The CEO of Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB, Andreas Matthäon 20 October presented the Group's 2024 rail link programme. The programme officially begins on 10 December. " ÖBB is a European pioneer in night-time travel and we will continue to develop this leadership position. Internationally, we are strengthening our offer with new long-distance connections to destinations includingGermanythe SloveniaPoland and France. But also nationally, where passengers will discover many new features in the 2024 timetable" underlined the CEO.
330 new trains for comfortable journeys
ÖBB will continue to expand, boosted by the boom in long-distance traffic. 2023 translates into 20% additional passengers compared with 2019. The Austrian railway company is expected to welcome some 50 million mainline passengers38.6 million in 2019.
" In order to make train travel even more comfortable and to ensure quality for
our travellers, almost 6.1 billion euros will be invested in new trains between now and 2030. For customers, this means approximately 330 new trains and over 100,000 modern seats in the years to come" continued Andreas Matthä, CEO of ÖBB.
On the mainline network, ÖBB is expected to sell 85,000 seats by 2030, compared with 56,000 in 2024. From 2026, new double-decker trains will be fitted on national lines.
Next year, the first Railjet trains (daytime trains) will also be introduced between Munich, Innsbruck and Verona. While the first Nightjet from Hamburg to Innsbruck and Vienna from December.
The Nightjet, a real success
The Nightjet is a real success, as Andreas Matthä confirmed. The aim is to double the number of passengers from 1.5 to 3 million a year." said the CEO.
New Nightjet lines will be added to the existing network from December. These include Nightjet services from Paris/Strasbourg and Brussels to BerlinThese lines each benefit from three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday from Paris and from Brussels-Midi). The train leaves Paris Est at 19:12 and arrives at Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 08:26.
" We are very satisfied with the passenger numbers on the Paris-Vienna route. Hence our decision to offer a daily service from October 2024." said ÖBB's CEO. From October 2024, in addition to the daily Paris-Vienna service, theNightjets will run daily on the Brussels-Vienna, Paris-Berlin and Brussels-Berlin routes..
Among other Nightjet innovations, ÖBB is offering a route from Munich to Krakow and Warsaw via Salzburg and Linz. The Vienna-Berlin route now also takes in Prague and Dresden, shortening the overall journey time.
Greater flexibility for air/rail connections
For air travellers, The ÖBB are also improving the interconnection between trains and aircraft. On arrival at Vienna airport in the evening, passengers will still be able to travel to Graz in the south, departing at 9.33pm. There is also a direct train to Linz at 00:02. All Railjet trains offered from the airport are integrated into the AIRail service offered in partnership with Austrian Airlines..
Finally, on the domestic network, ÖBB will be improving connections between the regional capitals of the Länder and Vienna. Additional trains will be introduced on the Vienna-Linz-Salzburg, Linz-Graz and Innsbruck-Bregenz routes.
