ÖBB Reviews 

Hideous greedy company, trains extremely overpriced, always late, full and dirty

I am writing to complain about the poor service on my journey from Vienna to Budapest with ÖBB EC ( Dec 2025)

There was no Wi-Fi available, and despite my ticket being scanned via QR code, seating was not guaranteed, causing unnecessary inconvenience and confusion. The overall service quality was unacceptable for a paid international train journey.

This experience fell well below expected standards. I request that this issue be reviewed and appropriate action or compensation be considered.

I recently took a train from Verona to Innsbruck. I get that the company is not Italian and the final destination of the train is in a German-speaking country, but it’s IMPOSSIBLE to communicate with the staff at the restaurant. They don't speak Italian and they don’t speak English, or at least they pretend not to. After trying to order a snack from the restaurant unsuccessfully (it was a constant “no no sorry no”) , I asked for the location of the vending machines (they were like 2 meters away from the restaurant but I couldn’t see them from where I was coming.) and the staff looked at me as if I was an alien.

I'm writing this review because I paid for a private sleeper cabin with bed (inc. breakfast etc) from Vienna to Brussels.

At 3am the train broke down and they left us on the platform to make non-reserved connections to Brussels (so two other trains) riding 2nd class, unreserved.

My issue is that I filed a claim to be compensated the difference in fairs and have not heard anything back. I find this unsatisfactory that no compensation is offered due to the discrepancy of class of carriage and board.

Will actively AVOID until resolved.

Trains always late and the tickets are unbelievably expensive! For 25km 10€!? In other countries it costs 2-3€ 😅. Joke..Maybe they say I shouldn't compare but of course I am gonna compare because I travel a lot and I see the differences. They should do better.

In July 2025 I've been in Italy and I ordered 2 train tickets from Bologna to Rimini. The train was operated by OBB and it delayed much more than. 60'. I had an appointment in Rimini and I lost it completely. I also had to buy tickets from another train company, cause there wasn't information about how much more time the OBB train would delay and I really needed to arrive in Rimini as fast as possible.
So... There goes 4 months since my train delayed and I lost my appointment….
I visited OBB site and filled my complaint asking my refund 4 times. I placed all the proofs and documents required and haven’t had YET any reply and any signal of my refund.
Absolutely ridiculous
Pathetic
Here in Brazil it is commom people and companies cheat on people…. But I would never expect met the same in Europe… A huge company as OBB stealing their customers without any shame

I am utterly disappointed by how they handled my case. I’ve been a regular passenger for over 10 years, since I was a schoolgirl.

While traveling between music concerts, I accidentally left my weekly ticket and additional one-way tickets in another wallet. The ticket checker publicly announced my full legal name and said I could send photos of the ticket later to resolve it. I couldn’t find one of the one-way tickets that day due to the crowd and stress.

I sent photos of my weekly ticket to the company, but they rejected them, claiming it wasn’t “personalized.” Later, I sent bank statements showing my name and the date/time of the ticket purchases (including one bought 10 minutes before I was fined), but they ignored it. Months later, I called them, thinking the matter was resolved, and they said I still had to pay the fine and the agency says the direct bank evidence is not proof but this is actually personalization.

I contacted another agency, but even with clear evidence, they said nothing could be done. They refused to reduce the fine until my mom intervened herself and mentioned that the collection agency had sent notices to a completely wrong, unregistered address—I never received anything at my actual address. I also provided my ticket history via apps and Vorteilscard. They also complained that my mom wasn't supposed to "intervene" on her own accord.

As a musician who travels often and had several big concerts that week, I feel completely mishandled and misled. The added stress from this company was atrocious.

Iv not even traveled yet and this company seem a joke .Purchase tickets at a Super saver non refundable price of £32 per person from Munich to Innsbruck in December only last week .Following online advice as with any train travel book early non refundable tickets to get best price and availability, yet there now available for around £12 to £16 per person .How is that even possible closer to departure ?Now after looking online at this operator looks like il be lucky to get to Innsbruck anyway and if I do doubt it'll be ontime .

I took the Nightjet from Amsterdam to Vienna and, unfortunately, it was one of the most disappointing train experiences I’ve had.

First, a staff member shouted at me on the quay when I asked for directions — completely unacceptable customer service. The solo cabins are tiny, and the mattress is so thin it’s hard to get any rest. There’s no bar or social compartment either, so you’re basically confined to your cabin for 14 hours.

My train was delayed by 4 hours, and despite the long wait, no snacks or even water were offered as compensation. Breakfast is served based on location, not time — meaning when the arrival was rescheduled, we got breakfast at 11 a.m. instead of 7 a.m.

When I asked customer service why no one offered water or assistance during the delay, I was told they “follow EU rules.” That response sums it up perfectly — OBB Nightjet feels like the Ryanair of the rails: minimal comfort, minimal care, and minimal customer service

The OBB service was appalling.
​The train was filthy and smelled awful, which is unacceptable for the price paid. The reserved seat system failed completely: passengers without reservations occupied my paid seat, and no train staff was available to help.
​This was the worst train service experience I've ever had.

