The opening of the Koralm Tunnel, the introduction of Interregio trains and the resulting adjustments to the Salzkammergut railway timetable necessitated a comprehensive reorganisation of regional bus services in the inner Salzkammergut region. The timetable change in mid-December 2025 was therefore dominated by this complex reorganisation, which enabled numerous improvements to be implemented at the same time. As after every timetable change, the adjustments were evaluated during ongoing operations and customer feedback was carefully analysed in order to make further optimisations before the semester break. On Sunday, 15 February 2026, additional courses and improved connections will therefore come into force throughout the Salzkammergut.
The massive changes to rail services at the end of last year posed major challenges, particularly for the regional bus network in the Salzkammergut. A large number of connections had to be rethought and coordinated in co-operation with three transport associations (Styria, Upper Austria and Salzburg). At the same time, however, many positive innovations for passengers were also implemented, such as the extension of operating times in the direction of Gosau, Bad Goisern, Obertraun and St. Wolfgang, as well as the extended connection to the industrial companies in Steeg-Gosau on holiday days or the relief of the Obertraun through road.
Evaluation in real operation
Every revision of connections is evaluated in live operation, all the more so if they had previously worked well for years, says Klaus Wimmer, Managing Director of OÖ Verkehrsverbund Gesellschaft: "From the timetable changeover in December, our transport planners and regional advisors were in close contact with the local transport companies, constantly monitoring the feedback from our customers and evaluating the passenger numbers on the means of transport. Based on these findings, optimisation measures were quickly developed. These will now be implemented at the next possible timetable change at the start of the semester break."
The most important changes to regional bus services in the Salzkammergut from 15 February 2026:
541/542 Bad Ischl - Bad Goisern - Gosaumühle - Gosau
- Monday to Friday mornings additional journeys with connections in Steeg-Gosau (to Gosau) and Bad Ischl (to Salzburg and Attnang-Puchheim) as well as an additional connection from Gosau to Bad Ischl by bus on holiday days (previously only possible with a change between bus and train)
- In the mornings, create an additional journey option from Gosau to Bad Ischl and back with coordinated connections in Gosaumühle. However, this will increase the journey time between Gosau and Hallstatt.
- A 16:20 service from Gosaumühle, previously only available in summer, now also runs to Bad Ischl on school days in winter. -
- At weekends during the winter season, a new service is introduced with departure from Gosaumühle at 09:15 to Hintertal. This bus comes directly from Obertraun.
543/544 Gosaumühle - Hallstatt - Obertraun
- The connection to the HTL Hallstatt is optimised on school days. This will also shorten the journey time from Gosau and it will also be possible to change trains in Steeg-Gosau.
- From Monday to Friday afternoons, there will be optimised connections at 16:12 in Steeg-Gosau. Unfortunately, this means that individual courses with very low passenger demand and capacity utilisation on the Hallstatt - Dachstein cable car - Hallstatt section will have to be cancelled.
- At weekends in winter, one service (from Obertraun Feriendorf 08:39) will be extended to the ski lifts to Gosau.
546 Bad Ischl - Rußbach - Strobl - St. Wolfgang
- The daily (Monday to Sunday) services at 08:56 and 09:56 from Strobl to St. Wolfgang run a few minutes later and wait for the express services on line 150 from Salzburg.
In addition, some connections have been slightly adjusted (+/- a few minutes) to improve accessibility. All detailed information will be available on the Upper Austrian Transport Association website from 10 February.
"The regional public transport timetable should provide reliable connections for all passengers. This is particularly important for those who rely on good connections on their daily journey to school or work. With the adjustments that have now been made, we expect the situation to improve, especially in morning traffic," concludes Klaus Wimmer.