Which station in Vienna?


Vienna Hbf

small bullet point  Vienna Hbf - overview

small bullet point  Which platform for your train?

small bullet point  Ticket office

small bullet point  ÖBB first class lounge

small bullet point  Luggage lockers

small bullet point  Supermarket

small bullet point  Places to eat

small bullet point  Local transport: Walking, taxis, U-Bahn  

small bullet point  Hotels in Vienna - recommended hotels

       

Other stations in Vienna

small bullet point  Vienna Meidling

small bullet point  Vienna Westbahnhof

small bullet point  Vienna Franz Josef's Bahnhof

On other pages

small bullet point  Trains from Vienna to other European cities

small bullet point  Trains from other European cities to Vienna

small bullet point  General information for European train travel


Vienna Hauptbahnhof

Vienna Hbf is Vienna's swanky new central station, a modern station fit for a capital city, opened fully on 13 December 2015.  The idea was simple:  To replace 3 separate dead-end termini - Westbahnhof, Ostbahnhof & Sudbahnhof - with one big central through station at which all trains could call when passing through Vienna, both east-west & north-south.  East-west trains no longer have to go into the dead-end Westbahnhof, change locomotives and head back out again.  Passengers no longer have to trek between stations by taxi, tram or bus to make connections between east-west trains using the Westbahnhof and northbound or southbound trains using the Ostbahnhof or Sudbahnhof.  All trains now use one main central hub, Vienna Hbf.  It has transformed travel to, from & across Vienna, making interchange easy and cutting 30 minutes off the journey from Munich or Salzburg to Budapest, for example.  See virtual tour of Vienna Hbf.

View over Vienna Hbf from 15th floor of Motel One

View over Vienna Hbf from the 15th floor of Motel One, looking north towards the city centre.  The station entrances, concourse and facilities are all at ground level, the tracks run through Vienna on a viaduct so the platforms are one floor up.

Main entrance to Vienna Hauptbahnhof

Main entrance on the northern side of the tracks, nearest the city centre as you'd expect.  This entrance is on the western side of the concourse, there's smaller entrance on the eastern side.

The concourse at Vienna Hauptbahnhof

Main concourse seen from just inside the main entrance.  The upper-level windows on the right look through to platforms 3-12.

The ticket office (Reisezentrum) is on the right of this photo, beneath the red ÖBB sign.  The stairs just left of centre lead down to platforms 1 & 2 used by S-Bahn & some regional trains, and to toilets and U-Bahn.

Beyond the ticket office on the right is the broad passageway leading under tracks with escalators or lifts up to platforms 3-12.  The entrance to the ÖBB Lounge is in the far distance on the left, the lounge itself is on the first floor. See panorama tour of station.

The concourse at Vienna Hauptbahnhof

Vienna Hbf main concourse, seen from the 1st floor windows of the ÖBB Lounge.  Underneath the departures board is is the wide passageway under the tracks, from which stairs, escalators and/or lifts lead up to platforms 3-12.  To the right of the departure board is the ticket office.  The stairs just visible on the far right lead down to platforms 1 & 2, toilets & U-Bahn.

Vienna Hbf, south side

South side entrance.  The Interspar supermarket & ÖBB's company headquarters are on this side of the tracks

Which platform for your train?

Platforms 1 & 2 are below ground level, used by S-Bahn suburban trains and regional trains.

Platforms 3 to 12 are above ground level on a viaduct, served by all ÖBB mainline domestic & international trains.  They're numbered from north to south, with platform 3 closest to the main entrance and concourse.

There are no ticket gates or entry checks, just easy open access from street to concourse then up lifts or escalators or stairs to each platform.  Platform numbers are posted on the main departure board and on the screens on every platform, usually around 20 minutes before departure.

Tip, train formation screens:  At the top of the escalators on each island platform, as well as a summary of departures there's a screen showing train formations for upcoming departures from that platform.  Each platform is divided into zones A, B, C, D & E, with A at the west end and E at the east end.  The train formation screen tells you where each car will stop along the platform, so if you have a reserved seat in a specific car, go and wait in the right zone.  It'll save you running up and down like a headless chicken when the train comes in.

Platforms 3-12 at Vienna Hauptbahnhof

Platforms 3-12 are one level up from ground/concourse level.  Each pair of platforms is reached by stairs, escalators or lifts from the passageway below.

Departure screens at Vienna Hauptbahnhof

Departure screen & train formation displays showing upcoming train formations for platform 7 & 8.  Larger photo.

Exterior of the OBB lounge, Vienna Hauptbahnhof   Inside the OBB lounge in Vienna Hauptbahnhof

The stairs from concourse down to platforms 1 & 2, toilets & U-bahn.  There are also lifts.

 

Sub-surface platforms 1 & 2, used by S-Bahn & regional trains.

Ticket offices

The main ticket office is on the main concourse on the northern side of the tracks, see the photo below.  It's well-organised with a reception desk and numbered queuing system to make sure you go to the right ticket counter in your turn.  There is a separate ticket office with counters for Westbahn and Regiojet trains, to the right of the main ÖBB ticket office, see the photo below.

Ticket office at Vienna Hbf

ÖBB Lounge

If you have a 1st class ticket or any sort of sleeping-car ticket, or a 1st class Interrail or Eurail pass, you can use the ÖBB lounge for up to 90 minutes before or after your journey.  It offers free WiFi, tea, coffee & snacks.

There's one exception:  You can use the lounge with a 1st class DB Sparpreis or Flexpreis fare, but not with a 1st class Super Sparpreis fare.

