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Salzburg to Wien / Vienna by train
How to take the rail journey from Salzburg to the Austrian capital
On the route between Salzburg and Wien trains operated by Westbahn compete with the Railjet trains operated by Austria's national rail company OBB, check the 'Train Guides' to compare the on board experiences.
Aside from the journey times, ticket availability/booking and the on-board facilities, a key difference between the two services is that they arrive at different stations in Wien/Vienna.
So it can be worth checking your ultimate destination in the city and working out your optimum onward connections, as the stations that these trains use, aren't in the city centre.
The Railjets arrive at the city's main station Wien Hbf, which is served by line U1 of the city's subway/metro; and they also call at Wien Meidling, which is on line U6.
Most of the Railjet trains also continue beyond the city centre to the station at the airport, Wien Flughafen.
In contrast the Westbahn services live up to their name and they arrive at the city's former main station, Wien Westbahnhof, it is served by lines U3 and U6.
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Routes
Option 1: taking a Railjet
Journey Summary
2hr 22min - 2hr 53 min
Daily
Travel Information
Final Destination: Budapest or Flughafen Wien or Wien Hbf or Bratislava
All trains also call at: St Polten
On the OBB website and the station departure screens, the fastest trains with a journey time of under 2hr 25min, will be indicated by 'RJX'.
The slower Railjet trains, which will be making six more station calls will be indicated by 'RJ'.
These trains tend to depart from Salzburg only 4 mins AFTER the RJX services.
If you're booking in advance online, the ticket prices tend be cheaper than on the RJX departures
Though the ticket prices depend on demand per departure and not the journey time; so the slower RJ trains aren't always cheaper.
Though if you don't want to bother with making an optional reservation, it can be worth targeting the slower departures, as they commence their journeys in Salzburg, so finding spare seats on these trains is virtually guaranteed.
1 - 2 x trains per hour
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
The train service between Salzburg and Wien is split between THESE trains operated by OBB and alternative trains operated by WestBahn.
The limited numbers of discounted 'Sparpreis' tickets for those 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 when looking up a journey; and the 'Sparschiene' tickets can be booked online up until the day of departure.
Though a sliding scale of prices is applied to the 'Sparschiene' tickets, so you can save by booking ahead; and the most heavily discounted tickets inevitably remain on sale longer for the slower Railjet services.
Tickets for the trains operated by Westbahn are not available on the OBB ticket booking site and vice versa, tickets for these trains operated by OBB are not available on the Westbahn site, but both services can be directly compared on the Trainline website.
Last minute tickets booked at the station are more expensive than booking the discounted tickets in advance online.
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 | |
|---|---|---|
| OBB | from €19 | |
| Trainline | from €19 | |
| Omio | from €19 | |
| Happyrail | from €19 |
On this journey
Travelling On
Good to Know
Check the location of your final destination in Wien/Vienna.
These Railjet trains call at Wien-Meidling and Wien Hbf stations in the Austrian capital.
The only interchange available at Wien Hbf is with line U1.
But those Westbahn trains arrive at Wien-Westbahnhof.
Wien-Westbahnhof has a connection with line U3 and line U6 of the Vienna U-Bahn/Metro.
These lines don't call at Wien Hbf so if the end point of your journey in the city is located along these lines, it's likely that you'll have a faster and easier trip if you target the Westbahn trains.
For the majority of the journey from Salzburg, the train will travel at more than 220 k/h on a railway which has been continually enhanced over the past twenty years.
Option 2: taking a Westbahn train
Journey Summary
2hr 28 min
Daily
Travel Information
Final Destination: Wien-Westbanhof
All trains also call at: St Polten
If price is your main criteria for selecting a journey option, the cheapest tickets on this route are the most heavily discounted tickets available on the alternative Railjet trains, but when they're sold out, it's likely that you'll save by purchasing Westbahn tickets.
If you'll be buying last minute tickets at the station, you'll save if you opt for the Westbahn trains.
If you want to look up this journey before heading to the station, these Westbahn departures can be compared with OBB's trains on the Trainline website; see below.
If the on board experience is your main criteria, check the 'Trains Guides', to see how the trains compare.
1 x train per hour
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
The train service between Salzburg is split between other Railjet trains operated by OBB and these trains operated by Westbahn
Tickets for these 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.
However the tickets those OBB (Railjet) trains and these Westbahn trains can be directly compared on Trainline Österreich; see below.
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.
However, these Westbahn 'Sparpreis' tickets can sell out faster than the 'Sparschiene' tickets, so the taking the Railjets can be the cheaper option.
Like those ''Sparschiene' tickets, the 'Sparpreis' tickets for these Westbahn trains, are specific to the departure you select when making a booking.
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
Good to Know
The only interchange available at Wien Hbf is with line U1.
Wien-Westbahnhof has a connection with line U3 and line U6 of the Vienna U-Bahn/Metro.
These lines don't call at Wien Hbf so if the end point of your journey in the city is located along them it's likely that you'll have a faster and easier end-to-end trip, if you target these Westbahn trains
Until the outskirts of Wien, these trains take the same route as the Railjets.
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