Content
EC (Austria <> Croatia and Slovenia)
Welcome to the guide to travelling on the express trains which link Austria with Croatia and Slovenia.
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At a Glance
Travel Pass Supplement
Rail Pass Reservation Fees
Reservations
Available
Compulsory
Time of Day
Day
Catering
Food services available
Restaurant
Bar (sandwiches, snacks, salads)
Accessibility
Accessing the train
Wheelchair Spaces
Train Specification
Attributes of the train
Has a Conductor
Country
Which country these trains operate in.
Austria
Hungary
Travel Passes
Eurail
InterRail
Travel guide:
OBB (Austria’s national rail operator) provides MOST of the coaches used on these trains.
So both externally and internally these trains are identical to Austrian IC trains.
On its domestic routes within Austria OBB has replaced these trains on its top tier services with Railjets, but these older style of coaches are still used on these EC (EuroCity) international services.
It doesn’t mean that these trains aren't comfortable, the seating saloons are more spacious than on a typical high speed train.
Their old-fashioned layouts mean that virtually all of the seats line up with the windows, a big plus for the beautiful journeys that most of these trains travel on
The 2nd class seats are in open plan saloons, but in 1st class some coaches are open plan, while others are in compartments with doors to a corridor.
As these trains are comparatively old, they lack start-of-the-art touches such as Wi-Fi, but as you will be glued to the windows most of the time, it won’t particularly matter.
Note that bikes are only permitted on some EC trains to/from Austria - so the best option is to check at the station before boarding.
Routes:
These trains are typically l used on these EC routes.
- Salzburg - Villach - Ljubljana - Zagreb***
- Villach - Ljubljana - Zagreb - Vinkovci***
- Wien - Graz - Maribor - Zagreb*
- Wien - Graz - Maribor - Ljubljana*
*Restaurant coaches/cars are available these routes
***A mix of coaches are used on this route, you could be travelling in a German Intercity coach if you board these trains between Salzburg and Villach.
Croatian and Slovenian coaches are also attached to these trains for the part of journey between Villach and Zagreb.
Restaurant cars are also NOT available on these routes.
Reservations:
Seat reservations are optional when travelling by these trains within Austria.
So when booking tickets for such journeys, you need to be proactive and add the seat reservation when booking, paying the fees to ensure you have an assigned seat.
However, they are compulsory when travelling to Croatia and Slovenia
Seats will automatically assigned when booking tickets online or at stations, but rail pass users need to reserve before boarding.
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This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.
