In case you want to see what's it like to ride a Westbahn train, vlogger Thibault took one from Innsbruck to Vienna. Not so different from OBB, they use the same tracks but he preferred it, and you'll get a very good look at the inside of the train.
Just remember that they do NOT use the main train station in Vienna, they have one on the other side of town. If you go to the wrong one it's about a half-hour tram ride.
A real advantage of Westbahn trains is the upper deck of their cars. For tourists who want to watch the landscape this is much better because of being higher up than the noise dampening walls which obstruct the view.
Yes, the Westbahn train terminates at Westbahnhof, conveniently at the top of Mariahilferstrasse on the U3 subway line. Alternatively, as the video shows, the Westbahn also stops at Wien Hutteldorf, which is the end station of the U4 subway line. In some rare instances for travelers, Hutteldorf might be more convenient.
ÖBB has started to take delivery of its own double deck trains for long distance services. Those are very similar to the Westbahn trains (as they come out of the same factory) and will be used on RJ services on the "Westbahn".
For those not in the known, the "Westbahn", or "Western Railway" is the name for the railway line from Vienna to Innsbruck and beyond. Wien Westbahnhof is named thus because it is the end of that line. There is also an Ostbahn and a Sudbahn, which each also had their own stations until those were replaced with the new Central station. Nordbahnhof however is long gone (But the Nordbahn is not...)
Westbahn will start running trains to Graz and Klagenfurt from March on, using single deck trains however. Double deck trains cannot run on the Semmering Railway yet. For those services they have bought a set of trains, that are the same as the ones SBB uses on Zurich - Milano services. That will mean that they will be running the fastest trains in Austria.
It will be interesting to see if Westbahn ever expands in to Italy or Slovenia.
I was surprised that Thibault said the next generation of Westbahn trains was going to be Chinese, I would think the EU would "insist" on buy local.
WengenK - Great info! Id love to see improved train service/options to Zagreb.
I was surprised that Thibault said the next generation of Westbahn
trains was going to be Chinese, I would think the EU would "insist" on
buy local.
Westbahn is a private company, and is thus not bound by the rules that govern public procurement. And Europe does not a priori exclude foreign companies for bidding for contracts. "Buy America" is probably the #1 reason why you cannot have good public transit in the US.
CRRC is trying to get in to the European market, and is even planning a factory in Hungary. So far they have not had a lot of success, so I guess they might indeed have offered Westbahn a good deal to get a foothold in Europe. They have so far sold trains to the Serbian Railways, and to a Romanian Open Access operator.
It will be interesting to see if Westbahn ever expands in to Italy or Slovenia.
That is wishful thinking at the moment. Westbahn has not even got the trains delivered in time to start the southbound route at the beginning of the 2026 time table.
I don't think Westbahn ever planned to start its services on the Sudbahn before March. They are not a public service operator, they can ignore that Europe Wide timetable change.
i've seen some vlogs about Chinese trains in Europe and they were not complimentary, they looked the part but didn't live up to the appearance.
