Hello! I am traveling from Innsbruck to Vienna next Sunday and plan to travel via Semmering bahn.
I'm wondering what would be the best route and which train would be the best option for enjoying the scenery on the Semmering bahn? Local or faster train? Any thoughts?
Answer
Train options in the Semmering bahn, Austria
Best answer by ralderton
I think you just need to pick a train which calls at Wiener Neustadt and Bruck an der Mur, which means it will be routed over the Semmering.
The ‘fast’ trains go reasonably slowly, IIRC, so there’s no need to get a local train unless you want to get off. (There are some nice walks if you do - I got off at Semmering and walked down to Breitenstein am Semmering)
Some useful information
+8I think you just need to pick a train which calls at Wiener Neustadt and Bruck an der Mur, which means it will be routed over the Semmering.
The ‘fast’ trains go reasonably slowly, IIRC, so there’s no need to get a local train unless you want to get off. (There are some nice walks if you do - I got off at Semmering and walked down to Breitenstein am Semmering)
Some useful information
The scenic part of the Semmering is all between 60 and 80 km/h. IMO there's nothing better than sitting in a comfortable long-distance train and seeing the views slowly passing by.
I would recommed travelling via Zell am See, Bischofshofen, the Enns Valley and change in Leoben to a railjet for Vienna. The best connection seems to be IC515 from Innbruck(dep. 8:21 for Graz) to Leoben and then RJ536 via the Semmering to Vienna. The other direct train from Innsbruck to Leoben, RJ163 is probably to late, as you then would be on the Semmering line at sunset and light would not be good anymore for viewing the scenery. There are a few more connections via Salzburg with changng trains in Salzburg and Leoben, but the route via Zell am See is certainly nicer and you have to change trains only once. Sunday afternoon the railjets to Vienna via the Semmering line are usually packed. I recommend to get a seat reservation for €3,- at the ÖBB homepage. RJ536 has right now only a limited number of reservable seats left. So be fast and try to get a window seat on the right side of the train for best viewieng. For railjet trains (not for the intercity) you may select seats on a seat map on the ÖBB ticketing page. An alternative might be RJ736 one hour later from Leoben to Vienna. Both trains are usually pushed towards Vienna, first class at the front end of train.
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