Regardless of the German train drivers' strike, which will take place from Wednesday, January 10th, 2024 to probably Friday, January 12th, 2024, the private Westbahn trains will also run to/from Munich. However, tickets from ÖBB and DB are not recognized, even though this is exactly what the two competitors were asked to do.

As a private railway company, Westbahn is not affected by the strike called by the German union GDL. The ÖBB does, however, because at the border stations (for example Salzburg) the employees of the Austrian Federal Railways get off and are replaced by their colleagues from Deutsche Bahn AG. This approach has been common practice for decades.

Since the Westbahn also has RU approval in Germany, it is able to operate the Vienna-Munich route from December 2024 also further to Stuttgart operate with your own employees at the border station without any personnel changes. This is proving to be an advantage for passengers due to the strike, which primarily affects Deutsche Bahn.

On Monday, the Westbahn approached the Austrian Federal Railways with an offer: They agreed to exceptionally accept tickets issued by ÖBB and/or DB during the German train drivers' strike. The Austrian Federal Railways forwarded this to Deutsche Bahn AG and the latter canceled. In other words: The DB has no interest in its passengers affected by the strike being able to use the trains of its competitor Westbahn as a replacement. This means that the tickets of those affected will not be recognized. If the booked connection is canceled due to the strike, a new ticket must be purchased from the Westbahn in order to switch to a Westbahn train. Sounds complicated? But the DB decided this way, even though the private operator would have been prepared to accept ÖBB/DB tickets as an exception.

The Austrian Federal Railways could not accept the Western Railway's proposal for the following reason: It affected a foreign route section that is under the commercial responsibility of Deutsche Bahn AG. Passengers are considered ÖBB passengers within Austria and DB travelers from the border station. This means that only Deutsche Bahn AG can decide whether or not to allow the tickets to be accepted on a competitor's trains. In this specific case, Deutsche Bahn AG refused to allow its passengers to use Westbahn trains during the train drivers' strike.

The German state railway also received a setback in court because they went to court against the GDL's strike call and wanted to stop it by means of an interim injunction. However, the responsible labor court rejected the request because there is no legal basis for prohibiting the train drivers' strike. So this will go over the stage.

It is to be expected that many train connections on the western route will be canceled because the train sets cannot be handed over from Deutsche Bahn to ÖBB. Furthermore, the Austrian Federal Railways will “shorten” some routes, which specifically means that they will end at the Austrian border station and will not continue to Germany. Travelers who are traveling to/from or within the Federal Republic during the train drivers' strike should regularly inform themselves about the current status of things. Due to train runs, ÖBB may also experience cancellations or changes to local and long-distance timetables within Austria.

In contrast to those of ÖBB and DB, the Westbahn trains will run as scheduled, as the Austrian private railway is not affected by the GDL's strike call. The Westbahn train connections between Vienna (Westbahnhof) and Munich (main station) are listed below:

• 948: Vienna Westbahnhof (from 06:08 a.m.) – Munich Hbf (at 10:13 a.m.)
• 962: Vienna Westbahnhof (from 10:08 a.m.) – Munich Hbf (at 14:12 a.m.)
• 966: Vienna Westbahnhof (from 12:08 a.m.) – Munich Hbf (at 16:13 a.m.)
• 970: Vienna Westbahnhof (from 16:08 a.m.) – Munich Hbf (at 20:13 a.m.)
• 982: Vienna Westbahnhof (from 18:08 a.m.) – Munich Hbf (at 22:13 a.m.)
• 959: Munich Hbf (from 07:49 a.m.) – Vienna Westbahnhof (at 11:52 a.m.)
• 963: Munich Hbf (from 09:48 a.m.) – Vienna Westbahnhof (at 13:52 a.m.)
• 965: Munich Hbf (from 11:45 a.m.) – Vienna Westbahnhof (at 15:52 a.m.)
• 971: Munich Hbf (from 15:48 a.m.) – Vienna Westbahnhof (at 19:52 a.m.)
• 983: Munich Hbf (from 17:49 a.m.) – Vienna Westbahnhof (at 21:52 a.m.)