There is now a new service on the Westbahn – the railway line from Vienna’s Westbahnhof to Linz Salzburg and beyond. Westbahn AG, which was set up as a result of EU legislation to start the liberalisation of the rail networks. Westbahn’s service sees hourly services from Vienna to Salzburg, with all trains calling at Hütteldorf, St Pölten, Amstetten, Linz, Wels, and Attnang-Puchheim. Tickets can be bought online, or at no extra charge from on-board train service personnel. WESTclub is their equivalent of the ÖBB’s first class service. There are various promotional fares available and currently the fares offered undercut those of incumbent carrier ÖBB, with the price of a single ticket from Wien Westbahnhof to Salzburg between € 23.80. The service began operating on 11 December 2011.

Plans are afoot to introduce season tickets, which could provide a competitive alternative to ÖBB season tickets, although at the time of launch only a single ticket and Kilometerbank option are available (the latter is transferrable and can also be used for travel by more than one passenger simultaneously) with the purchaser buying a fixed number of kilometres with each transaction. Currently there is no seat reservation service, although this is apparently also slated to be introduced soon. There are also WESTbus services on from Salzburg and Linz to a number of destinations. Whether WESTbahn succeeds in breaking ÖBB’s dominant position for passenger intercity services, remains to be seen.

At the time of the service launching, the emphasis seems also to be on trying to lure passengers away from ÖBB due to superior passenger service. The trains have WESTstewards in every coach, a WESTcafe in every carriage apart from the powercars serving hot and cold drinks and snacks. The WESTlan service allows passengers to use free wireless Internet on board all trains. In addition to operating along this mainline stretch, WESTbahn are also in negotiations with the regional Verkehrsverbände (public transport associations responsible for local public transportation in federal provinces) to integrate their networks and ticketing into WESTbahn’s ticketing system.

Westbahn Website - in English - https://westbahn.at/en

Comments:

Re: Westbahn – New train service between Vienna and Salzburg -- manu

Saturday, 28 April 2012 12:47

I don't think there is absolutely nothing to complain about the westbahn... it's crowded, messy, the POS for credit cards never work, and it's a first-come-first serve for the seats (absolutely not recommended if you plan to travel with many friends or big family) but hey, for a ticket which is half or 1/3 the price of a normal ticket... good enough for poor people like me.
If you want a better service as always you just pay some more

[quote="manu"] I don't think there is absolutely nothing to complain about the westbahn... it's crowded, messy, the POS for credit cards never work, and it's a first-come-first serve for the seats (absolutely not recommended if you plan to travel with many friends or big family) but hey, for a ticket which is half or 1/3 the price of a normal ticket... good enough for poor people like me. If you want a better service as always you just pay some more [/quote]

Re: Westbahn – New train service between Vienna and Salzburg -- papa-simes

Monday, 09 January 2012 13:14

Forgive me if this has been mentioned before but it has just occurred to me: uniforms of Westbahn staff and Inernational Rescue. Some parallels?

[quote="papa-simes"] Forgive me if this has been mentioned before but it has just occurred to me: uniforms of Westbahn staff and Inernational Rescue. Some parallels? [/quote]

Re: Westbahn – New train service between Vienna and Salzburg -- higgi

Tuesday, 13 December 2011 12:21

The new train service has a smoking section apparently. If that's of interest to anyone...

[quote="higgi"] The new train service has a smoking section apparently. If that's of interest to anyone... [/quote]

Re: Westbahn – New train service between Vienna and Salzburg -- morgenhund

Tuesday, 13 December 2011 09:42

Westbahn are, I happen to know, currently working on agreements with the Verkehrsverbunde but these will take time. St Pölten-Wien commuters do get special rates on season tickets through, and VOR for example already includes Westbahn services in its timetabling, indicating that they clearly intend to co-operate.

It would be illusional to expect that promotional fares (i.e. the introductory EUR 7 fare) are transferrable - and not possible when you consider how ticketing prices are calculated and to whom various amounts go. The introductory fare is nothing more than a loss leader.

One of the main arguments being made about the market liberalisation is that the incumbent provider has to effectively subsidise the loss-making local routes while new entrants are free to cherry-pick their routes and stick to the profitable ones - the Westbahn is definitely the most profitable route, while a lot of the local routes are far from profitable, but are maintained by the ÖBB and Postbus services.

[quote="morgenhund"] Westbahn are, I happen to know, currently working on agreements with the Verkehrsverbunde but these will take time. St Pölten-Wien commuters do get special rates on season tickets through, and VOR for example already includes Westbahn services in its timetabling, indicating that they clearly intend to co-operate. It would be illusional to expect that promotional fares (i.e. the introductory EUR 7 fare) are transferrable - and not possible when you consider how ticketing prices are calculated and to whom various amounts go. The introductory fare is nothing more than a loss leader. One of the main arguments being made about the market liberalisation is that the incumbent provider has to effectively subsidise the loss-making local routes while new entrants are free to cherry-pick their routes and stick to the profitable ones - the Westbahn is definitely the most profitable route, while a lot of the local routes are far from profitable, but are maintained by the ÖBB and Postbus services. [/quote]

Re: Westbahn – New train service between Vienna and Salzburg -- kerstin

Tuesday, 13 December 2011 09:09

With regards to accepting tickets: I was hoping that they (ÖBB and West) accept each others ticket. In case one service is delayed for whatever reason the passengers can take the next available train. But this works only if there is something like a "Verkehrsverbund" in the area around Vienna. In Germany the Metronom accepts "Nahverkehrstickets"
http://www.der-metronom.de/tickets/alle ... ahrkarten/
In Lower Saxony you can take any train with the Nahverkehrsticket between Bremen and Hamburg for example
I wonder if this will ever happen in Austria, They could for example make the distance between St Pölten and Vienna a Nahverkehrsarea for commuters so that the commuters can buy their tickets and use any train. This would be progress for the consumer.

[quote="kerstin"] With regards to accepting tickets: I was hoping that they (ÖBB and West) accept each others ticket. In case one service is delayed for whatever reason the passengers can take the next available train. But this works only if there is something like a "Verkehrsverbund" in the area around Vienna. In Germany the Metronom accepts "Nahverkehrstickets" http://www.der-metronom.de/tickets/alle ... ahrkarten/ In Lower Saxony you can take any train with the Nahverkehrsticket between Bremen and Hamburg for example I wonder if this will ever happen in Austria, They could for example make the distance between St Pölten and Vienna a Nahverkehrsarea for commuters so that the commuters can buy their tickets and use any train. This would be progress for the consumer. [/quote]

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