The lounge at Vienna Hbf is open 06:00-23:30 every day of the week.  The entrance is on the main concourse, the lounge itself is on the first floor, there are stairs and a lift.

You'll find similar lounges at Vienna Meidling, Vienna Westbahnhof, Linz, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Graz & Klagenfurt.  You can find opening hours and access conditions at the Austrian Railways website www.oebb.at

OBB lounge at Vienna Hauptbahnhof

The ÖBB Lounge is on the first floor, accessed by stairs or lift.

Exterior of the OBB lounge, Vienna Hauptbahnhof   Soft drinks in OBB lounge in Vienna Hbf

ÖBB Lounge entrance on the concourse.

 

Tea, coffee, snacks & soft drinks in the ÖBB lounge.

Luggage lockers

There are plenty of left luggage lockers if you need to leave your bags, see the luggage lockers page for details.  The locker room is one floor down from ground level, down the escalators towards underground platforms 1 & 2, see the photo below.  They are clearly signed, follow the locker pictogram signs.  They are coin-operated using a control panel in each block of lockers.  Tip:  There was a change machine to change euro notes into coins inside the entrance of the toilets on the same floor, this may now have been removed, but check.

Lockers at Vienna Hbf

Supermarket...

The best place to stock up for a journey is the Interspar Pronto supermarket on the ground floor of the station near the steps up to platforms 11 & 12, on the south side of the station - see the photo below.  The supermarket also has an entrance off the south side forecourt.

Ticket office at Vienna Hbf

Places to eat

A meal at Der Ringsmuth   Der Ringsmuth restaurant at Vienna Hbf

Lunch at Der Ringsmuth.

 

Restaurant Der Ringsmuth, seen from the station's south exit.

Local transportWalking, taxis & metro

Hotels in Vienna

Vienna Hbf Motel One room   Vienna Hbf Motel One room

A room at Motel One, overlooking Vienna Hbf

 

Motel One, across the road from Vienna Hbf

Vienna Meidling

Many mainline and international trains call at Meidling before or after calling at Vienna Hbf, but I recommend using Vienna Hbf unless you have a specific reason for using Meidling.  Vienna Meidling is closer to some parts of the city, for example the Schönbrunn Palace, but it's much smaller and lacks all the facilities of Vienna Hbf.  Meidling basically consists of two pedestrian subways linking all the platforms, one at the east end, one at the west end.  The one at the eastern end has a small underground concourse with ticket office and ÖBB lounge sandwiched between it and the adjacent metro station.  At street level there's little more to Vienna Meidling than steps or escalators down into these underground passageways.

Journey planners often suggest changing trains at Meidling, for example when travelling from Germany to Budapest.  Chances are, you can equally well change trains at Vienna Hbf which would a much nicer place to change.

Vienna Meidling platforms

The main entrance to Vienna Meidling - basically just steps & escalator down into a small underground concourse with a passageway linking all the tracks.  Note the skylight visible between the tracks on the right, above the underground concourse.

Vienna Meidling concourse & ticket office

The small underground concourse at Vienna Meidling, with bakery, ÖBB ticket office & ÖBB Lounge.  Behind the camera is Meidling metro station.  On the far side of the concourse is the passageway linking all the platforms.  The skylight in the ceiling is the one visible in the previous photo.

Vienna Meidling platforms

There are 8 platforms at Vienna Meidling.

Vienna Westbahnhof

The current station was opened in 1952 and it's classic post-war architecture always reminds me of the cold war era, when Vienna was the neutral ground between the eastern bloc & the west.  Vienna Westbahnhof is a terminus, with around 11 platforms.  It used to be Vienna's most important station, handling trains on the Paris-Salzburg-Vienna-Budapest axis, including the Orient Express for over a century.  However, in December 2015 all mainline trains were transferred to the new Vienna Hbf and now the Westbahnhof is only used by regional trains and the hourly Westbahn trains to Salzburg, some of which are now extended to Munich.  You'll still find plenty of shops, cafes, restaurants & ATMs at the Westbahnhof.  Left luggage lockers are available, see here for opening hours & prices.

Vienna Westbahnhof

Vienna Westbahnhof...

Inside Vienna Westbahnhof

Inside the Westbahnhof.  Up the steps or escalator to the upper level, then out onto the platforms...

Vienna Westbahnhof platforms

Platforms 6 & 7 at Vienna Westbahnhof, with two double-deck Westbahn trains to Salzburg & Munich.

Vienna Franz Josef's Bahnhof

You'll only need the Franz Josef's Bahnhof in the north of the city if you're heading for Cesky Krumlov and need to take the Austrian regional train to Ceske Velenice for an onward train to Ceske Budejovice & Cesky Krumlov.  It's currently being rebuilt, a gloomy local station buried under an office block next to a MacDonald's.

The easiest way to transfer between Franz Josef's Bahnhof & Vienna Hbf is on tram D, this goes from the Hauptbahnhof Ost tram stop underneath the eastern end of Vienna Hbf.  For travel between Franz Josef's Bahnhof & Vienna Westbahnhof, use tram 5.  Both these trams leave from the tram stop in front of Franz Josef's Bahnhof.  For city transit information see www.wienerlinien.at or download the WienMobil app for iPhone or WienMobil app for Android so you can buy tickets on your phone.

Inside Vienna Franz Josefs Bahnhof

Vienna Franz Josef's Bahnhof.  The station in beneath that office block...

Inside Vienna Franz Josefs Bahnhof

Vienna Franz Josef's Bahnhof, platforms.  The station is currently being rebuilt..


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