EC (Germany - Austria/Croatia/Slovenia)

The same coaches that are used for many Intercity (IC) routes within Germany are used on these international services.

On some departures a mix of German IC coaches and Austrian IC coaches will be used.

On the route to Zagreb, some Slovenian and Croatian coaches will be attached to the trains on departure from Villach.

(1) Munchen - Salzburg - Bad Gastein - Villach - Ljubljana - Zagreb
This train is currently being turned around in Villach, with connections to/from Ljubljana and Zagreb

(2) Frankfurt (Main) - Heidelberg - Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - Munchen - Salzburg - Bad Gastein - Villach - Klagenfurt

(3) Karlsruhe - Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - Munchen - Salzburg

(4) Saarbrucken - Kaiserslautern - Mannheim - Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - Munchen - Salzburg - Graz

(5) Frankfurt (Main) - Heidelberg - Mannheim - Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - Munchen - Salzburg - Graz

The reservation terms for these trains now differ when using tickets or rail passes:

Travelling with tickets

Whether the seat reservation is now complimentary , or can be added to a booking for an additional cost - €6.50 in 1st class; €5.20 in 2nd class, now depends on the type of ticket selected when booking.

Reservations are now only automatically included when when booking to travel 1st class with Flexpreise and Flexpreise Aktion ticket.
When booking the other, cheaper, types of ticket, they are optional.

They can be added when making a booking or purchased separately either online on DB or at the station - at a ticket desk or at a DB or NS ticket machine.

Bike spaces must also be reserved prior to boarding.

Travelling with rail passes

Seat reservations are now mandatory on journeys between Germany and Austria, when travelling June 1st to September 1st and cost €6.50 when travelling with 1st class passes and €5.20 when using 2nd class passes.
However, outside of this time they are optional - but if you will be making a fairly long journey reservations are highly recommended on these trains, particularly;

• If you won’t be travelling on the first/last trains of the day.
• Will be travelling on a Friday or Sunday year round
• Will be travelling on a weekend in May and September

You cannot absolutely guarantee that the bar/bistro counters that sell food and drink will be available on these trains .

So you will be making a long journey it's a good idea to take food and drink on board with you.

Unlike on the ICE trains, if you have a 1st class ticket there is no at seat service available.

Power sockets and Wi-Fi are not available on all of these trains.

When Wi-Fi is available it's only accessible in Germany.

A feature of these trains is that some (or all) of the 1st class seating is usually in compartments with a door to the corridor, but virtually all 2nd class seats are open plan.

Finding A Reserved Seat:

The destinations between which a seat has been reserved is either;

• marked above each seat,
• on an electronic strip at the edge of the luggage rack,
• or shown on a seat diagram on the outside of the compartment to the side of the door.

You need to check which seats are available before entering the compartment.

If you haven’t reserved, check these labels carefully, as many seats will only be reserved for part of the journey, so a 'reserved' seat may actually be available for use between your start end points

These trains can be between five and eleven coaches long, if need be, walk through the train to find available seats.

Managing Luggage:

Luggage space isn’t particularly generous on these trains and it has to be placed in the overhead racks, above the seats or in the spaces between seats.

In the compartments the only luggage storage option can be the overhead racks, particularly when the trains are busy.
Luggage cannot be left in corridors outside the compartments.