Major Changes to Austrian Train Services

The Koralmbahn is a new 127km / 79 mile higher speed railway, on which trains travel at up to 230 km/h.
It now provides a new direct rail link between Graz and Klagenfurt with a travel time of only 45mins, replacing a bus link provided by the national rail operator OBB, which had a journey time of two hours.
The new rail link impacts on cities other than Graz and Klagenfurt as the new line opens up new and enhanced rail services across eastern and southern Austria - and beyond!

On the previous core timetable two express train services per hour linked Wien Hbf with south-eastern Austria, one went from and to Graz and the other travelled from and to Klagenfurt and Villach - with two of these services continuing on from/to Venezia/Venice via Udine.

However, the new core timetable is:

1. An every other hour RJX fast service on a Wien Hbf - Wien-Meidling - Bruck an der Mur - Graz ↔ Klagenfurt - Villach route; which reduces the Wien ↔ Klagenfurt and Villach journey times by around 25 mins.
2. An hourly slower RJ service on a Wien Hbf - Wien-Meidling - Wiener Neustadt - Mürzzuschlag - Kapfenberg - Bruck an der Mur - Graz ↔ some of the new Koralmbhan stations - Klagenfurt - Villach route.
   Close to all of these OBB services travelling between Vienna/Wien and the Koralmbhan will comprise Railjet trains.

Plus Westbahn trains will also be operating on the Wien - Graz - Klagenfurt route from April

In every other hour there will are express trains which will use the new Koralmbahn to take a route between Graz and Salzburg via Klagenfurt, Villlach and Bad Gastein.
These trains between Graz and Salzburg comprise a mix of:

• ICE trains travelling to/from Germany
• Railjet trains taking a Wien - Graz - Villah - Salzburg (- Munich) route

Despite the longer distance, the journey time between Graz and Salzburg is around 10mins faster than the previous IC services on the Graz - Leoben - Selzthal - Stainach Irdining - Schladming - Radstadt - Bischofshofen - Salzburg route, so these IC services have been withdrawn and replaced by new InterRegio services (see below).
Though the EC 'Transalpin' service to and from Zurich still takes the route via Schladming and Radstadt

The re-routed and extended international services are:

• Prague - Brno - Brevclav - Wien - Graz - Klagenfurt - Villach by 2 x Railjet trains per day
• Wien - Graz - Klagenfurt - Villach - Udine - Venezia/Venice by 2 x Railjet trains per day
• Wien - Graz - Klagenfurt - Villach - Udine - Trieste by 1 x Railjet train per day
• Wien - Graz - Klagenfurt - Villach - Bad Gastein - Salzburg - Munich by 2 x Railjet trains per day
• Graz - Klagenfurt - Villach - Bad Gastein - Salzburg - Munich - Augsburg - Ulm - Stuttgart - Heidelberg - Mannheim - Frankfurt (Main) by 3 x ICE trains per day
• Graz - Klagenfurt - Villach - Bad Gastein - Salzburg - Munich - Augsburg - Ulm - Stuttgart - Heidelberg - Mannheim - Frankfurt Flughafen - Koln Messe/Deutz - Dortmund - Munster by 1 x ICE train per day
• Wien - Graz - Bologna - Firenze - Roma by Nightjet
• Wien - Graz - Padova - Vicenza - Verona - Brescia - Milano by Nightjet
• Graz - Feldkirch - Buchs - Zurich by Nightjet

The Zurich ↔ Graz 'Transalpin service, on its Graz - Leoben - Schladming - Radstadt - Bischofshofen ↔ Zell-am-See - Innsbruck - Feldkirch - Buchs - Zurich route, has not been altered.

There has also a significant change on the Wien ↔ Salzburg route.
The previous timetable per hour typically comprised a mix of:

• RJX services by Railjet trains which only make calls at St Polten and Linz
• RJ services by Railjet trains which typically made station calls in St Polten, Amsletten, St Valentin, Linz, Wels, Attnang-Puchheim and Vocklabruck
• Westbahn (WB) services which typically make station calls in St Polten, Amsletten, Linz, Wels, Attnang-Puchheim and Vocklabruck.

