From Graz to Salzburg with Train and Bike

Let’s put it nicely: Traveling from Graz to pretty much any other place in Austria via public transport is not ideal. This will change in a couple of months into the South and then again in a couple of years for trips to the North but right now it’s hard. This hasn’t stopped my partner and me from doing it, though, and usually we try to have our bikes with us.

We recently went for a week to Salzburg for work but also wanted to have our bikes with us to use at least one day for riding around. So how did we get there? The train connection between Graz and Salzburg has to go through Selzthal and the valley of the river Enns which automatically means it’s going to be slow and mostly covered by IC and EC trains (like the EC 216 which goes all the way to Munich or the IC 610 which terminates in Salzburg) . About every two hours there’s a connection that either goes directly to Salzburg or you need to connect in Linz. Take the direct one. It’s about 50 minutes faster and you don’t have to get your bike out of one train and into another.

When you buy your ticket, make sure not to forget to also buy a ticket for your bike. This comes with a reservation for a specific parking spot inside the train. ÖBB even has a page about traveling with our bike on their trains but mostly covered Railjets. Make sure to be about 30 minutes before the train departs on the platform as it usually takes a bit to get your bike loaded. We have e-bikes so they weigh a lot which makes this even harder. One thing we always do is trying to get in touch with someone of the board crew. The trains on that line have a freight car located either in front or after the first class cars and we always ask we would could put our bikes in there no matter what other places we have reserved.

Once in there, we don’t have to hang our bikes on some hooks but can just tie them to the metal bars on the walls. There is also much more space to maneuver in and you don’t have to go around corners or lift the bikes from step to step. Ideally, you have one person up in the car receiving the bikes and one on the ground lifting them up. This takes considerable less time than getting to the “normal” parking slots. If you’re alone, ask nicely and someone from the crew will help you.

Also always let the crew know where you need to get off. Opening the freight door isn’t something you can do on your own or that happens automatically but instead requires someone putting a key into a lock and sometimes so extra force. They will also like to get you off the train as quickly as possible so if someone from the crew starts to help you, let them! They know what they’re doing and are usually fast and more efficient than you.

As much as I don’t like EC and IC trains in Austria due to their old age and lack of Wifi compared to Railjets, I just love that they have freight carriages! One day I’ll have to put my e-bike onto a Railjet with it’s tiny bike compartment. I’m so not looking forward to that day 😆