Fare prices are expected to increase by an average of 1.9% from December 15.
ÖBB currently operates more than 300 long-distance services a day, including more than 150 international services, and plans to expand this next year. This includes a new daily service from Vienna to Bolzano, Italy, via Salzburg and Innsbruck, as well as services from Graz and Vienna to Krakow and Przemyśl, Poland, and from Vienna via Debrecen, Hungary, to Satu Mare, Romania. ÖBB will also introduce an additional direct Railjet service to Berlin from May 4 2020, which will operate from Graz via Vienna and Dresden.
Nightjet overnight series will be extended with a twice-weekly service operating between Vienna and Brussels. The new service will begin operating in January 2020, with bookings open at the beginning of December.
National long-distance services will be expanded with additional daytime connections planned, including a late evening service from Vienna main station to Graz, and a morning service from Graz to Villach. There will also be a late direct connection from Salzburg via Attnang-Puchheim and Amstetten, arriving in Vienna after midnight. A direct connection from Vienna via Linz to Bischofshofen is planned for winter weekends, to provide a service during the ski season.
Local services
Local and regional services will be expanded throughout Austria, with around 4 million additional train-km planned. With a strong increase in passenger numbers in eastern Austria, passengers will benefit from longer operating times and improved frequencies.
The Vienna West - Amstetten Cityjet service will be rebranded Cityjet Xpress (CJX), to help promote the service.
Fleet modernisation
ÖBB is investing around €2.8bn in fleet modernisation, with another 26 Desiro ML Cityjet trains gradually entering services in the eastern region by summer 2020, with 189 of these trains to be in service by the end of 2021.
In Vorarlberg, new Talent3 Cityjet EMUs will enter service in 2020, while around 100 double-deck coaches will be upgraded to Cityjet standards.
From 2020, ÖBB will gradually equip its Nightjets trains with free Wi-Fi and the Railnet on-board digital entertainment portal. It will also begin changing the luggage racks on Railjet services to include a lockable option, to safely secure luggage.
Between January 1 and December 31, ÖBB will give each person turning 18 a free Vorteilscard, which will entitle them to discounted fares, in an effort to promote rail travel.
GPS ticketing
ÖBB is currently preparing a system that will enable automatic GPS-based ticketing throughout Austria, allowing passengers to hop on and off services without needing to purchase a ticket beforehand. Fairtiq, Switzerland, has been awarded a contract to implement its software in the ÖBB App, making the automated check-in/check-out system possible throughout Austria. A pilot with selected customers is planned for the first quarter of 2020 with the goal of rolling it out across Austria.
