Austria Curtails Train Traffic From Hungary, Croatia Due to Delays
Due to frequent delays of international trains coming from Hungary and Croatia, Austria will curtail train traffic to these countries.
Delayed international trains
The decision to curtail international trains coming from Hungary and Croatia was taken by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) in order to maintain the integrity of their nationwide timetable.
Trains arriving from Budapest and Zagreb often experienced significant delays, which in turn had a snowball effect on the entire Austrian rail network, causing other trains to be delayed and preventing them from adhering to their scheduled times.
To ensure that all other domestic and international trains run on time within Austria, ÖBB has decided to temporarily curtail train traffic between Budapest and Vienna, as well as between Vienna and Zagreb.
Budapest to Vienna and beyond
The biggest changes will take place on the railway line between Vienna and Budapest, which is one of the busiest international corridors from the Austrian capital with a train departing every hour.
Because of excessive delays due to renovation works on the Hungarian part of the railway line and the inability of the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) to adhere to the timetables, most trains departing Budapest arrive with a significant delay in Vienna, angering ÖBB bosses.
ÖBB therefore decided to temporarily cut-off Hungarian trains from the western part of the railway network beyond Vienna.
In a press statement, MÁV has officially confirmed the news.
What does this mean
In practice, this means that the direct Railjet trains from Budapest to Linz, Salzburg and Munich will be terminated at Vienna, where travellers will now have to connect to another train to get them to their final destination.
They are in fact split in two, as a Budapest-Vienna-Munich Railjet train will now be split into one train running only from Budapest to Vienna, while another trainset will only run between Vienna and Munich.
The impacted trains which will now be terminated at Vienna’s main station have the following train numbers: RJX60, RJX62, RJX64, RJX66 and RJX68.
If you are booked on a Railjet trains in the opposite direction from Munich, Salzburg and Linz to Budapest, your train will still travel according to the original timetable and you don’t have to change trains in Vienna.
The international night train which links Budapest to Stuttgart and Zurich via Vienna will also not be impacted.
These changes to the timetables will remain in effect until at least 26th October 2023.
Advice
Because of the track renovation works on the Budapest-Vienna railway, all trains running between Hungary and Austria will likely have a delay of up to 30 minutes.
ÖBB therefore recommends passengers to take a train from Budapest to Vienna one hour earlier than originally scheduled to ensure that they will be able to make their connection to their original train from Vienna to Linz, Salzburg or Munich on time.
For example, if you were originally booked on Railjet train RJX62 from Budapest to Munich via Vienna (original departure time of 9.40am) it is now recommended that you take EC140 from Budapest to Vienna at 8.40am instead, allowing you to still make the connection to your original Railjet train between Vienna and Munich.
Passengers on a Railjet or EuroCity (EC) train from Budapest to Vienna are recommended to reserve a seat, as an increase in the number of passengers on long-distance trains is expected due to the cancellation of local trains between Budapest and Györ due to the track renovation works.
This can be done free of charge if you now need to take an earlier train than planned because of the early termination of your original Railjet train at Vienna’s main station.
It’s also strongly advised to consult the online timetables on the ÖBB or MÁV websites before you travel.
Zagreb to Vienna
A similar situation is happening to the international Croatia EuroCity train from Zagreb to Vienna, which often arrives with such a big delay in Austria that it is causing other trains to be delayed as well.
Because of this, the Croatia EuroCity train (EC158/EC159) will only run between Zagreb and Graz Hbf in both directions instead of the entire stretch between Zagreb and Vienna.
Travellers heading from Zagreb to Vienna will therefore have to change trains at Graz Hbf to reach the Austrian capital.
Likewise, travellers heading from Vienna to Zagreb will need to take another train from Vienna to Graz Hbf to ensure they make the connection to the Croatia EuroCity train.
Consult the online timetables on the ÖBB website for more details.
It is not yet known until when these changes to the Croatia EuroCity train will remain in effect.
Conclusion
Due to excessive delays of international trains from Croatia and Hungary to Austria, the Austrian Railways have decided to curtail train traffic from these countries.
Trains from Budapest to Linz, Salzburg and Munich will all be terminated at Vienna, requiring international train travellers to change trains there.
Because of the high chance of a delay on the stretch between Budapest and Vienna, travellers are also advices to take a train one hour earlier from Hungary to Austria.
Likewise, the daily Croatia EuroCity train between Zagreb and Vienna will no longer run directly, but will be terminated at Graz, where travellers will now have to change trains.
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