I purchased a Eurail Global Pass 7 days within 1 month for me and my wife on 3/07/25 for $924. On 3/16/2025 I booked a reservation for a sleeper cabin the Nightjet NJ421 for 09/012/2025 Amsterdam 19:00 direct to Munich 09/13/2025 7:06 for which I paid €739,80. The OBB website states that “The costs for the journey, the reservation in the respective travel category and breakfast in the couchette or sleeper coach are already included here.” When I purchased the reservation under “Discounts” I entered that I had “Eurail Pass” for my wife and myself. I obviously assumed I was getting a discount for having paid for the train portion of this reservation with a Eurail pass since there is a dropdown box that states "Discount for Eurail/Interrail".
When I received a notice that my schedule had changed in early September, it came to my attention that OBB is charging the same amount for reservations+tickets whether or not you use your EURAIL passes for the Ticket portion of the reservation that is purported to be giving a discount. I submitted examples showing in 2 instances the same price was to be charged whether I had an Eurail or not. Both ticket prices are the same for 2 different dates of service. Two of these reservations showed that I was getting a EURAIL discount, however there was no discount given on the ticket portion on the total expense. I contacted OBB on September 7 and it took almost a month to get back to me. On 10/06/2025 I received a response from OBB “It states that you must select “Semi Flex” when booking in order to choose a discount with the Interrail ticket. I can see that you have chosen a standard ticket without a discount.” The next email “the ticket you have selected is the ticket without the Interrail ticket discount. You can view the respective discounts in the ticket details.” I feel that OBB is purposely deceiving travelers into thinking they are getting a discounted price for this type of travel (with Eurail) because no where on the website is this information provided to customers.
I submitted my information to the Federal Ministry, Mobility and Infrastructure Republic of Austria and filed a complaint against OBB. This led to arbitration and I was offered 180€ of free travel vouchers I can use over the next 10 years. I really wanted OBB to make their pricing more transparent but this is all I could do. I would encourage travellers who have been screwed by OBB to file complaints against them with the Federal Ministry, Mobility and Infrastructure Republic of Austria and seek some compensation.
By the Way the overnight experience from Amsterdam to Munich was equivalent to having someone hit you with a baseball bat for 12 hrs. I had reserved a cabin for 2 with a WC and shower. The bed was as hard as a rock, the wifi was non-existant, the train rocked all night and no instructions how to get to the top bunk. I will never do that again particularly with OBB. As an update my case went to arbitration and I got €180 in train credits that are good for 10 years.

There are many train connections, and the trains are clean and modern. The WiFi on the trains is bad. Every other day, trains get cancelled without notice, and getting refunds is extremely complicated.

worst train ever
we bought train from bologna to Vienna
it got delayed 70 minutes in bologna
no staff told which area is going to Munich, and which one going to Vienna. so we can’t use our cabin until 3 am

It's just an average train company which offers good night train services. I've had good experience with a night train to Rome

I had booked several trains journeys as part of our holiday around the Salzburg area - two were cancelled and the other was delayed - we almost missed our flight home from Vienna. We were travelling business class.
On a positive note the staff in the first class lounges in both Salzburg and Vienna were very helpful and courteous. Vienna Lounge was a little spartan and seemed to be under renovation.
Also the online experience seeking refunds has been very good. Just let down by the cancellations and delays which were for nearly every train journey we had booked. Need to learn from their Swiss neighbours.

I bought a trip from Hamburg to Bucharest and back again.
Fantastic trip, and fantastic service 😁

Romanian train conductors may not speak english, but I felt in safe hands the entire way. Will absolutely use them again in the future, for European trips

Our night train from Brussels to Vienna on 29.08.25 was cancelled without any previous warnings. We were stranded in evening in Brussels with our small child. I would advise not to use services from öbb.

No aircon, completely overbooked and had to kick people out of our seats when they themselves had paid for seats too.

Also can’t get onto the wifi ( makes it much more excellent)

At least it’s the fastest line but certainly wasn’t a fan. Caught the train for 6.5hrs from Budapest to Munich (Hungary to sth Germany)

The journey Innsbruck - Venice Santa Lucia was not as expected, no information about some work on train tracks in Italy and the need of taking the bus from Verona. No signs, no info once arrived in Verona where to get the bus. The driver did not take us to Venice city but dropped us in Mestre. Plus there was just one bus and some passengers did not get on and had to find themselves a way to reach destination and had to pay extra money for a new ticket.
Very bad organized.

First the train had 1,5h delay, its supposed to be a night train but its not any different from a normal train, the seats are small and the ac was turned on the full volume, which was highly uncomfortable. Then we got awakened by the police, which checked our IDs after midnight. Throughout the journey the train gathered 7 hours of delay in total, we got almost zero information, and if we did then it was in german (which we dont understand), the radio that announced the information was very quiet. We couldnt even buy food because of the confusing information from the employees. Then right before our stop (Amsterdam) we got announced that the train wont continue any further, no help from the staff, we got zero explanation, they just told us to leave and didnt offer any alternative on how to get to our destination.