Belgrade-Vienna rail line next year, around six hours to travel by train

In addition to Budapest, the Hungarian Railways (MAV) will connect the Serbian capital with Vienna by train next year, it was confirmed to the N1 portal.

The long-awaited rail line between Belgrade and Budapest should, according to the latest announcements, be established in the spring of 2026. But that’s not all – two trains a day from Belgrade will, according to N1, continue their journey further from the Hungarian capital – to Vienna. In the opposite direction, from Vienna to Belgrade, there will also be two departures a day.

A draft schedule for the 2025/26 timetable briefly appeared on the website of the Serbian Railways Infrastructure company (IZS) some time ago. Although the schedules refer only to the section of the railroad through Serbia, it is clear that six trains a day will operate from Belgrade to Budapest and vice versa. Three departures will be made by Srbijavoz (with new high-speed trains from the Chinese manufacturer CRRC), and three by the Hungarian MAV.

What immediately caught the attention of keen-eyed rail enthusiasts on internet forums was that two of the Hungarian MAV trains that will run to Belgrade, as well as two that will run to Budapest, have the same numbers as the trains that currently run between the capitals of Hungary and Austria.

N1 requested official confirmation of the establishment of a direct rail line between Belgrade and Vienna in writing from Hungarian Railways (MAV), Srbijavoz and the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of Serbia, but even after a month, there was no response. Therefore, N1 eventually turned to the Austrian Railways (OBB) and received the requested information on the same day.

– Together with our partner MAV, we plan to launch trains 144 and 148 between Belgrade, Budapest and Vienna in the future. In the opposite direction, trains 141 and 147 will operate between Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade – OBB told N1.

OBB reminds that these trains currently operate only between Vienna and Budapest, and that the date of the launch of the direct line to Belgrade has not yet been determined, but that it should happen during 2026.

Train 144 currently departs from Budapest at 12:40 PM and arrives in Vienna at 3:20 PM (according to the draft IZS timetable, this train would depart from the Prokop rail station in Belgrade at 8:40 AM).

Train 148 currently departs from Budapest at 4.40 PM and arrives in Vienna at 7:20 PM (according to the draft IZS timetable, this train would depart from the Prokop rail station in Belgrade at 2:40 PM).

Train 141 currently departs from Vienna at 8:42 AM and arrives in Budapest at 11:19 AM (according to the draft IZS timetable, this train would arrive at the Prokop rail station in Belgrade at 3:20 PM).

Train 147 currently departs from Vienna at 2:42 PM and arrives in Budapest at 5:19 PM (according to the draft IZS timetable, this train would arrive at the Prokop rail station in Belgrade at 9:20 PM).

It should be noted that the departure and arrival times from Belgrade are still unofficial and tentative, so the possibility that there will be certain changes in the final schedule is not excluded, but as things stand for now, a train journey between the capitals of Serbia and Austria should take a little longer than six hours. A bus journey between Belgrade and Vienna, on the other hand, takes about nine hours.

When it comes to trains that will not continue their journey from Belgrade to Vienna, but stop at Budapest, according to the draft IZS timetable, departures from Prokop are planned at 6:40 AM, 10:40 AM, 12:40 PM, 4:40 PM and 6:40 PM. Arrivals of trains from Budapest to the central station in Belgrade are planned at 11:20 AM, 1:20 PM, 5:20 PM, 7:20 PM and 11:20 PM.

At the opening of the Novi Sad-Subotica high-speed rail section in early October, the president of Serbia expressed his expectation that passenger traffic to Budapest would be established in March 2026.

New lines and further modernization of lines planned

There is currently only one international train operating from Belgrade – to Bar in Montenegro, so the establishment of new lines to Budapest and Vienna will significantly increase the choice, especially considering the possibility of transfers in Hungary and Austria to other destinations in Europe.

When considering the public procurement for the purchase of six new multi-system electric locomotives launched by the Srbijavoz company, which will be intended for hauling passenger trains on electrified lines in Serbia, but also on international corridors through Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Greece, it is clear that the Serbian rail operator is planning to expand its network of destinations.