To the page for Austria of the Trento Bike Pages

In, out of and through Austria by train
taking your own bicycle with you

By Karl Valentin, Thu, 3 Jun 2004 03:15:23 -0700
Since railway companies abandoned sending bikes internationally in 1997 or so without replacing the former system with a new adequate one bike tourists face problems starting with lack of available informations, labyrinthic bureaucratic reservation requirements and general uncoordination between the various companies. Despite it is not all that bad. But it is is certainly not as good as some companies like OEBB of Austria want you to believe using brochures with a lot of idyllic pictures.

This report is based to large extent on personal expirience and research at the main train stations in Wien (Vienna).

Domestic travels

Oesterreichische Bundesbahnen or OEBB is the main operator in Austria.

Transport of bicycles within Austria on national bound trains is usually not much of a problem. On Intercity and Eurocity trains reservations are usually compulsory or recommended. You have various possibilities with two exceptions: there are no night trains between Vorarlberg and Wien that allow bicycles and connections from Wien to Klagenfurt and Villach in the south of Austria are rather limited.

Almost all local and regional trains allow bicycles. Exceptions proof the rule. There is no possibility to make a reservation for these trains. You have to purchase a "Fahrradkarte" (bicycle ticket) which allows unlimited transport on a day, a week or a month according to your choice.

National trains require a "EC/IC-Fahrradtageskarte". The ticket includes free of charge reservation for the bike. It is valid on local trains, too.

Repeated problems "Schienenersatzverkehr"

Without visible warning to passengers OEBB blocks routes for bike transport. Especially during short holiday periods, but not limited to these occasions, construction works on a part of the track lead to a "Schienenersatzverkehr", which means that a few kilometers a train is replaced by one bus. Despite owning buses adapted to bike transport OEBB is not capable to organize them even on routes advertised as bike holiday destinations. The result is always the same. Several passengers with bikes travel to their destination. On the train, after some time, at a point of no return, the conductor informs the passengers for the first time that a Schienenersatzverkehr requires changing from train to bus. At the train station several bikers complain and then someone from OEBB starts to organize an improvised solution. You can expect that finally some sort of solution is found. As a general rule it is not a bad idea to ask before buying tickets if bike transport is guaranteed. But even when you are already stranded at a station in the middle of nowhere do not panic. Local station staff is used to situations like these and comment them with "It is chaos, like always". In most cases you can expect a friendly attitude and efforts to solve the problem. Of course you experience time delays and sometimes stress, in particular with busdrivers, but this is not always so.

INTERNATIONAL TRAIN CONNECTIONS

Travelling beyond Austrian borders in connection with bike transport demands logistics. Here are some possibilities, several of them tested in practice by the author. There is a grey zone between advertising bike transport in theory and real practice.

Germany

Most foreign bike tourists in Austria are from Germany and the trains taking you to Austria from there are almost all operated by Deutsche Bahn (DB) and City Night Line (CNL). This leads to the result that the trains connect Wien, Salzburg, Tirol (and during summer time the south of Austria) with areas of high population density in Germany.

There are direct connections to Koeln and Dortmund, Berlin and to Hamburg. These connections are more or less restricted to two or even one train per day or night, so capacities during peak periods are limited. You can expect more stress resistent services going from Muenchen (Munich) via Salzburg to Wien or to Innsbruck. There are several trains a day, also a night train.

Netherlands

You have four options. The direct route between Amsterdam and Wien is not possible because the connection between Amsterdam and Koeln is run without exception with high speed trains (ICE) without transport. From Wien you take the CNL to Duesseldorf and change to a local train to Emmerich at the border. There you cross to the Netherlands by bike to a nearby station. Next major station is Nijmegen. Option no. 2 is again the CNL and changing to a local train you go to Venlo in NL. From there all connections. To the north of the Netherlands you can travel to Leer (Ostfriesland) in Germany. The route depends on which train you take through Germany. From Leer it is only a few kilometers to the NL, very convenient on cycle paths and small roads without traffic, or by train to Groningen. Heading to Utrecht and Amsterdam from Wien you can go to Muenchen and then take the CNL from Muenchen to Amsterdam.

Czech Republic

With the exception of the direct connection from Linz to Praha all trains to this direction leave Wien. Local and regional trains are the backbone of easy travelling to the Czech Republic as well as short term visits. Every two hours you can go to Gmuend and cross the border there to Bohemia. A few trains go further to Ceske Budejovice, which is also situated on the track from Linz to Praha. Within a short distance of little more than one hour is Retz (3km from the border and occasional trains to Znojmo directly from Wien via Retz), Laa an der Thaya and Hohenau (and Breclav on the Czech side of the border). Using these trains you have bike transports without limitations except space, which is only a problem for large groups. Breclav is starting point to Ostrava and Olomouc in the north of the CR. There is one Eurocity train from Wien to Praha via Brno where bikes are accepted.

Slovakia

Several trains to Bratislava and once a day a direct connection to Kosice. Some of the trains to Bratislava in fact end in Petrzalka, a suburb of Bratislava. From there you have to cycle to the city centre crossing the Danube. No night trains to Slovakia.

