Vienna-Bratislava

[rf_ioliver]

Are there engineering works or other distribution between Vienna and Bratislava at the moment?

Using OBB's planner, departing at 9h00 on the 20th of Sep, it seem that most routes (REX6 and REX7) require bus transfer; ok, REX7 goes to the end of the line at Hainburg, but REX6 only starts at Bruck with bus from Vienna Bus Station. The only direct options I see are an EC train to Hegyeshalm and then R1310 to Bratislava from there. Seat61 shows an hourly REX8 train, but I can't seem to find this running on the planners.

I was hoping for a quick beer in Bratislava and back - need to be at the airport at around 4 pm. A round trip via Hegyeshalm would also be possibly OK, eg: Vienna-Bratislava-Hegyeshalm-Airport.

 

[Spoorslag '70]

Engineering works between Wien and Bruck/Leitha, see https://www.oebb.at/de/fahrplan/baustelleninformation/bauarbeiten-wienhbf-bruck for details. REX8 services via Marchegg are not running due to engineering works on the Slovakian side, there should be a replacement bus service as well, details at https://www.oebb.at/de/fahrplan/baustelleninformation/wien-marchegg-bratislava.

 

[Wandering Pom]

And the Hainburg route doesn't exist east of Wolfsthal, and hasn't done for decades, probably soon after the Second World War.

 

[nwales58]

20th Feb can't be right.

Bratislava back to Vienna airport is always easiest by bus: slovaklines.sk run hourly, journey time 1h, pay at the stop or on the bus. Others (flix, regiojet) run less frequently.

The one through Vienna-Kosice train still seems to be running, it goes via Petrzalka but it is mid-afternoon so does not fit your needs. The inbound at 1232 from Petrzalka might.

If you fancy a night in Bratislava the Zürich-Bratislava railjet also seems to be running, 2042 from Vienna to Petrzalka and Hlavna.

 

[rf_ioliver]

Thanks all, mistyped the date... 20th Sept.

Thanks, might try the Eurocity service via Hegyeshalm and back - that way I can get 3 countries

 

[StephenHunter]

Have they done the electrification and doubling via Marchegg yet?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Have they done the electrification and doubling via Marchegg yet?

Supposed to be done by the December timetable change, but not confirmed.
On the Wolfsthal route, there's an hourly Bratislava bus 901 to bridge the gap, also serves Hainburg.

Line Bratislava – Hainburg - IDS BK

www.idsbk.sk

• Bus line 901 departs from Most SNP, via Einsteinova (in the direction of Bratislava also via Aupark), via Wolfsthal to Hainburg an der Donau.

 

[norbitonflyer]

When we visited Bratislava a few years ago, spome of our party returned to Vienna (for the airport) by boat. Don't know how fast it was, but probably more pleasant than an RRB - even an Austrian one (Schienenersatzverkehr - a word that became all too familar on summer holidays in austria!)

 

[rg177]

Mind that if you go via Hegyeshalom, the 'through' service to Bratislava-Nove Mesto is actually two separate trains. You'll get a Hungarian train to Rajka then everyone transfers to a Slovakian train onwards.

I've done the 901 before to Wolfsthal and it was pretty pain-free. IIRC I just paid cash to the driver and it was mostly local seniors off walking for the day.

 

[Gordon]

There is indeed a fast boat along the river.

Wien - Bratislava by river was famously possible even in iron curtain days (there was a fast service using those bulbous Soviet era hydrofoils)

The current service is by fast catamaran, takes only 1 hour 15 minutes:

https://www.twincityliner.com/assets/images/FP_international/Englisch/FahrplanEN.pdf

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

You can do the whole route by train, Wien-Bruck an der Leitha has hourly REX63/64 trains Wien-Pamhagen/Eisenstadt. However the journey planner usually doesn't show them because the connection with the REX6 replacement bus is very similar.

 

[MattSGB]

There is indeed a fast boat along the river.

Wien - Bratislava by river was famously possible even in iron curtain days (there was a fast service using those bulbous Soviet era hydrofoils)

The current service is by fast catamaran, takes only 1 hour 15 minutes:

https://www.twincityliner.com/assets/images/FP_international/Englisch/FahrplanEN.pdf

Just a word of warning about the boat, I booked it for the first time earlier this summer, but it was cancelled due to high water levels. Extreme heavy rain is expected imminently in the region, so water levels on the Danube may well be too high by 20th September. Also, you should book space for large luggage (which has extremely limited capacity).

Back to the original point, Vienna Hauptbahnhof to Bratislava Petržalka hourly services appear to be running according to vlak.cp.sk . It' takes about an hour and is only a short hop on the bus to the old town from there.