How to take the rail journey from Zurich to Innsbruck

These trains* will depart from the platforms/tracks by the street level concourse in Zurich HB station (gleis 3 - 18)

*The train which is usually scheduled to depart at 08:40 is the EC train, all of the other departures are by Railjet trains.

Final Destination: Wien or Budapest or Graz or Innsbruck or Bratislava

All trains also call at: Feldkirch connect for Bregenz

Some trains also call at: St Anton and or Landeck-Zams

From Zurich Flughafen/Airport:

There are no direct trains between the station at Zurich Flughafen/Aiport and Innsbruck.
You will have to change trains at Zurich HB station.

Making the transfer will be much easier if you take a train from Zurich Flughafen to Zurich HB which uses the same part of Zurich HB station (platforms/tracks/gleis 3 - 18) that the trains on to Innsbruck depart from.

So when taking a train from the airport target either;

• the trains on route S24 heading to Zug - every 30 mins.
• the IR trains to Luzern - every 30 mins.
• the IR train to Basel via via Brugg - 1 x train per hour.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 180 days* ahead of the travel date
*There's no need to book 6 months ahead to obtain the cheapest tickets.

If you look for tickets around 3 - 4 months ahead then the cheapest 'Sparschiene' tickets can actually be available on more trains.

The prices of the tickets are usually cheaper on OBB, particularly as its cheapest 'Sparschiene' tickets can now be booked up until the day of travel (if they haven't sold out); previously Sparscheine tickets had to be booked at least 3 days ahead.

However, it's worth comparing prices with SBB, but remember that the price on SBB will be in Swiss Francs and not euros.

It can pay off to take a look at the guide to Austrian train tickets - it should help you save time and money and confusion.

Exchanges

No tickets sold for journeys by Railjet trains can be exchanged in the typical sense, instead the policy is that the more expensive type of tickets can be refunded - and then having done so, you can re-book for an alternative departure.

Refunds

• Standard-Ticket Gruppe / Standard tickets ; the most expensive type of ticket = You can also cancel and obtain a full refund at any time pre-travel date.
• Sparscheine Komfort tickets / Saver Offer Flex tickets; mid-priced tickets (typically offered as an upgrade to Sparscheine tickets) = can be cancelled free of charge up to 15 days ahead of the journey, but if you cancel it with 15 days left to go, you'll receive up to* 50% of what you paid for it
• Sparscheine tickets / Saver tickets; lowest priced, heavily discounted tickets = cannot be refunded at all.

Seat reservations

Seat reservations are optional, but they're particularly recommended for this journey.
Note that the optional reservations will need to be paid for any children aged 5 to 15 - children aged 4 and under don't require tickets, but the expectation is that they will be travelling in the adult's lap

Child tickets

When booking 'Sparschiene' tickets each adult (aged 15 and over) can take up to four children aged 14 and under for free!
These children will still require tickets, but there will be no charge for them.

When not booking 'Sparschiene' tickets;

• Children aged 5 and under travel for free
• Children aged 6 – 14 travel at half-fare

Bike tickets

You will need purchase both a bike ticket AND a reservation for your bike prior to boarding; more info on how to do this is available on the bikes on trains guide.

Dog tickets

If your dog is too large to be taken in a pet carrier you will need to add a dog ticket when making your booking;

Rail pass users

Rail pass users don’t have to make reservations.
However, in SMTJ's experience, it's a good idea to reserve when:

• departing from Wien between 08:00-10:00 and 16:00 -18:00 Monday to Thursday
• on Fridays
• Saturday mornings
• Sunday afternoons/evenings.