train transfer in Vienna

Gloria , Six minutes is a reasonably average allowance for a change . At Meidling it is a cross over to the next platform . The real issue is your luggage . How heavy , and more to the point , how much of it ? Depending on where on the platform you disembark from the first train , you will have to walk . At one end of the platform there are stairs , escalator , and elevator , at the opposite end , only stairs ( it's an underground passage between platforms ). Two bits of advice : Be at the door of the carriage , luggage at the ready when the train pulls to a stop ( standard practice for this sort of thing anyway ) . and secondly , even more importantly , try to pack less . The lighter you travel ,the happier you will be . On my trips I invariably see people struggling with multiple heavy bags in rail stations , stairs , cobbled streets , etc. and shake my head .

Thanks for the info, Steven. I will be on a three month trip through two seasons (fall/winter) so can't travel any lighter than a 25" spinner case that will weigh close to 22 kilograms. I did a similar trip last year and needed everything I had with me. Please try not to shake your head :) I think I will look for alternate transportation as 6 minutes at a large station i am not familiar with doesn't seem like enough time for me.

Where are you coming from ? Where are you headed ? Perhaps there is a connection that would cut you a bit more slack .

For that segment of the trip I will be traveling from either Bled or Ljubljana, Slovenia to Graz, Austria for several days. From there, to Budapest. I've found a "milk run" slow regional train from Ljubljana to Budapest that skips Vienna - but an Austrian guy on another blog said that train would be very uncomfortable for a long trip. Maybe I should plan a couple days in Vienna. That would solve the connection problem. I've been there twice already though. I'll keep digging!

I agree , the milk run probably would be uncomfortable . The idea of Vienna for a few days ,even though you've been there before , is great . I don't think you could ever exhaust the things to see there . Have a wonderful time !!

Gloria , there is one other way to handle this . There are any number of runs from Graz to Budapest via Meidling . You could book two separate tickets ,one for each leg so as to contrive between a thirty and sixty minute layover at Meidling . Go to the Bahn De. website and you can bring up the two legs individually in order to make this work . You can then purchase the tickets on OBB . This would only take a bit of time to structure .

Thanks, I've already spent a lot of time on the bahn site. I was starting to get a big headache! I will figure it all out soon.