Zurich to Vienna by train
Zürich HB → Wien Hauptbahnhof
Trains link Zurich (Zürich HB) and Vienna (Wien Hauptbahnhof) in about 8h 39m at best, with at least 1 change along the way. The corridor is part of the Nightjet (780 km, typically ≈ 9 h), one of 1562 routes plotted in the World Train Map atlas.
- Fastest
- ≈ 8h 39m
- Typical
- ≈ 9h
- Direct trains
- No
- Fewest changes
- 1
- Operators
- SBB, ÖBB, WESTbahn
How long does the train from Zurich to Vienna take?
The fastest trains cover Zurich to Vienna in about 8h 39m; a typical journey takes around 9h.
Is there a direct train from Zurich to Vienna?
Usually not; expect at least 1 change on this journey.
Is the train or a flight faster from Zurich to Vienna?
A typical flight works out roughly 5h 05m quicker door to door (about 4h 15m against 9h 20m by train, once airport time is counted), but the train emits about 3× less CO₂e, even on conservative official emission factors.
- Train, door to door
- ≈ 9h 20m
- Flight, door to door
- ≈ 4h 15m (est.)
- CO₂e per passenger
- ~25 kg train · ~80 kg plane
Flight time and emissions are transparent estimates, not airline schedules: method, factors and all 109 compared pairs on Train vs plane in Europe.
This corridor in the atlas
- Nightjet The founding route of the Nightjet brand: over the Arlberg while you sleep, Alps at both ends.
- Arlberg Railway Eight hours Zurich to Vienna on Austria’s only east–west mountain mainline: the Trisanna gorge, Wiesberg Castle and a 1,310 m summit in the 10.2 km Arlberg tunnel.
Legendary routes through Zurich or Vienna
- Railjet Vienna → Budapest
- Semmeringbahn Vienna → Graz
- Gotthard Express Zurich → Milan
- Railjet Prague → Vienna
Sleepers too: night trains from Zurich · night trains from Vienna.
More trains from Zurich
- Zurich → Lucerne ≈ 41 min · direct
- Zurich → Bern ≈ 56 min · direct
- Zurich → Basel ≈ 1h 01m · direct
- Zurich → Interlaken ≈ 1h 56m · direct
- Zurich → Lausanne ≈ 2h 17m · direct
- Zurich → Geneva ≈ 2h 51m · direct
More train routes in Austria · Germany · Liechtenstein.
Journey figures are typical values sampled from public European schedule data; exact times vary by day. Always check the operator when booking.