Austria and Germany to increase cross-border train services
Cross-border train travel between Germany and Austria is up around 40 percent compared to five years ago, motivating the state railways of both countries to work together to increase travel offerings between the two countries.
Austria's ÖBB and Germany's Deutsche Bahn said this year they expect around seven million passengers to travel between the two German-speaking countries.
To meet the rising demand, the firms said they are expanding their cross-border long-distance services.
A new timetable will come into force with some of these options from December.
The current Munich to Salzburg route will start running hourly between 6:00 am and 9:00 pm, while trains between Innsbruck and Munich will run every two hours from 6:40 am to 9:40 pm.
READ ALSO: The 10 best destinations by direct night train from Austria
An additional ICE connection will run between Berlin and Vienna via Nuremberg, while the Hamburg to Vienna route will get another daily connection.
The current ICE connection between Frankfurt and Innsbruck via Stuttgart currently only runs on weekends. The two rail companies plan to make this trip daily from December.
Several routes will also get newer and more comfortable trains, with modern ICE 4 trains to run the route connecting Frankfurt, Munich, Salzburg, and Klagenfurt from December.
The two companies are also looking to increase night train options, with new connections from Berlin and Vienna to Paris and Brussels to initially run three times per week, increasing to daily trips by the end of 2024.
Both companies say they want to increase night traffic, with ÖBB having ordered 33 new Nightjet trains with top speeds of 230 km per hour to double its number of night passengers by 2030. By late 2024, DB believes the new connections will double the number of possible night trips that can be made from Berlin.
The companies plan to announce further connections to Italy in 2024.
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Austria's ÖBB and Germany's Deutsche Bahn said this year they expect around seven million passengers to travel between the two German-speaking countries.
To meet the rising demand, the firms said they are expanding their cross-border long-distance services.
A new timetable will come into force with some of these options from December.
The current Munich to Salzburg route will start running hourly between 6:00 am and 9:00 pm, while trains between Innsbruck and Munich will run every two hours from 6:40 am to 9:40 pm.
READ ALSO: The 10 best destinations by direct night train from Austria
An additional ICE connection will run between Berlin and Vienna via Nuremberg, while the Hamburg to Vienna route will get another daily connection.
The current ICE connection between Frankfurt and Innsbruck via Stuttgart currently only runs on weekends. The two rail companies plan to make this trip daily from December.
Several routes will also get newer and more comfortable trains, with modern ICE 4 trains to run the route connecting Frankfurt, Munich, Salzburg, and Klagenfurt from December.
The two companies are also looking to increase night train options, with new connections from Berlin and Vienna to Paris and Brussels to initially run three times per week, increasing to daily trips by the end of 2024.
Both companies say they want to increase night traffic, with ÖBB having ordered 33 new Nightjet trains with top speeds of 230 km per hour to double its number of night passengers by 2030. By late 2024, DB believes the new connections will double the number of possible night trips that can be made from Berlin.
The companies plan to announce further connections to Italy in 2024.
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