Bratislava to Vienna

[DeeGee]

I've had a search, and there was a thread on this, but it was from 2012 and I'm guessing things have moved on.

I'm in Bratislava with a friend in April, and he's collecting countries and has never been to Austria. I see it's about an hour from Bratislava to Vienna.

I'm staying in the old town, so neither station is convenient, but I don't mind which I come back to.

Has anyone done this recently and knows if there is there a turn-up-and-go ticket to allow travel between either Bratislava station and Vienna?

Alternatively the plan might be a boat to Vienna and a train back. Likewise, is a single turn-up-and-go ticket available between Wien Hbf and both Bratislava Stations?

 

[Mag_seven]

There is a return ticket that allows travel to Vienna via both routes plus travel on the trams etc when you get to Vienna.

 

[DeeGee]

There is a return ticket that allows travel to Vienna via both routes plus travel on the trams etc when you get to Vienna.

Which would be absolutely perfect. Is it an OeBB thing?

 

[farci]

Ryanair and others use Bratislava as an airport gateway to Vienna, hence travel between the two cities is simple. Read this Wiki about why and how
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bratislava_Airport

 

[Spoorslag '70]

Which would be absolutely perfect. Is it an OeBB thing?

Yes and no: There is a ÖBB ticket (Bratislava-Ticket), which is valid for a return journey from any station in Wien to Bratislava and for public transport in Bratislava. There is also - and more relevant to you - a EURegio Wien ticket offered by ZSSK (here), which comes in two variants: the first (for 14€) includes a return journey from Bratislava to Wien, the more expensive version (19,80€) includes public transport in Zone 100 in Wien (which is basicly everything inside the city boundary).

 

[swt class 450]

There are two separate routes between Bratislava and Vienna - there is a Northern route and a Southern route - both routes take the same time (approximately 60 minutes) and have the same frequency. The timetables can be viewed here:

Northern route:
• timetable document - https://www.oebb.at/de/dam/jcr:65e5f82c-f540-4a2b-9196-d1cac78ecaeb/kif910.pdf

Southern route:
• timetable document - https://www.oebb.at/de/dam/jcr:6220c44c-f123-4b77-b1f7-dacc88f6bc58/kif701.pdf

Pick either route. It doesn't really matter. You could even use one route on your way there and the other route on your way back.

Note that both routes use the same main station in Vienna (Wien Hauptbahnhof) however in Bratislava they use different stations. Trains on the Northern route use Bratislava Hlavna Stanica while trains on the Southern route use Bratislava Petrzalka so make sure that you go to the correct station for your route.

Tickets can just simply be bought on the day. Just simply turn up at the station before your train and purchase your ticket.

You can buy a Day Return for your journey for just £14.00 total. Or for £19.80 total you can purchase a Day Return ticket that includes unlimited travel on the local Buses / Trams / Metros / Suburban Trains within Vienna as well.

Hope this helps.

 

[DeeGee]

Thanks. Which of the Bratislava stations is a more interesting place to wait? I'm guessing Hlavna probably has more facilities, does it? Thinking of turn-up-and go.

 

[Mag_seven]

Thanks. Which of the Bratislava stations is a more interesting place to wait? I'm guessing Hlavna probably has more facilities, does it? Thinking of turn-up-and go.

Yes definitely Hlavna. I was there earlier this year and there was always something happening.

 

[swt class 450]

Both of them are fine. They are both nice decent stations. Although yes Bratislava Hlavna Stanica is larger and has many more facilities than Bratislava Petrzalka does.

 

[johnnychips]

There are very few boats and they are expensive. Also the Danube is brown rather than blue

As you mentioned, both stations are vaguely inconvenient for the old town: you walk and wished you had got a tram; you get a tram and wondered why you bothered.

 

[swt class 450]

If you do choose to do the boat in one direction then a Single ticket for the train from Bratislava to Vienna (or vice versa) is £10.80 total. You can just turn up on the day at the station and buy this.

 

[johnnychips]

I wrote the boat was expensive. I was wrong: it is exorbitant.

https://twincityliner.com/en/content/vienna-bratislava

 

[swt class 450]

Well the boat is certainly expensive then! So a Single on the boat would cost over two times the train fare and a Return on the boat would cost over four times the train fare!

Also note that all the prices in my previous three posts are in EUR not GBP! I put the British Pound sign by accident!

 

[paddington]

The Slovak Lines bus is €5.50 each way and takes 90 minutes (via Vienna airport). Apparently you can do something with the app to get a ticket for €1 - when I took it in 2017 they had a special offer of online tickets for €1 without needing to fiddle with an app.

 

[swt class 450]

Yes that's correct. If you download the app then your first ticket you purchase is 1.00EUR only. You could probably just keep setting up multiple accounts to keep getting the cheaper 1.00EUR tickets every time you travel.

 

[Segedunum]

Services from Petrzalka are usually operated by fairly new ÖBB 4744 CityJet EMUs.

Hlavna sees a more interesting formation with some ÖBB carriages and a single, more comfortable (with sockets) Slovakian carriage, hauled by an ÖBB 2016 locomotive.

 

[cactustwirly]

Services from Petrzalka are usually operated by fairly new ÖBB 4744 CityJet EMUs.

Hlavna sees a more interesting formation with some ÖBB carriages and a single, more comfortable (with sockets) Slovakian carriage, hauled by an ÖBB 2016 locomotive.

I believe there's also 1tpd RJx from Zurich to Bratislava (via Vienna), presumably taking the southern route.

 

[superalbs]

I believe there's also 1tpd RJx from Zurich to Bratislava (via Vienna), presumably taking the southern route.

Yes there is. Takes the electrified route.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

There are 2 long-distance trains between Vienna and Bratislava, in addition to the hourly local shuttles via both routes.
One is an EC (to/from Zürich, starts/ends in Bratislava) and the other is an IC (to/from Košice, starts/ends in Vienna).
Edit: 43096 is quite right, both long distance trains call at both Bratislava stations.

 

[43096]

There are 2 long-distance trains between Vienna and Bratislava.
One is an EC (to/from Zürich) and the other is an IC (to/from Košice).
The Zürich calls at both stations, the Košice only at Petržalka.

The IC through to Košice is shown as calling at both Bratislava stations and AIUI is booked ZSSK Vectron Wien to Bratislava hl.s. where a Gorilla drops on the back to work it on to Košice.