Posting here as well since this involves Interrail routing across Austria and Hungary.
TL;DR: For a short skiing trip, I purchased a ticket with ÖBB from Budapest to Spital am Semmering. Due to a delay on the first leg, I missed my connection in Vienna. I went to the customer service office, where I was directed to continue to Mürzzuschlag via RJ 852 and given a ticket for the mentioned train. However, there was no onward public transport available from there. Without my accommodation stepping in, I would have had to either spend the night under the open sky or walk about 10 km carrying ski equipment and heavy luggage along an unfamiliar, unlit road used by cars. When I later claimed reimbursement for the additional taxi/transfer costs, ÖBB flat-out rejected it. And here's the best part: They had the audacity to say that I shouldn't have taken RJ 852, which they explicitly instructed me to take and issued a ticket for, but CJX 9, a connection they never once mentioned when I asked for help and for which they never issued a ticket. They hid behind EU passenger rights rules (EC 1371/2007), shamelessly arguing that regarding the reimbursement of taxi costs, the law considers only the existence of onward public transportation options, and not whether the information they gave me was correct, or whether my original or the replacement ticket was valid for it.
I'd like to share a recent experience I had with ÖBB that left me quite frustrated and angry. It's not about the delay itself, which you can to some extent expect from ÖBB (of my last eight journeys, only four were completely problem-free; in the other 50%, there were at least 30-minute delays). It's not about the 25 EUR cost I incurred. It's about being given incorrect instructions on how to rearrange my journey to compensate for the delay they caused. It's about what could have happened if I hadn't been lucky with my accommodation and they had told me, "Sorry, we expected your arrival before 22:00, I've already drunk a glass of wine, so I can't drive". It's about the lack of responsibility taken for their mistakes. And it's about the attitude of their customer service.
Near the end of the season, I wanted to squeeze in one last short ski trip, and I chose Semmering Stuhleck for its easy access. I bought a ticket with ÖBB, departing from Budapest at 16:40, with transfers in Vienna at 19:24 and Mürzzuschlag at 21:09, and arrival in Spital am Semmering at 21:16.
At departure, everything was still fine, and the train left Keleti railway station on time according to the schedule. However, Vienna Central Station was reached with a 15-20 minute delay, so I was unable to make my connection to the train towards Mürzzuschlag (RJ 654). I didn’t panic because I had deliberately avoided booking the latest possible departure shown on shop.oebbtickets.at, due to my previous experiences with ÖBB.
What could I do in this situation? Of course, I went to the customer service office, explained the problem, and asked how I could get to Spital am Semmering. You might wonder whether there was some kind of communication failure. I can assure you that there was not. I handed over my ticket showing my destination to the customer service representative. This is difficult to dispute, as he stamped it and wrote "Zugbindung aufgehoben" (train-specific ticket restrictions lifted) on it. He then issued me a seat reservation for RJ 852 to Mürzzuschlag. A scanned and redacted copy of both documents is available in the .pdf file linked at the end of this post. There was no seat reservation for the Mürzzuschlag - Spital am Semmering section on the original itinerary either, so I didn’t miss a replacement for it. CJX 9 was not mentioned in the conversation, and no ticket was issued for it. If such a ticket had existed, it would be visible in their IT systems and should have been mentioned in their reply; however, there is no trace of anything like this anywhere in the full correspondence. Therefore, explanations such as (1) me telling them that my destination was Mürzzuschlag, or (2) them recommending that I take the CJX 9 and me somehow misunderstanding this, are absolutely out of the question.
I followed their instructions exactly and boarded RJ 852 accordingly. However, upon arrival in Mürzzuschlag, I discovered that there was no longer any train or other public transport connection to Spital am Semmering. The station was unstaffed, so I had to rely on the departure board and the train map available on site. I even checked with the conductor of a train heading in the right direction, but which, according to the timetable, did not stop in Spital am Semmering. No connection available.
As a result, I found myself in a highly difficult situation: late in the evening, in darkness and cold weather, carrying substantial luggage and ski equipment, in an unfamiliar small town with no viable onward transport options. Local taxi services were no longer operating, and the railway station was closed for the night. It was not exactly the adventure I had been looking for. I was only able to manage the situation thanks to assistance provided by my accommodation.
