Railjet Vienna–Budapest

Follows the old Orient Express alignment down the Danube plain: centre to centre faster than any flight.

The Habsburg main line between the empire’s twin capitals now belongs to Railjets and EuroCitys, lapping the 243 km across the Kisalföld plain in about two and a half hours. Trains slip out past the Carnuntum Roman country, cross into Hungary at Hegyeshalom (once an Iron Curtain checkpoint, now passed at line speed) and call at Győr’s baroque centre before Budapest swallows the line at Kelenföld. The terminus is Keleti’s grand 1884 hall, its façade crowned by statues of Watt and Stephenson.

Stations

1. 0 kmWien Hauptbahnhof
2. 72 kmHegyeshalom
3. 84 kmMosonmagyaróvár
4. 119 kmGyőr
5. 186 kmTatabánya
6. 244 kmBudapest-Kelenföld
7. 257 kmBudapest-Keleti

The stations OpenStreetMap lists for this service, in order, with the distance along the line as drawn here. A train may skip some of them.

Along the way

• Vienna Hauptbahnhof departure
• Danube plain past Carnuntum
• Hegyeshalom — the old Iron Curtain crossing
• Győr’s baroque centre
• Budapest-Keleti’s 1884 façade

How this line was checked

• Line drawn from 2 OpenStreetMap relations, their own nodes end to end: relation 2167317 (190 km), relation 8833906 (65 km) — 256 km of the route between them
• Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 4 m from it
• Checked against the running timetable via ÖBB Scotty: our line sits under 100 m from the shape of RJX 267
• Wikipedia has an article for this line
• See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it

Questions and answers

How long is the Railjet?

The Railjet runs 243 km from Vienna to Budapest. It runs through Austria and Hungary.

How long does the Railjet take?

The fastest scheduled journey is 2 h 20 min for the 243 km. That is an average of 104 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 230 km/h.

Who runs the Railjet?

ÖBB and MÁV, with Railjet.

How old is the Railjet?

The line has been in service since 2008. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.

How often does the Railjet run?

Hourly (Railjet + EuroCity).

View on the world railway map →

Read more on Wikipedia ↗