Graz in Austria Becomes a Major European Rail Hub

On December 14th 2025 a new railway route fully opened between Graz and Klagenfurt in south-east Austria.

The prior  lack of a railway between two of Austria's most visited cities led to the national rail operator, OBB, providing a bus service, but trains using the new line complete the journey in only 45 mins!

However, the new route also also enables a swathe of of travel benefits, which go way beyond the transformation of the journey between Graz and Klagenfurt.
Because the express trains which travel between Vienna and Klagenfurt are  diverted to the new route.

In effect the prior Vienna ↔ Graz service by swish Railjet trains has been extended to serve destinations in southern Austria and beyond into Italy.
Hence Graz has also gained new direct rail links with Villach, Udine and Venice!

Also permanently diverted on to the route via Graz is the Nightjet service, which connects Vienna with multiple Italian cities.
Now a train, which will be divided on arrival in Italy, will typically depart Graz at 22:45 for Bologna, Florence, lake Garda, Milan, Padua, Rome, Verona and Vicenza.

Graz has also gained transformed rail connections with Germany.
Not only have the trains which linked Germany with Klagenfurt had their journeys extended to Graz, they will also now be provided by super smart ICE trains!

These ICE trains, plus some other additional services, also provide a direct link between Graz and Salzburg.

Summary of the changes

PREVIOUS SERVICE

1 x train per hour (most hours):
to Wien / Vienna

1 x train every two hours:
to Brno and Praha / Prague

Less frequent trains to:
Budapest, Innsbruck, Ljubljana, Linz, Maribor, Munchen / Munich, Salzburg and Stuttgart

1 x train per day to:
Frankfurt (Main), Klagenfurt*, Krakow, Ostrava, Trieste, Zagreb and Zurich
*= There are buses operated by OBB every other hour

Night trains to:
Berlin, Dresden, Praha/Prague and Zurich

From December 14th 2025:

2 x trains per hour (most hours):

to Klagenfurt, Villach, Wien / Vienna Hbf

1 x train per hour 

to Linz, Maribor and Vienna Airport / Flughafen

1 x train per hour (most hours)

to Bad Gastein and Salzburg

Less frequent trains to:
Augsburg, Budapest, Brno, Frankfurt (Main) Ljubljana, Munchen / Munich, Praha/Prague, Stuttgart, Udine, Ulm and Venezia/Venice

1 x train per day to:
Dusseldorf, Frankfurt Airport, Innsbruck, Koln/Cologne, Krakow, Ostrava, St Anton, Trieste, Zagreb and Zurich  

Night trains to:

Berlin, Bologna, Dresden, Firenze/Florence, Roma, Praha/Prague and Zurich  

The new services:

The long-distance trains using the new line are taking these routes (not all station calls have been included):

• An hourly Railjet train taking a Vienna Airport - Vienna - Graz - Klagenfurt - Velden am Wörther See - Villach route; some of these trains will be extended to Spittal, and Lienz / Bad Gastein, Salzburg and Munich.
• Every other hour a faster Railjet Express service will only call at Vienna - Bruck/Mer - Graz - Klagenfurt - Villach> This will cut 45 mins off the current journey times between Vienna and both Klagenfurt and Villach.
• Some of these Railjet Express trains will have their journeys extended beyond Villach to/from Tarvisio Udine (3 x trains per day), Venice (2 x trains per day) and Trieste (1 x train per day).
• Westbahn will launch Vienna - Bruck/Mer - Graz - Klagenfurt - Villach services in March,
• 3 x ICE trains per day taking a Graz - Velden am Wörther See - Klagenfurt - Villach - Bad Gastein - Salzburg - Munich - Augsburg - Ulm - Stuttgart - Heidelberg - Frankfurt (Main) route.
• 1 x ICE train per day taking a Graz - Klagenfurt - Velden am Wörther See - Villach - Bad Gastein - Salzburg - Munich - Augsburg - Ulm - Stuttgart - Mannhein - Frankfurt Airport - Seigburg/Bonn - Cologne-Messe/Deutz - Dusseldorf - Essen - Munster route.
• 2 x Railjet trains per day taking a Prague - Brno -Breclav - Vienna - Graz - Klagenfurt - Velden am Wörther See - Villach route> As the existing Prague <> Graz services will have their journeys extended to/from Villach.
• A Nightjet train taking a Vienna - Graz - Klagenfurt - Villach - Padua - Vicenza - Verona - Peschiera del Garda - Dessenzano del Garda - Brescia - Milan route.
• A Nightjet train taking a Vienna - Graz - Klagenfurt - Villach -Bologna - Florence - Rome route.
• A Nightjet train taking a Graz - Klagenfurt - Velden am Wörther See - Villach - Innsbruck - St Anton - Fedkirch - Buchs - Zurich route.

Retained Services

The transformation of Graz into a major international rail hub has also been enabled by the retention of other existing services.

• The daily EuroCity train on the 'Transalpin' route; Graz - Seltzhal - Zell-am-See - Worgl - Innsbruck - St Anton - Fedkirch - Buchs - Zurich route.
• The Nightjet train on the Berlin - Dresden - Decin - Prague - Vienna - Graz route.
• The daily EuroCity train on the Graz - Vienna - Breclav - Ostrava - Krakow route.
• The daily IC train on the Budapest - Gyor -Szombathely - Szentgotthárd ↔ Graz route.
• The daily IC train on the Budapest - Gyor -Szombathely - Szentgotthárd ↔ Graz ↔ Maribor - Ljubljana route.
• The daily EC train on the Vienna ↔ Graz ↔ Maribor - Ljubljana route.
• The daily EC train on the Vienna ↔ Graz ↔ Maribor - Zagreb route

Though the Vienna ↔  Ljubljana EC train will no longer be extended beyond the Slovenian capital to travel to/from Trieste, as has in effect replaced by the new Vienna ↔ Graz ↔ Trieste service by Railjet trains.

Transforming Access to the Worthersee

Graz is not the only Austrian city that will benefit from the newly transformed rail services.
Klagenfurt, which is the gateway to the towns on the beautiful shores of the Worthersee, the most popular summer resorts in Austria has also gained from the new services.
It  has gained direct links by train with Brno, Prague, Trieste and Zurich.

New Options for Itinerary Planning

A subscriber to Conductor Sam recently asked for ideas of where to break a journey from Venice to Vienna, so now Graz becomes an easy option for taking time out from travel.
The beautiful city has also become an easy stopover when travelling between either Venice or Trieste and both Budapest and Prague.

Plus Klagenfurt has also become an easy location in which to stay when travelling between either Venice or Trieste and Prague!

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