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Wien / Vienna to Linz by train
How to take a train journey from Wien/Vienna to Linz
On the rail route from Wien/Vienna to Linz, train services operated by Westbahn, a private company, compete with the trains provided by the national rail operator, OBB.
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Routes
Option 1: taking the Railjet and ICE trains
Journey Summary
1hr 16 - 1hr 22min
Daily
Travel Information
The faster Railjet services on this route have been re-branded as 'Railjet Express' or 'RJX' services.
These RJX services only make one station call between Wien/Vienna and Linz. while the slower 'Railjet' services make four station calls.
Departing from Wien/Vienna:
By Railjet:
The Railjets depart from Wien Hbf and Wien Meidling stations.
All of the Railjet Express and most of the slower Railjet trains commence their journeys at Wien Flufghagen/Vienna Airport station.
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 Wien/Vienna and Linz is split between these Railjet trains operated by OBB and
other trains operated by WestBahn.
The limited numbers of discounted 'Sparpreis' tickets for the alternative Westbahn 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; 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.
Trains departing at different times can also be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.
Tickets for the trains operated by Westbahn are not available on the OBB ticket booking site and vice versa, while 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 (see below).
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 €9 | |
| Trainline | from €9 | |
| Happyrail | from €9 | |
| Happyrail | from €9 |
On this journey
Journey Features
Good to Know
Comparing the Railjet and Westbahn services:
Final Destinations:
Railjet Express = Munchen; Zurich or Innsbruck or Bregenz
Railjet = Salzburg or Klagenfurt
Westbahn = Salzburg
Journey times from Wien Hbf to Linz:
Railjet Express = 1 hr 14min
Railjet = 1hr 35min
Westbahn = 1hr 20 min
Frequency - from Wien Hbf :
The RJX, standard Railjets and Westbahn trains all normally operate 1 x train per hour
The on board experience:
The Railjet trains offer three levels of service and the Westbahn trains have two levels of service.
A key difference between the two services is catering:
Railjets = a bar car offering hot and cold food to all passengers, plus an at seat service of a full menu in first and business class.
Westbahn = vending machines which sell hot/cold drinks, sandwiches, snacks - plus a catering trolley with no hot food available, which provides an at-seat service in the equivalent of 1st class and may also be available in 2nd class.
Ticketing Summary:
The Trainline sells tickets for both train services, though except when promotions are running, Westbahn tickets are a fixed price.
In contrast you can save by booking ahead for the Railjet trains, and when the cheaper discounted tickets are still available on the Railjets, they're cheaper.
If you will be buying tickets last minute you will likely save by taking the Westbahn, on the Westbahn trains you can pay a €1 surcharge to buy a ticket from the conductor.
Instead of building an entirely new high speed railway, the decision was taken to upgrade and straighten the main Western Railway which crosses Austria.
So between Wien/Vienna and Linz the train will travel at up to 230 km/h (close to the high speed threshold).
Option 2: taking the Westbahn trains
Journey Summary
1hr 19min
Daily
Travel Information
The Westbahn trains leave from alternative station in Wien/Vienna to those used by the Railjets, they commence their journeys at Wien Westbahnhof.
Unlike Wien hbf the Westbahnhof is served by line U3 of the Vienna Metro which calls at city centre stations with no direct link to the main hbf station including Volkstheater~
The Westbahn trains also call at Wien Hutteldorf a station not served by the Railjets, which has an interchange with line U4 of the Vienna Metro, which makes multiple stops on the southern side of the city centre, including at Karlsplatz.
What had been an hourly service from stations in central Wien/Vienna has been temporarily suspended.
So from that date only the hourly service from Wien Hbf will be available.
Final Destination: Salzburg
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
The train service between Wien/Vienna and Linz is split between other trains operated by OBB and these trains operated by Westbahn.
The two train services have similar journey times, the difference is generally less than 10 mins
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.
Though prices and departures can be compared on the Trainline Österreich website.
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 | * |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
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