No Train Departures from Hallstatt to Salzburg

Did you check the Austrian Train website? OBB? I see several for that day.

I went to the ÖBB (Austrian Railways) website: https://www.oebb.at/en/
On 5th October it is only showing buses, but with a note against each entry:

Construction work - Rail replacement services
Due to construction work, this train cannot operate. We are providing rail replacement services for you. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

When this happens, the buses connect with the trains and take train tickets.
For the best info, always go to the company operating the train (or in this case, not operating ☺).

If you look at www.oebb.at/en, you will see that there is construction on the rail line from Hallstatt to Steeg-Gossau. OEBB is providing replacement buses for that section. I guess it is not showing up at DB, Trainline, or Rail Europe.

Ohhhh, that explains it. Thank you. So seems we could buy tickets from OBB at the train station and go by bus, or buy directly on the Postbus? Does Postbus depart from train station? Thank you.

Never use Rail Europe. Always use the website of the national rail carrier in the country where your journey originates.

Thanks, Emily. Good advice. Though must say I have used Trainline and been quite pleased. Nice interface and no added fees.

Whenever a train track is closed for repair works in Austria, there is a replacement bus to be used with your normal train ticket.
Take note of the schedule: Because the bus is usually slower than the train it often departs earlier than the corresponding train to be in time at the station where you have to change back from the bus to the regular train.
In that particular case of Hallstatt the bus does not depart at the Hallstatt train station on the other side of the lake but in Hallstatt Lahn.

The Postbus departs from Hallstatt Lahn and goes with one change in Gossau, I believe, to Bad Ischl. At least when I took it from Bad Ischl to Lahn, it had one change in Gossau

brugesman,

"So seems we could buy tickets from OBB at the train station"

Which train station are you referring to? The station in Hallstatt is across the lake from the town and is not staffed (although there may be a Kiosk). There may be a place in Hallstatt to buy tickets but I've never checked. In the same situation, I'd probably try to buy the Hallstatt - Salzburg tickets online at the OBB website.

To connect with the Postbus for the 10 minute trip to Steeg-Gosau, you'll have to walk to the far end of Hallstatt at Lahn. Which hotel are you staying at in Hallstatt? At Steeg-Gosau there will be a short walk to the rail station and after that you'll be back on the train to Attnang-Pucheim and then Salzburg. It appears that they have alternate transportation well organized.

You can check with your hotel staff when you arrive in Hallstatt and they will be able to explain the details.

Ken,

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. We’ll be staying at a guest house in the heart of town, right across the lake from the train station. Might make sense to buy online in advance, although that would predetermine our departure time. Not sure if we want to do that. But when I search on OBB, all the departures seem to be from Hallstatt Lahn. (There are several Hallstatt options to choose from when searching. I chose the one that just says Hallstaat. Is that correct?) Could it be because of the track maintenance, ALL buses, both Post and the bus in lieu of train (are those two different things/companies, or is OBB relying on Post bus?) are departing from Lahn? Looks like a 15-20 minute walk from the center of town to Lahn, maybe a bit more with wheelies (and cobblestones?) I guess my main follow up question is do all buses, which one must take because train not available from Hallstatt at that time, depart from Lahn? Or do some buses depart from the train station across the lake, which is probably easier for us to get to?

Thank you or anyone else for any thoughts.

brugesman,

A few comments on your questions.....

It's likely that all departures will be from Hallstatt Lahn, as the trains will not be able to reach the Hallstatt station due to the track maintenance. FWIW, I've also encountered track issues on a trip to Hallstatt and have had to take the replacement bus. As I recall, it was not a Post Bus but rather the large touring coach style. I suspect that will be the type of bus used for rail replacement in this case.

It sounds like the guest house you'll be staying at is close to the boat dock, which is about directly across from the train station. Therefore I'd plan on making the 15-20 minute walk "with wheelies" to connect with the bus. I don't remember any cobblestones on that walk, just normal pavement.

If you don't want to commit to a specific departure time from Hallstatt, I'd suggest asking the owners of the guest house for advice. You could also check with the Tourist Information Office in Hallstatt as I'm sure they'll be able to help. The locals will also need to travel on public transit, so they'll know where to buy tickets.

In the same situation, I'd probably choose a departure time the day prior to travel and buy the tickets then. If you won't be travelling with a smartphone, you may need a printer to get a printed copy of the ticket. Does your guest house provide Wi-Fi? If you have a smartphone, you could try the OBB app. I checked and it's available on the Canadian iTunes store, so assume it will also be available on the U.S. store.

"Or do some buses depart from the train station across the lake, which is probably easier for us to get to?"

There will be no buses departing from the Hallstatt train station, as there's no road there - https://goo.gl/images/Q56wZZ .

Hope this helps.

Thanks again, Ken. Very useful. We went ahead and booked bus/train combo tickets last night on OBB. We received a reservation, not an actual ticket. I presume we present that in Lahn and will be given tickets. Is the departure point in Lahn a building (bus station) and easy to find, or is it just a bus stop? There has to be at least a kiosk or something for getting the tickets, I assume.

We went ahead and booked bus/train combo tickets last night on OBB. We received a reservation, not an actual ticket.

I have booked OeBB tickets online several times, but I always received a ticket to be printed at home.

What exactly did you receive? How is it called?

Translated from German, it’s a “Tax certificate for booking”. It states “Please be aware that this confirmation is no ticket.” I believe it’s a reservation for a certain travel time window, thus not yet associated with a specific departure. I assume we’ll use this to pick up our tickets, which we have now paid for.

The departure point in Lahn will probably be apparent, as there will be a large coach sitting there and a group of people waiting. The T.I. office in Hallstatt or any of the locals should be able to provide further information.

Regarding the tickets, this discussion on Trip Advisor might address your questions - https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g190410-i146-k10476597-Rail_Ticket_from_OEBB_and_seat_reservation-Austria.html .

OMG, Ken, I can’t thank you enough! Reading through that Trip Advisor thread, I saw that OBB sends a link to the ticket in the email sent after you purchase. I hadn’t read the email carefully. I just went immediately to the attached PDF, as I have done for all other train ticket purchases, and was puzzled by the fact that it was only a reservation. But I just assumed I had to redeem that res for the tickets when we’re there. Lesson learned: Read the damn email! I was able to download and print the tickets. What a relief!

Wmt1, thank you too for planting the seed that the reservation-only scenario I described didn’t sound right.

We depart tomorrow. These RS travel forums are a true treasure. So many knowledgeable and helpful people helping others.

brugesman,

It's great that you've now got all this sorted. Hope you have a wonderful time in Hallstatt and Salzburg!