Is there a website(s) that shows the sequence (as in a schematic) of carriage numbers (and perhaps seating charts) of scheduled trains without buying a ticket first? I’m looking for trains operated by OEBB (Munich to Budapest), Hungary (Budapest to Prague), and Czech (Prague to Munich). Or is this something that might only be displayed at each respective station? Thank you in advance.
For the Munich to Budapest and Budapest to Prague you can to to the MAV site and go through the ticketing process which includes the seat selection. At the that point you can see all of the options. You dont have to actually purchase the ticket. https://jegy.mav.hu/ Never seen schmatics even at the stations. Would love to know if there are options. Hope you get more answers.
Those are some pretty long train trips. Enjoy.
Thanks, Mr. E . I'll go through the ticketing process of each site to see if anything like this pops up towards the end. Those are indeed long train rides. Hope we have just a bit of a backdoor experience out of them. I know you are a proponent of flying. Thanks again.
There is the Vagonweb Site:
Note the the trains your are interested in are operated by multiple operators. Trains typically are operated by the national operator of the country they are in. So a Munich - Budapest train is a DB train till Salzburg, and only becomes an ÖBB train there. It then becomes a MÁV train at Hegyeshalom.
New info (multiple operators on one route) of which I was not aware. I'll check out the link you provided. I looked at it briefly and it looks promising. Thank you again, WengenK. I initially mistook you for Mr. E.
Regardless of the operator, the tickets are sold on the MAV site if one end of the journey is in Budapest, start or finish. For the purpose of looking at car types, that should be sufficient. For the purpose of actual purchase, there are some advantages to buying from the departure country site, but the last time I bought tickets Salzburg to Budapest the MAV site was sufficiently cheaper that I bought from them.
See Harwood I do ride trains LOL. At least 8 this year by the end of September. Just not long hauls if I am traveling light and there is a discount carrier.
Another train to look at is the private RegioJet line. Sometimes better prices and more amenities. But, at least here in Budapest, they tend to not use the central stations.
Finally, Budapest to Prague has some amazing opportunities for stops along the way. If you have time it's a great 3 or 4 day (or at least 2 day) trip.
You are skipping Vienna? If you haven't been ....
There are some exceptions, but generally speaking international trains are run in cooperation between multiple companies. Often they will pool material, which is why for example half the trains on VIenna - Budapest are Austrian and the other half Hungarian. But you will notice that the crews change at the border. And that if you for example take a RJ from Munich to Budapest that the train conductor that comes through between Munich and Salzburg will be wearing a DB uniform, and then in Salzburg you will see that he has been relieved by a collegue in ÖBB uniform.
In the past they would also swap engines at the border, but that is less common now as modern locomotives can deal with multiple networks.
You can see that on the DB site. If you look up a trip on www.bahn.com, and call up the details of a train you will see who operates it. And in general you can get tickets from any of the operators. But I tend to advise getting tickets from the operator where your trip starts.
Thanks again, to both of you. @ Mr. E. Not enough time for the extras, unfortunately. Maybe next time.
Understood. Have fun!