Hungary

Day and night trains to Budapest. Some of them allow travelling without changing from Muenchen to Budapest via Salzburg and Wien. There are local trains from Wien to Nickelsdorf, the Austrian border town near Hegyeshalom in Hungary. Local trains from Graz to Hungary, too. There is a reliable and comfortable way to travel to and from Sopron, a nice town located close to the Neusiedlersee (lake). Direct regional trains connect Wien with this most western town of Hungary. During day time trains every hour, all of them accept bikes. No night trains. Sopron is maybe a good trial if you want to see how biking in Hungary is. Drivers are quite reckless, fumes of all varieties take your breath and the only major road you can take to the Austrian border is forbidden for cyclists, also the major road to the east leaving Sopron. Almost all cyclists visit Sopron because of the cycle path aroung the lake.

Romania, Bulgaria & Yugoslavia

There are trains from Wien to the two countries, but no bikes accepted! Do not let yourself be confused by timetables on the homepages of train companies that show a cycle symbol. Bikes are taken to Budapest only. Budapest is the final stop for the luggage van. The situation is identical with the Intercity to Beograd: bikes to Budapest only.

Italy

Poor performance, that is. No bike transport from Wien to Venezia, Bologna, Firenze and Roma. This is a result of the combined ignorance of Trenitalia and OEBB. The only possibility is travelling from Kufstein, Woergl or Innsbruck via Brenner/Brennero. There are a few trains coming from Germany to Kufstein and Innsbruck to continue to Firenze that allow you to take your bike with you. The other possibility is to take a local train from Innsbruck to Brenner/Brennero and change to a regional Italian train (IR) that goes to Bologna via Trento, Verona and Modena.

Slovenia

One Intercity per day from Wien to Ljubljana. A few regional trains from Villach to Jesenice.

Switzerland

Two day trains, one from Wien to Zuerich and one from Wien to Basel via Zuerich allow reliable planning and travelling without stress. One additional possibility between Salzburg and Zuerich. Unfortunately the night train Wien-Zuerich is without bike transport. Thanks to the excellent service in Switzerland you can reach every train station there, even the most remote, within one day travelling from Wien.

France

From Wien there are two ways to Paris, one more expensive and unreliable, but shorter duration, one cheaper, reliable but longer time.

The direct train from Wien to Paris accepts bikes, but chaos is waiting for you! SNCF (French Railways) tore the seats out of a compartment to make space for bikes. No problem in France, but one for you during a night journey from Wien. OEBB demands to make a reservation, but what they do not provide is secure storage. So sleeping cars and couchettes are on the other end of the train, a fact that needs some trust in the honesty of mankind. Otherwise you prefer to sit in a compartment next to your bike. The Austrian luggage van leaving Wien which is locked by the conductor is heading only for Salzburg.

Space is limited to 6 bikes. Despite having a reservation it is not guaranteed that SNCF sent the proper waggon, sometimes there is no bike compartment at all.

Taking this train from Paris to Wien is even more some kind of a roulette. SNCF does not accept reservations from Paris to Wien which leads to first come first go arrangements. According to Austrian conductors serving on this train you should be able to negotiate with French conductors in reasonable French to improve your chances during peak times to get your bike in. They report also about informal possibilities to make reservations without a reservation system.

Second and a more reliable option is to take the train from Wien to Basel and then one of the several from Basel to Paris. Coming from the west of Austria (Vorarlberg, Tirol, Salzburg) you have some more trains to Basel than from Wien if you accept changing trains.

The way to the south of France starts again with one of the two trains if you start in Wien. In Zuerich you have to change to Geneve. Two possibilities from Zuerich: with reservation the ICN (Intercity Nord) via Biel and Neuchatel, without reservation via Bern and Lausanne. Every 3 hours you can continue your journey from Geneve to Lyon using a TER (regional train). Lyon is the centre of the region Rhones-Alpes where all trains except TGV accept bikes; this service is free of charge.

Several more possibilities to reach France from Switzerland are to go up to the Swiss Jura (La Chaux-de-Fonds) and drive down from the plateau to Besancon and further or to use a local train from Basel to Mulhouse or Strasbourg in Alsace.

SENDING BICYCLES AS LUGGAGE

This service is offered but rather expensive and bureaucratic. You have to call OEBB and order a lorry (!) to pick your bike up. Of course you have to have a home adress in Austria for this. It is not possible to deliver it yourself. Within Austria you need a second street adress where it can be delivered and a phone number to make an appointment, too. Outside Austria it depends on where you want to send it to. In Germany you need a home adress again; no delivery to train stations. In Switzerland you can send it to a station. It is not possible to send a bike to France because you can send only suitcases to France, not "extra luggage" or Sondergepaeck (in German) and you guess right, bikes are Sondergepaeck. OEBB offers to transport bikes also to Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium. There are no reports about the quality of this service available. No possibility to send bikes to other countries. Sending your bicycle is charged about four times the price of an international bicycle ticket.

ALTERNATIVE PUBLIC TRANSPORT

A few alternative busoperators offer their service in a limited period around July, August and September. From/to Germany Natours may be useful, from/to the Netherlands Fietsvakantiewinkel.

You can also travel by boat along (the most scenic) parts of the Danube in Austria as well as Wien-Bratislava and Wien-Budapest.

Links

Alternatives

Natours, Fietsvakantiewinkel, DDSG Blue Danube