However the RJ services, which were slower than the RJX services, have been replaced by double-deck IC trains, which OBB has acquired from DB in Germany.
The Railjet trains will be switched to the Wien - Graz - Klagenfurt - Villach route.

The IC services, which use the older single deck coaches, haven't (yet) disappeared from the domestic timetable.
They have become more scarce, particularly as they have been replaced by Regio trains on the Linz ↔ Graz route - see below.
However, they are still being used on these services / routes:

• Three of the trains per day in each direction on the Wien ↔ Graz route with one of the trains extending beyond Graz to / from Klagenfurt and Villach; evidently not enough Railjet trains are (yet) available for a 100% transformation
• Two trains per day in each direction taking a Wien - Wiener Neustadt - Bruck an der Mur - Leoben - Unzmarkt - Judenburg - Treibach-Althofen - Feldkirchen in Kärnten - Sattendorf - Annenheim - Villach route
• Trains taking a Salzburg - Bad Gastein - Spittal - Villach route; these trains will operate in the hours when there are no trains travelling between Salzburg and Villach on the Germany ↔ Villach - Klagenfurt - Graz routes.
  Not all station calls have been included in these summaries.

The IC trains on the Wien - Leoben - Villach route maintain a direct connection between Wien and destinations on the Rudolf Valley railway including Unzmarkt, Judenburg and Treibach-Althofen.
They also provide new direct links between Wien and destinations along the railway between St Veit and Villach, including Feldkirchen in Kärnten, plus locations on the shore of Lake Ossiach including Sattendorf and Annenheim.

In conjunction with the full opening of the Koralmbahn, the timetable change has also introduced Regionalbahn services to the Austrian rail network.
These new services plug a gap in the services provided by state rail operator OBB, as the other semi-fast 'REX' services are something of a compromise, with trains which had been used for local city services, currently being used on most of these routes.

Brand new trains with wheelchair spaces, bike racks and level boarding have been placed into service on most of these routes - Plus some similar trains already used by OBB will ne designated as InterRegio trains.

The idea is that these new InterRegio services in Austria will be the equivalent of the IR services in Switzerland and the Regio services in Germany; hence semi-fast long distance services operating at regular timetables every one or two hours.

Though on some routes the InterRegio services have in effect replaced long-standing IC trains.

The national rail operator, OBB ,has ambitiously launched six InterRegio routes on the new timetable:

1: IR Aichfeld
Graz ↔ Villach via Leoben and Judenburg

The xpress trains on the Wien/Vienna ↔ Villach via Klagenfurt route used the scenic Rudolf Valley railway through Leoben, Unzmarkt, Judenburg and Treibach-Althofen, but on the timetable change they have been diverted away to the Koralmbahn, so that they can serve Graz.
Hence a replacement by a new hourly InterRegio service which take a Graz - Leoben - Unzmarkt ↔ Judenburg - Treibach-Althofen - Klagenfurt - Villach route.
The stations on the Rudolf Valley route between Leoben and Klagenfurt have gained a regular link with Graz.

2: IR Pyhrn
Graz ↔ Linz via Leoben and Seltzhal

This service, which operates every other hour, has in effect replaced the IC services between Linz and Graz, but they almost double the number of direct trains between the two cities.

3: IR Ennstal
Graz ↔ Salzburg / Innsbruck via Leoben and Seltzhal

This service provides connections every other hour between Graz and locations along the Enns Valley railway including Stainach-Irdning connect for Bad Ischl, Schladming and Radstadt.
It seems that the trains will be divided and joined in Bischofshofen with one part of the train travelling to and from Salzburg.
Though the new RJ services which will travel between Graz and Salzburg via Villach and Bad Gastein, will provide a more comfortable and slightly faster option for Graz ↔ Salzburg journeys.

