The recent bad weather and flooding that have affected Austria's federal railways continue to weigh on the country's main international line, the "West line. The latter links Vienna to Linz, Salzburg and beyond to Germany and the rest of Western Europe.
The brand-new western section, which for several months has been helping to shorten journey times, was the worst hit by the bad weather and will have to remain closed for several months. However, the the reopening of a second track on the old western line on 10 October will once again provide passengers with greater frequency and reliability
New timetable from 10 October
Approximately 90% of Austrian long-distance services will be available again with ÖBB and its competitor WestBahn. Two trains will leave Vienna every hour: one will run to Salzburg, the Tyrol, Voralberg (and Switzerland) and Munich. A second train will run to Salzburg. However, the journey time will be approximately 30 minutes longer.
However, some mainline sections will continue to be affected for a few months. Connections to Germany by German ICE train will not go beyond Linz and will continue to Vienna with a change of train. Some domestic services in Austria have also been cancelled.
On the eastbound network, ÖBB has announced that it will be resuming its shuttle train service between Vienna Central Station and the airport every 30 minutes. The railway company also confirms the return of trains from Vienna to Bratislava and Hungary with changes to the timetable.
And finally.., the night train service between Brussels and Vienna will resume from 11 October.
All information on train frequencies and connections from 10 October are available on the ÖBB SCOTTY.
