Munich to Vienna with Austria's PRIVATE Rail Operator, WESTBahn!

It's time to check out Austria's private open access operator WESTBahn, the main competitor of OBB's flagship Railjet service - I'll be trying one of the operator's recent extensions on the Munich - Salzburg - Vienna route, so join me as we check out what makes them the way to travel!
Journey details:
Date of travel - December 2023
Operator - WESTBahn
Origin - München Hbf
Destination - Wien Westbahnhof
Price - €23.99 (price around a month in advance on WESTBahn Superpreis, I travelled on an Interrail)
Journey time - 4 hours, 28 minutes
Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed the video!
Music from EpidemicSound and is used under license.
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#westbahn #munich #vienna #railjet #austria #salzburg #germany #tripreport

[@oeyt1982]

I tried Westbahn from Vienna to Innsbruck in Dec of 2022. The seats are massive. I was seated just behind the vending machine with banquet seats. I think every coach must have vending machines.

[@amanda_wm_3261]

Bravo! Perfect! what a trip. You have a very good commentary voice.

[@williamkwan8150]

Very interesting video, thanks for this. We are due to travel from Vienna to Munich on OBB's railjet, we have managed to get 4 first class tickets for just under 168 euro, hence Westbahn is not always cheaper :) I cannot wait to travel on them as it will be the first time :)

[@SamsonOhsem]

This is so satisfying to watch. Nice train trip i want to see more.

[@eisenbahnerharthausen]

Haha, the train on the thumbnail lools like a train god with all that white flash 😂

[@Travel-by-Train]

Very interesting train. It will be nice to try one day. 🍒🍒🍒

[@TheJG3870]

I've travelled with Westbahn from Munich Hbf to Amstetten using a 2nd class Interrail pass and the best thing apart from the fantastic trains themselves is you don't need to purchase a seat reservation. You just sit in a seat that isn't showing as reserved and the excellent on board staff check your Interrail pass and ask where you are going, they then electronically check you in to that seat with a handheld device and your destination appears on the reservation display above your seat so you don't get disturbed for the rest of the journey 👍

[@rodericmitchell8496]

I travelled from Munich to Salzburg with Westbahn in July 2023. I'd allowed at least an hour to make the connection in Munich, which became 40 minutes in the event. A big chunk of that time was taken up with walking from one side of the station to the other. I'd bought a cheap advance ticket, from Westbahn, but did not get a seat reservation. As it turned out the train was rammed, with most seats reserved. I managed to find an unreserved window seat on the lower deck next to the luggage.rack, which still had some space for my suitcase. At intermediate stops in Germany, train crew stood on the platform to dissuade travellers without Westbahn-issued tickets from boarding. I was interested to learn you could use any discount card to purchase an upgrade . When travelling to Vienna I prefer to use ÖBB to Hauptbahnhof as it's a more convenient location for me than Westbahnhof.

[@gottfriedheumesser1994]

With Westbahn you may make a seat reservation for free. It is your fault that you missed it.

[@matthewgleeson2121]

Munich Hbf is massive!

[@SirPablo2Pablo]

What a great channel and video. Brilliant

[@schnitzelsemmel]

If you have the Austrian national transport pass (Klimaticket Ö) for 1095€/year, you can travel for free in the 2+ (comfort) class, otherwise you also get 50% off on all their standard fares with almost any European rail discount card, additionally they also offer special fixed price presale tickets for trains on certain days and at certain times (similar to DB Sparpreis or ÖBB Sparschiene). Fun fact: Westbahn is partially owned by the French National rail company SNCF

[@Kaiserschmarren]

If you are already there, make sure to try the Deriso ML aswell. They're very good regional trains - if not the best!

[@robertheinrich2994]

there are indications, that ÖBB plans to buy at least some of the stadler KISS units, that were sold to DB. since they also buy KISS 3 units new, this will be interesting.

[@chatatens9592]

Is there any map or information about all inter-country trains in Europe including night trains showing names of train companies?

[@dolineote]

i like tehm very confortable clean and cheap

[@EarthStamper]

While the mentioned prices are correct, realistically fare is more like ~58-78€ from Munich to Vienna or vice versa for the standard class. 38€ if you plan accordingly and aren't flexible on the day. You can only achieve the low fare in the video if you book 1-2 months in advance, only during off-peak hours, specific days and on non holidays.

[@packkeysthomasshrimpton]

when are you going to review the 701? you reviewed the 710 and 720

[@markvogel5872]

Does Europe have any auto trains where you can take your car with you? That'd be an awesome service especially if they could make a high speed one!

[@drdewott9154]

There are some auto trains but no high speed ones. Some NightJet services accept them, mainly between Hamburg and the Austrian alps but its quite limited. There's the seasonal "Optima Express" train taking several days between Austria and Turkey via the Balkans, and vice versa. The most notable auto-train service still around in Europe is probably the RDC (formerly BahnTouristikExpress) run Hamburg to Lorrach service which terminates just north of the Swiss border and the city of Basel. This train used to be run by Deutsche Bahn before they shut down their night-train division. You drive your car onboard in either Hamburg or in Lorrach and spend the night onboard before driving off the train at the opposite end. However this train is also pretty expensive and is mostly geared towards large families. A single bunk in a couchette goes for 190 euros which is over twice the pricetag of most other night trains, including the ÖBB Nightjet on the Hamburg to Zurich route.

[@paulthiel5145]

There used to be quite a good network of autotrains in Europe run by multiple operators, but most have disappeared about 15 to 20 years ago now (including much of the specialized infrastructure). Some exceptions like described in the comment above remain. Having said that, this comment omitted the most well known autotrain currently running in Europe, which is the Le Shuttle cartrain service connecting the UK and France through the Channel Tunnel 🙂

[@oldtechnobodycaresabout]

There's an auto train in Northern Germany

[@jappe5208]

In Finland you can take cartrain from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. Its take 12-13 hours. In Rovaniemi you can meet Santa Claus at artic circle.

[@chatatens9592]

What months are the rush season in these trains and when are the fares lower?

[@daHqubii]

You speaking of the WestBahn connection or of other trains?

[@chatatens9592]

Please suggest some nice night trains

[@matthewgleeson2121]

The Railjet is better and also happens to be Europe's best train in my opinion.

[@Franjo5000]

Actually its WESTbahn. The full name is Wehinger Stefan bahn.

[@Vierwiel-Knyntsje]

​ Separate toilets for men and women, more rail operators should do that. 🤩

[@TamasKiss-bv9hz]

👍👍👍❤🤍💚

[@Train_Nerd]

I don't think this is the future of railway. The future of railway would be a clock faced timetable with a single ticket system all over Europe instead of competition everybody against everybody.

[@prunomars1410]

I also think that having a integrated train system all over Europe would be great, but in this case, why not let a company run trains without any help from a state if the company wants it? Of course, I would be amazed if it sticked to the schadules of the other trains, but it is still better than nothing and gives people more options. As for the single ticket system, I agree that it is more complicated, but as long as we can use the trains with an interrail pass, it is already half the job done.

[@gottfriedheumesser1994]

@@prunomars1410 Rail traffic without public aid only works at the main connections, but not into the areas. Westbahn would never be able to connect smaller cities apart from main lines.

[@prunomars1410]

@@gottfriedheumesser1994 Yes, of course, this is where public funded rail is essential. Neither private nor public should get the Monopoly, they should complement each other.

[@sbkr4906]

Austria must be kicked OUT of Schengen and border checks with Germany!

[@alexb__4133]

Why?

[@WaivexJCI]

What. The. Fuck.

[@ptrs559]

Yes, why?