The other part of the train will travel along the Salzburg-Tyrol railway with stops including Zell-am-See, Leogang and Kitzbuhel, all of which will gain a more frequent connection with Graz.
Most of these trains will start and finish at the junction station of Worgl, but two trains per day will travel on to/from Innsbruck via Jenbach.
These Graz ↔ Innsbruck InterRegio services will in effect replace the current twice daily IC trains which travel between Graz and Innsbruck.
The only other direct train between Innsbruck and Graz will be the daily 'Transalpin' EC service on its Zurich ↔ Graz route, as it will still travel along the Enns Valley and Tyrol railways.

4 IR Pinzgau
Salzburg ↔ Worgl via Schwarzach-St Veit

This route takes over a REX service which operated every other hour, but with more modern trains.
On the the Salzburg-Tyrol railway between Schwarzach-St Veit and Worgl via Zell-am-See, Leogang and Kitzbuhel, this route is combined with the IR Ennstal route to provide an hourly service.
Similarly it combines with the Alpe-Adria service to provide an hourly InterRegio service between Salzburg and Schwarzach-St Veit.

5: IR Alpe-Adria
Salzburg ↔ Villach via Schwarzach-St Veit, Bad Gastein and Spittal

The express trains on a Salzburg - Bad Gastein - Spittal - Villach ↔ Klagenfurt - Graz route now operate every other hour, so these InterRegio services plug the gap and operate in the alternate hours on the Tauern Valley Railway route between Salzburg and Villach.
The longer term plan is for this route to be extended beyond Villach to/from Trieste via Udine.

6: IR Mur-Drau
Graz ↔ Maibior

Every other hour trains will travel across the border to link Graz with the Slovenian city, Maribor.
There are Slovenian IC trains which take a Maribor ↔ Ljubljana route, so there are significantly more options for making a rail journey between Graz and Ljubljana.

Private rail operator Westbahn has purchased more trains which will enable it to expand its services

It now offers an every 30 min service on the Wien Westbahnhof - Linz - Salzburg route with some trains travelling beyond Salzburg to/from Munich and Innsbruck.

Though what's entirely new is that three trains in each direction continue beyond Salzburg to travel to and from Saalfelden; Thereby introducing direct trains between Wien and the town, plus the other station calls - which are; Schwarzach-St. Veit, Lend, Taxenbach-Rauris, Bruck-Fusch, Zell am See and Maishofen-Saalbach.

From March 2026 Westbahn will also launch services on the new Wien <> Villach via Graz and Klagenfurt route.

The biggest beneficiary of this major timetable update is Graz as it has gained a 45 min link to/from Klagenfurt, plus new direct trains connecting it worth the Worthersee resorts, as well as Villach, Spittal and Bad Gastein - and a doubling of its Railjet service to/from Wien.
So adding Graz to an Austrian holiday itinerary has become exponentially easier.
Graz is also now on the Wien ↔ Venezia/Venice rail route.
These benefits are also available when travelling to/from Bruck an der Mur

Both Klagenfurt and Villach have gained faster connections with the Austrian capital and the service on all of the InterRegio routes is either more frequent or more regularly timetabled.
Many of these routes have also gained more accessible trains with wheelchair and bike spaces and amenities such as on-board info screens and Wi-Fi.

The unlucky losers are the locations along the Rudolf Valley railway including Unzmarkt, Judenburg and Treibach-Althofen, though two direct trains IC trains to/from Wien/Vienna will still be available
The rail journey between Wien/Vienna and Klagenfurt has also become less scenic, as in SMTJ's humble opinion the Rudolf Valley railway is a more beautiful ride than the Semmering railway between Bruck an der Mur and Wiener Neustadt.

Though a thought or two needs to be spared for the residents of Leoben.
Overnight it has been transformed from a rail hub served by Railjets and multiple other express trains, to a location which is only served by the new InterRegio services, two IC trains taking the Wien ↔ Villach via Lake Ossiach route; And the once per day 'Transalpin' EC service on its Graz - Schladming - Zell am See - Worgl - Innsbruck ↔ Zurich route.