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Innsbruck to Wien / Vienna by train
How to take a rail journey from Innsbruck to Wien/Vienna
No two major Austrian cities are a further distance from each other than Innsbruck and Vienna/Wien, but the railway which links them has been enhanced over the passed decade.
A high-speed railway hasn't been constructed, but the improvement works has enabled the trains to complete the journey in the fastest ever time.
Train services operated by Westbahn, a private company, now compete with the trains provided by the national rail operator, OBB, on this route.
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Routes
Option 1: taking the Railjet trains
Journey Summary
4hr 30 min (approx)
Daily
Travel Information
Final Destination: Flughafen Wien or Wien hbf or Budapest or Bratislava
All trains also call at: Linz and St Polten (connect for Krems and Mariazell)
All of the Railjet trains from Innsbruck to Salzburg are designated as RJX services.
Arriving in Wien/Vienna:
Check the location of your final destination in Wien/Vienna.
If you're heading to the south west corner of the city, or the area on the ring road around the Opera House - then it's likely that you'll have a faster and more convenient journey if you leave the train at Wien-Meidling station.
up to 14 x trains per day
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
The discounted tickets are the 'Sparscheine' tickets and they can be booked online, even on the day of departure - but they CAN'T be booked at stations, so booking last minute at the station is always more expensive.
Though you'll usually need to book the 'Sparscheine' tickets at least a couple of days ahead to obtain them at the cheapest possible price.
Trains departing at different times can also be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares
Seat reservations are optional, but they're particularly recommended for this journey.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| OBB | from €24 | |
| Trainline | from €24 | |
| Omio | from €24 | |
| Happy rail | from €24 |
On this journey
Travelling On
Good to Know
Comparing the Railjet and Westbahn services:
Arrival stations in Wien/Vienna
Railjet Express and Railjet = Wien Hbf and Wien Meidling
Westbahn = Wien Westbahnhof and Wien Hutteldorf
Final Destinations:
Railjet Express = Wien Flughafen, Bratislava, Budapest
Westbahn = Wien West bf
The on board experience:
The Railjet trains offer three levels of service and the Westbahn trains have two levels of service.
A key difference between the two services is catering:
Railjets = a bar car offering hot and cold food to all passengers PLUS a restaurant service.
The restaurant menu is also available as an at seat service in first and business class
Westbahn = vending machines which sell hot/cold drinks, sandwiches, snacks; plus a catering trolley with no hot food available, which provides an at-seat service in the equivalent of 1st class and may also be available in 2nd class.
Ticketing Summary:
Trainline sells tickets for both train services, though except when promotions are running, the Westban tickets are a fixed price.
The limited numbers of discounted 'Sparpreis' tickets for the alternative Westbahm trains, are cheaper than the discounted 'Sparschiene' tickets which are made available by OBB for these Railjet trains.
However, those Westbahn 'Sparpreis' tickets can sell out faster than the 'Sparschiene' tickets, so taking the Railjets can be the cheaper option.
If you will be buying tickets last minute you will likely save by taking the Westbahn, also on the Westbahn trains you can pay a €1 surcharge to buy a ticket from the conductor.
The Railjets use a relatively new line for the first part of the journey between Innsbruck and Worgl (that's mainly in tunnel) and which saves around 20 mins on the old route
However, those tunnels take the train away from what had been the scenic highlight of the journey; the distant views of the Alps between Innsbruck and Worgl.
Though the train travels by the banks of The River Inn between Worgl and Kufstein.
Though the most scenic part of the journey is now between Salzburg and Wels, particularly if you're sat on the right, when facing the direction of travel.
A curious feature of this route is that for most of the journey, between Kufstein and the near to Salzburg, these trains will actually be travelling through Germany; but that don't make any station calls on that part of the trip.
Option 2: taking the Westbahn services
Journey Summary
4hr 21min
Daily
Travel Information
Final Destination: Wien West bf
The Westbahn trains arrive at an alternative station in Wien/Vienna to those used by the Railjets.
Unlike Wien hbf the Westbahnhof is served by line U3 of the Vienna Metro which calls at city centre stations with no direct link to the main hbf station including Volkstheater
These Westbahn trains also call at Wien Hutteldorf a station not served by the Railjets, which has an interchange with line U4 of the Vienna Metro, which makes multiple stops on the southern side of the city centre, including at [Karlsplatz](https://goo.gl/maps/dmWp6sQi1QsWD
3 x trains per day
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
The train service between Innsbruck and Wien/Vienna is split between Raijet trains operated by OBB and these trains operated by Westbahn.
The two train services have similar journey times*, the difference is generally less than 10 mins compared to OBB's fastest services), but the Westbahn trains arrive at a different station in Wien/Vienna
Tickets for the trains operated by Westbahn are not available on the OBB ticket booking site and vice versa, tickets for the trains operated by OBB are not available on the Westbahn site, but both services can be looked up and booked on Trainline.
The limited numbers of discounted 'Sparpreis' Westbahn tickets are cheaper than the discounted 'Sparschiene' tickets which are made available by OBB for the Railjet trains.
Like those ''Sparschiene' tickets, the 'Sparpreis' tickets for these Westbahn trains, are specific to the departure you select when making a booking.
However, these Westbahn 'Sparpreis' tickets can sell out faster than the 'Sparschiene' tickets, so the taking the Railjets can be the cheaper option
Last minute tickets booked at the station are more expensive than either of these discounted tickets.
Though if you want to leave booking tickets until the day of travel, it's highly likely that you'll save by taking the Westbahn trains.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Westbahn | * | |
| Trainline Österreich | * |
On this journey
Travelling On
The Railjets use a relatively new line for the first part of the journey between Innsbruck and Worgl (that's mainly in tunnel) and which saves around 20 mins on the old route
However, those tunnels take the train away from what had been the scenic highlight of the journey; the distant views of the Alps between Innsbruck and Worgl.
Though the train travels by the banks of The River Inn between Worgl and Kufstein.
Though the most scenic part of the journey is now between Salzburg and Wels, particularly if you're sat on the right, when facing the direction of travel.
A curious feature of this route is that for most of the journey, between Kufstein and the near to Salzburg, these trains will actually be travelling through Germany; but that don't make any station calls on that part of the trip.
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