EC (Austria <> Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia)

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.

These trains are typically l used on these EC routes.

• Wien - Gyor - Budapest**
• Salzburg - Villach - Ljubljana - Zagreb***
• Villach - Ljubljana - Zagreb - Vinkovci***
• Wien - Graz - Maribor - Zagreb*
• Wien - Graz - Maribor - Ljubljana*

*Restaurant coaches/cars are available these routes

**Railjet trains are more frequent on this route - though coaches used on these EC/IC services between Austria and Hungary can now be supplied by MAV, Hungarian Railways, AND those trains do NOT convey restaurant cars.

***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.

Seat reservations are optional on journeys between Austria and Hungary and also 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.