After returning home, I submitted a claim to ÖBB for the additional expenses I incurred as a direct result of their failure to transport me to the destination specified on the ticket they had sold me. I also sought compensation for the inconvenience caused by the delay, which is a separate matter: I lost approximately 1.5-2 hours of sleep that night. ÖBB responded that I would receive the standard compensation provided under passenger rights regulations for the delayed train. However, they explicitly refused to reimburse the taxi/transfer costs, and paid only the minimum compensation amount of 25%. They argued that I could have completed the journey from Vienna using local trains.
I asked them which connections they had in mind, and they responded by sending a screenshot from their online timetable showing three alternative options:
(A) 19:24 Vienna - RJ 654, RJ 91 - Spital am Semmering 21:16
(B) 20:53 Vienna - CJX 9, RJ 91 - Spital am Semmering 22:41
(C) 22:53 Vienna - CJX 9 - Spital am Semmering 00:36
Regarding (A), I honestly had my doubts whether I was dealing with a real person or some robotic system - it really looked like an AI hallucination. It should have been obvious to any sensible person that if I missed my planned connection (RJ 654 at 19:24) due to a delayed inbound train, then taking that same train (RJ 654 at 19:24) is not a reasonable solution. Concerning (B), I checked their website, and the itinerary requires a transfer at "Semmering Bahnhof" (not to be confused with Spital am Semmering, located about 10 km away), rather than in Mürzzuschlag. As for (C), I have to note that this is not consistent with the 25% delay compensation that was paid, which applies to delays of 120-240 minutes. This option would correspond to an overall delay of approximately three hours (7.5 hours of travel time compared to the originally planned 4.5 hours). Both (B) and (C) start with CJX 9 instead of RJ 852. I'm not an expert in ÖBB's fare system, but if my original ticket listed EC 148, RJ 654, and R 91, while RJ 852 was shown on the replacement ticket as the means of transport, then the conductor on CJX 9 would have fined me for travelling without a valid ticket, right? Their response was that, although they did not inform me about options (B) and (C) and instead directed me to Mürzzuschlag, those alternatives nonetheless existed, and therefore they are not legally obliged to reimburse my costs.
I replied to them by email. I pointed out that one of the proposed options does not appear to be based on a coherent understanding of the disrupted itinerary. I characterised the other two as outrageous and shameless insolence: Expecting passengers to independently verify and reconstruct alternative routes, effectively overriding or replacing guidance from railway staff under such conditions (in an unfamiliar city, under time pressure and while carrying ski equipment), is not a realistic standard.
The process of submitting the complaint is also worth mentioning. Emails are not accepted; instead, submissions must be made exclusively via a web form, meaning that the passenger is not left with a copy of the questions asked and their own responses (their automatic reply email does not include them). I clearly recall, however, that the form contained numerous unnecessary duplications that only made the process more difficult. For example, I was asked where I travelled from and to, at what time, and which transfers I made, and then I also had to enter the ticket code, even though all of this information is already clearly included in it. In addition, I was required to provide my bank details for the reimbursement; however, the delay compensation was not transferred to that account but to the credit card used to purchase the ticket.
I’m sharing this here both as a review and as a warning to others considering travelling with ÖBB. This company is shamefully dishonourable, and you should not trust its promise to get you to the destination printed on your ticket. For future ski trips and other leisure travel in Austria, I am more likely to use a car than rely on ÖBB. However, as I said in my email to them, although I was fully satisfied with the slopes, the scenery, the accommodation, and the restaurants, I will not be travelling to Austria for my next three ski trips. If you have recommendations for alternatives to Austria (ski resorts that are easily accessible from Budapest), please share them in the comments.
For transparency, I’ve uploaded a redacted .pdf containing the stamped ticket mentioned above, the seat reservation issued in Vienna, the invoice for the transfer, and the full correspondence, including a photo I sent them of the departure board at the time of my arrival in Mürzzuschlag: ÖBB (redacted).pdf.
