies: ÖBB (Österreichische Bundesbahnen)
WB (WestBahn)
How to Buy Train Tickets in Austria? We have a Step by Step Guide
Austrian Rail Network Map
Currency: Euro
Train travel in Austria: train types, tickets, fares, discounts & other useful info
National Train Service:
Train types in Austria: Suburban, Regional, Fast, ÖBB InterCity, EuroCity/EuroNight, Railjet/ICE & CityNightLine (CNL)
- Suburban (marked as S-Bahn & RSB on OeBB website) – commuter service offered in major Austrian cities and suburban areas, no seat reservation required
- Regional (marked as R & REX on OeBB website) – local trains, no seat reservation required
- Fast/Schnellzug (marked as D on OeBB website) - rapid trains, no seat reservation required
- ÖBB-InterCity (marked as OIC on OeBB website) – long-distance trains serving routes between major Austrian cities and towns, seat reservation can be made, but not required
- EuroCity/EuroNight (marked EC/EN on OeBB website) – international and domestic trains, seat reservation not required, but can be made (recommended in case of overnight journeys)
- Railjet/ICE (marked as RJ/ICE on OeBB website) high-speed international trains, seat reservation can be made, but not required
- CityNightLine (marked as CNL on DB website) - international overnight sleeper trains, seat/bed reservations are compulsory
Discounts, special offers & ways to save money for passengers traveling in Austria (OeBB/WB):
- OeBB Group Pass - Einfach-Raus-Ticket – from 2 to 5 people, valid from Monday to Friday between 9 am and 3 am (next day) and all day on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays (from midnight to 3am next day) on all the S-Bahn & Regional passenger trains of ÖBB (R, REX, RSB, S-Bahn). Price of Einfach-Raus-Ticket - 32 euro. Can be purchase online via OeBB website e-Shop - www.ticket.oebb.at
- Since 2011 Austrian Railways also offer discounted SparSchiene tickets for journeys within Austria, meaning that if passenger purchases train ticket in advance he or she can actually travel on almost any national connection for as low as 9 euro. SparSchiene Austria tickets can be bought only online via OeBB website.
- Once the above Sparschiene Austria tickets get sold out (or not offered), passengers can as well take advantage of another legal "tricks" allowing to save when traveling in Austria. First secret is in use of discounted international tickets for domestic journeys within Austria. For instance ticket for the one of the most favourite journeys in Austria - Vienna-Salzburg will cost 49,9 euro (standard one-way fare), while discounted international SparSchiene ticket from Vienna to Munich via Salzburg start from only 29 euro. What does it mean? It means that passenger can save more than 20 euro simply by buying ticket from Vienna to Munich instead of more expensive domestic ticket from Vienna to Salzburg. Afterward the only task is to get off train a bit earlier - in Salzburg. Similar trick can be used for cases when passenger need to travel to Western Austria (Innsbruck, Bregenz, St. Anton am Arlberg, Feldkirch etc.) – just look for 29 euro Sparschiene tickets from Vienna to Zurich. In general similar trick can make sense and can be done with any other destination. And the best thing is that all the Sparschiene tickets can be purchased in advance online via OeBB website (N.B. We recommend to take advantage of this trick only in case all the domestic Sparschiene tickets for the route you want were already sold out or more expensive, then the international Sparschiene). Different money saving trick also concerns international tickets, but this time not Austrian bought from OeBB. The thing is that in Hungary and Slovakia exists special CityStar type tickets offered for travelers to Austria, those CityStar tickets most often turn out to be cheaper than domestic OeBB tariff on long-distance journeys, so if passenger has a chance to visit one of the two mentioned neighboring countries before planned trip within Austria, it is possible to save quite a lot. For instance CityStar Bratislava-Innsbruck-Bratislava will cost only 55,7 euro, while one-way ticket from Vienna to Innsbruck bought in Vienna from OeBB costs 62,5 euro or 125 euro return vs 55,7 euro for the same journey with Slovak CityStar, now do the math. Slovak or Hungarian CityStar tickets can be purchase till any station in Austria. Trick with CityStar is so tempting that sometimes it might even make sense simply to visit Bratislava (or other Slovak station) from Vienna (especially when return fare Vienna-Bratislava is only 15 euro, while the journey takes only one hour) and buy CityStar intentionally
- Also in case passenger plans to travel a lot, travel with family or has no desire to 'hunt' for discounted Sparschiene tickets, then it's possible to take advantage of OeBB reduction
card called VORTEILScard. It gives 45%-50% on all the domestic train journeys within Austria and also includes RailPlus, which gives you 25% discount for international tickets all over Europe. VORTEILScard is valid for one year and can be obtained from any OeBB ticket counter. Standard price for adults is 99 euro, but for youth (<26) and families it cost only 19.9 euro, for seniors only 26.9 euro, so basically for the later categories of passengers it can pay off only after one journey from Vienna to Salzburg. Interested? More info about VORTEILScard can be found here
- Besides OeBB since 2011 on route from Vienna to Salzburg and further to German Freilassing (via St.Pölten, Amstetten, Linz, Wels and Attnang-Puchheim) operates private rail company - WestBahn (Stadler Kiss EMU on service). Full adult fare with WestBahn is much cheaper compared to similar OeBB fare, for instance full ticket Vienna-Sazlburg cost only 25 euro, while with OeBB ticket for the same route costs 49,9 euro. Although at the same time it makes sense always to remember that domestic Sparschiene tickets offered by OeBB can still be a cheaper option after all
If you still have any questions concerning use of discount or international discounted tickets for travels within Austria please address our Forum
Regarding international offers that might be useful on domestic routes see “International routes” below.
