Are tickets valid across all transport modes, and do I need to validate them?

Good question — in Austria and Central Europe, train tickets and rules about validation can be a little different depending on the route and operator. Here’s how it works for Vienna → Bratislava, Budapest, Salzburg:

🎟️ Ticket Validity Across Modes #

• Vienna public transport (Wiener Linien): Tickets (e.g. U-Bahn, tram, bus) are only valid for city transit, not for trains to Bratislava, Budapest, or Salzburg.

• ÖBB / Railjet / EuroCity / Westbahn: Train tickets bought for intercity routes (Vienna → Bratislava/Budapest/Salzburg) are only valid on the specific railway operator you purchased from.

  • Example: ÖBB ticket is valid on ÖBB trains, but not on Westbahn.

• Special cross-border tickets:

  • Vienna–Bratislava has a popular “Bratislava Ticket” (Bratislava-Ticket) from ÖBB. It includes:

    • Round-trip train ride Vienna–Bratislava (valid on ÖBB trains),

    • Unlimited public transport in Bratislava for 1 day.

  • Vienna–Budapest or Salzburg: tickets do not include local transport by default, but you can buy add-ons like “+City” tickets (ÖBB), which extend validity to public transport in the destination city.

✅ Ticket Validation Rules #

• Digital / Online Tickets: No validation needed. They’re tied to your train, time, or day, and just shown on your phone.

• Paper Tickets (bought at machine or counter):

  • If dated with train/time printed → no validation needed.

  • If open-date tickets (common for short cross-border trips, like Vienna–Bratislava) → you must validate them in the blue/yellow stamping machines before boarding.

• Vienna public transport tickets: Always validate paper tickets (at U-Bahn gates or machines on trams/buses) unless already pre-printed with date/time.

🚆 Practical Examples #

• Vienna → Bratislava (Bratislava-Ticket):

  • Validate paper ticket once at Vienna station if undated.

  • Then it’s good for both the train ride and Bratislava’s trams/buses that day.

• Vienna → Budapest:

  • Online ticket = no validation needed.

  • Paper ticket with date/time printed = no validation.

• Vienna → Salzburg:

  • Same as above; just board the correct train operator.

👉 In short:

• Online/digital tickets = no stamping.

• Paper undated tickets = validate before boarding.

• Local transport tickets (Vienna/Bratislava) = always validate if undated.

• Tickets are not interchangeable between train operators, but some special tickets include city transport at the destination.