My husband and I are travelling to Austria .We have 2 train travels planned .
1.Innsbruck - Salzburg
2.Salzburg - Vienna
RailJet trains connect either cities, they are the fastest trains. Westbahn is a private carrier servicing Salzburg-Vienna (and back), only.
Westbahn trains terminate at Vienna's western train station, whereas RailJets go to main train station (and continue to Vienna International Airport).
Between Salzburg and Vienna there is a train every half an hour.
Cheap tickets are available for all trains, but "Sparschiene" tickets (bargain price) for RailJets are bound to a specific train, and have to be bought in advance, as opposed to tickets for Westbahn.
Do not buy any rail pass, they are a rip-off in most cases, especially when purchased abroad.
For travel within Vienna, there's a weekly pass or a 4-day pass. If you're over 65, however, you can also buy 2-for-1 tickets.
Salzburg is pretty walkable.
Westbahn are slower trains but can be really cheap. https://westbahn.at/
Commute means to shuttle back and forth most days, not sure you want that.
The Vienna main station, Hauptbahnhof, is not any closer to the Vienna city center than the Westbahnhof. The Hauptbahnhof used to be called the Suedbahnhof (South Station) until it was torn down and rebuilt as a modern, more efficient structure.
The key advantage to Westbahn is that it runs on a regular hourly schedule and you don't even need to buy tickets in advance. Just get on the train, find a seat, and buy the ticket from the conductor when he'she comes through the car. There are some discounts with advance booking, senor discounts, youth discounts, frequent traveler discounts.
https://westbahn.at/en
I forgot to answer the first question!
Innsbruck- Salzburg has a fast train every 2 hours, usually Railjet design (which most Austrian long distance trains are now), there were a few odd services where German ICE trains appeared under a joint usage deal. Best prices are online, weeks in advance at
http://www.oebb.at/en/
The fast trains take a short cut across a corner of germany without stopping and takes just under 2 hours, the germans currently have some work ongoing so some trains may be altered . The roue that stays within Austria is via Zell am See and takes longer, this has the scenery though, and all days has regional trains.
If you book the Railjet in advance you might get it for €28 each, this is a fixed booking and prices go up as seats sell. But, if you travelled via Zell using regional trains you could buy an "Einfach Raus" ticket for €33 for two people http://www.oebb.at/en/angebote-ermaessigungen/einfach-raus-ticket this is not valid beofre 09:00 Monday- Fridays, which means the first worthwhile train from Innsbruck Hbf (main station) is at 10:35, change trains at Wörgl, arrive Salzburg at 14:51. You double the jounrey time but could halve the cost - and you get the scenery. This ticket can be bought on the day of travel at the station. It is actually a day pass, so you can use other local and regional trains for connections if needed.
Salzburg city is actually quiet compact so you may not need transport
Vienna is definately not compact, the local trasnport authority sells passes for 1, 2or 3 days https://www.wienerlinien.at/eportal3/ep/channelView.do/pageTypeId/66533/channelId/-47345 the 1 day is €7.60
Westbahn are slower trains
Salzburg - Vienna:
Westbahn 2:28 hours
RailJets 2:26 hours
Thank you everybody . We are going to book the Railjet tickets in advance .
Westbahn are slower trains in that they travel at lower speeds. Their maximum is 160kph, against Railjets 230kph - which may only be possible in short stretches in Austria but still counts. 160kph (99mph) is not considered high speed in Europe. The Westbahn trains were built in Switzerland and the design was originally intended to be for short distance regional services.
Westbahn end at Westbahnhof which is closer to Salzburg than the stations used by Railjet, if you need to be west side then fine, but if you need to be where Railjet goes then with Westbahn you have to change, their advertised shuttle (which only meets certain trains) adds an extra 39 minutes to reach Hauptbahnhof.
If you want positives about Westbahn, they can be really cheap if you book in advance and the views from the upper deck are better than Railjets (but mind you head).
their advertised shuttle (which only meets certain trains) adds an extra 39 minutes to reach Hauptbahnhof.
That Westbahn shuttle is nonsense. The ride with tram 18 between western train station and main train station is 14 minutes.
Effective 2018 Westbahn will also service Wien Hauptbahnhof directly.