International Train Service:
a) Regular discounts
No info available
b) Special offers (SparSchiene)
Ticket offers with limited number of tickets per each departure (purchase in advance required):
- Belgium: from Vienna to Brussels (or any other destination in Belgium) starting from 69 euro (daytime or overnight connections via Frankfurt)
- Denmark: from Vienna to Copenhagen (or any destination in Denmark) starting from 79 euro (overnight connection via Hamburg)
- Germany: from Vienna to Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Leipzig, Cologne and Düsseldorf etc. (seats from 29 euro, couchette from 39 euro, sleepers from 59 euro) or from any Austrian station to any German (OeBB<200km and DB<250km, like Linz - Nuremberg, Innsbruck - Munich etc.) from 19 euro
- Netherlands: from Vienna or Innsbruck to Amsterdam (or any other destination in Netherlands) starting from 69 euro (daytime or overnight connections via Frankfurt)
- Italy: from Vienna to Venice, Florence, Rome, Milan (seats from 29 euro, couchettes from 49 euro, sleepers from 69 euro); Innsbruck to Italy (seats from 19 euro), from Salzburg to Venice (seats from 29 euro, couchettes from 49 euro, sleepers from 69 euro). Also special offers for ÖBB Intercitybus from any station of Austrian Carinthia/Kärnten (Klagenfurt, Villach etc.) to Italian Udine for only 9 euro (incl.seat reservation) or 19 euro to Venice
- Serbia: from Vienna to Belgrade (couchette from 39 euro)
- Croatia: from Vienna to Zagreb (seats from 29 euro)
- Poland: from Vienna to Katowice, Krakow, Warsaw (seats from 39 euro, couchettes & sleeper on the overnight connection is payed in full fare); from Villach to Poland (from 59 euro)
- Luxembourg: from Vienna to Luxembourg (seats for daytime connection via Koblenz from 69 euro)
- Switzerland: from Vienna, Graz, Villach to Zurich (seats from 29 euro, couchette from 39 euro, sleepers from 59), also from any Austrian station to any Swiss (OEEB<305km and SBB<150km) from 19 euro; OEEB<305km and SBB>150km and OEEB>305km and SBB<150km - from 29 euro; OEEB>306km and SBB>150km - from 39 euro.
- Slovakia: OeBB<300km-Bratislava from 19 euro, while any destination in Austria - Poprad-Tatry/Kosice from 39 euro
- Slovenia: from Vienna to Maribor (from 19 euro); from Vienna to Ljubljana (from 29 euro) & OeBB<110km and SZ unlimited (from 19 euro), all other from 29 euro
- Czech Republic: from Vienna to Brno/Ostrava (from 19 euro); from Vienna, Linz to Prague (from 29 euro); from Salzburg, Graz or Villach to Prague (from 39 euro) Also special Excursion tickets: Vienna-Prague-Vienna (65 euro, includes a 3-day pass for the Prague city transport services); Linz-Prague-Linz (55 euro). Number of tickets under such offer is limited
- Hungary: from Vienna & Graz to Budapest (seats from 19 euro).OeBB<100km and MAV unlimited (from 19 euro), all other cases - from 29 euro. Also special Excursion tickets: from Vienna to Budapest and back to Vienna (39 euro); from Linz to Budapest and back to Linz (45 euro) and from Salzburg to Budapest and back to Salzburg (59 euro). Number of tickets under such offer is limited
EURegio:
- Slovakia: from Vienna to Bratislava return – 15 euro (valid for one day + daily transport (MHD) in Bratislava); 34 euro (one calendar week); from Kittsee or Marchegg to Bratislava (4 euro)
- Hungary: from Vienna to Mosonmagyarovar (15 euro); from Vienna to Györ (19 euro); from Vienna to Tatabanya (25 euro); from Vienna to Szombathely (22 euro); from Graz to Szombathely (19 euro) etc. (all prices are for 4 day validity return tickets)
- Slovenia: from Graz to Ljubljana (34 euro); from Graz to Maribor (14 euro); from Klagenfurt, Villach to Ljubljana (20 euro); from Villach to Jesenice, Lesce Bled, Bled Jazaro (10 euro); from Klagenfurt/Villach to Nova Gorica (20 euro); from Klagenfurt, Villach to Dravograd, Maribor (15 euro) etc. (all prices are for 4 day validity return tickets)
- Czech Republic: from Vienna to Ceske Budejovice/Český Krumlov (31/32 euro); from Gmünd to Ceske Velenice (1 euro); from Vienna to Znojmo (18 euro); from Vienna to Mikulov via Retz Gr. and/or Breclav (20 euro); Linz-Ceske Budejovice (16 euro) etc. (all prices are for 4 day validity return tickets)
c) CityStars
Not issued anymore
Knowing all the options and discounts offered by OeBB passenger can travel relatively cheap to almost any destination abroad. And even if, for instance, you missed cheap tickets like Vienna to Prague (SparSchiene for 29 euro), but still have no desire to pay standard full fare (return for >120 euro) you can always use 31 euro EURegio ticket from Vienna to Ceske Budejovice + cheap Czech domestic ticket from Ceske Budejovice to Prague (max.160 CZK) or instead travel via Bratislava (with Vienna to Bratislava for 14 euro + CityStar from Bratislava to Prague for 36,9 euro) etc.
How to Buy Train Tickets in Austria:
Austrian Railways (OeBB) online ticket system works pretty good and available in English, so you can easily purchase national and many international tickets online directly via OeBB website, also tickets can be booked via email to wien.ticketline@pv.oebb.at (here you will get special code for printing your ticket before the trip at any OeBB ticket machine)
Step by Step Guide on How to Purchase Tickets via OeBB Online Ticket Shop - europetrainsguide.com/Advice/How-to-Buy-Train-Tickets/Austria-OeBB.html
Do you still have further questions or want to share your own travel experience? You are welcome on our Forum page
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