Hello! Can anyone advise me on what routes the Austria pass covers? Specifically, I will be traveling from Lucerne to Salzburg, and then a roundtrip to Munich from Salzburg. All of these routes appear on the ÖBB website as trains I can book through them, but because they will begin in another country (not Austria), I wasn’t sure if they would be covered.
(Also, if we were to stop on the way from Lucerne to Salzburg at Schaan-Vaduz, would that make a difference in answering this question?
NO-a 1 country-as the name already says, is valid ONLY in the country you pay for. The first/last stops are always very close to the actual national borders.
Starting from Zürich: this is Swiss, so you have to pay for a (very expensive) swiss ticket till border station, Sargans (in fact you get the transit across Lichtenstein for free´ as its OeBB that runs here.
It is also NOT valid to visit München, from either Salzburg or Kufstein (last stops in Austria). You can use a cheaper Bayern dayticket, 25 € for 1, but NOT valid on the faster ICE/RJ trains, only the slower all stops Regional, it also includes all transport in M and even the whole of Bayern.
The map may be confusing as OeBB (=AT railways) has fast trains transit DE/Bayern between Kufstein and Salzburg, these do not stop in DE and can indeed be used with normal AT domestic tickets. This route is much faster as the old and very scenic but slow via the mountains line, Zell am See-Bischofshofen.
If these are the only trips you intend to make, then a pass is much more expensive as just buy on the spot for this Bayern and advance booking for the trip Z (airport?)-Salzburg, but then usually no break is possible.
Starting from Zürich: this is Swiss, so you have to pay for a (very expensive) swiss ticket till border station, Sargans
The tariff border point between SBB and ÖBB is Buchs. The one country pass for Austria is only valid from there.
The only places I’m certain that a one-country Austrian pass get you internationally are Schaan-Vaduz (as you allude to), and Venice by Railjet (though the obligatory surcharge is increased to an absurd €50/30 in 1st/2nd class).
A German rail pass can also be used on the Italian ÖBB routes from Munich via Innsbruck, so logically the same should also be possible for an Austrian pass, but I’ve not heard anything to confirm this so I wouldn’t assume - particularly given that with quite a few unique perks and range-extending international trips bundled in, the German pass seems to be something of a special case.
The only places I’m certain that a one-country Austrian pass get you internationally are Schaan-Vaduz (as you allude to), and Venice by Railjet (though the obligatory surcharge is increased to an absurd €50/30 in 1st/2nd class).
Where did you read that? ÖBB still offer this for 10/15 EUR:
A German rail pass can also be used on the Italian ÖBB routes from Munich via Innsbruck, so logically the same should also be possible for an Austrian pass, but I’ve not heard anything to confirm this so I wouldn’t assume - particularly given that with quite a few unique perks and range-extending international trips bundled in, the German pass seems to be something of a special case.
That's a valid remark.
The only places I’m certain that a one-country Austrian pass get you internationally are Schaan-Vaduz (as you allude to), and Venice by Railjet (though the obligatory surcharge is increased to an absurd €50/30 in 1st/2nd class).
Where did you read that? ÖBB still offer this for 10/15 EUR:
The Interrail overview page for Railjet specifies different prices for Global and One-Country passholders on the Vienna-Venice route:
https://www.interrail.eu/en/plan-your-trip/trains-europe/high-speed-trains/railjet
The issue with getting this quoted on oebb.at is that it isn’t possible to input a One-Country rather than a Global Pass into the route query page. I presume you would only be able to buy the €30/50 ticket at a Reisezentrum.
These exceptions only apply to the German One Country pass unfortunately. International trains in Austria can only be taken within the territory.
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