The new 2025/26 timetable year is characterised by major infrastructure projects: The opening of the Koralm Railway, major construction sites on the Deutsche Bahn network, the introduction of the Interregio route network and the completion of renovation work at Upper Austria's largest bus terminal will necessitate a large number of adjustments to local and regional public transport in Upper Austria from 14 December 2025. At the same time, a completely revised city bus concept will come into force with the new Traun city bus, which will increase the annual timetable kilometres by around 45% compared to the existing timetable. In regional rail transport, the timetable offer will be expanded with a new attractive early morning connection from Garsten to Linz: in future, it will connect Steyr with Linz in just 34 minutes travelling time.
Following the extensive expansion of public transport services in recent years, the current changes to the timetables are primarily characterised by new framework conditions in national and international long-distance transport. The investments in the supra-regional transport network, starting with the opening of the Koralm Railway and the deployment of new Interregio trains on the Pyhrn Railway through to the major conversion programme on the Deutsche Bahn network, will have a lasting positive impact on public transport as a whole - including at regional level in Upper Austria. At the same time, they will disrupt connections that have been established for years and require new, well thought-out alternative solutions during the transition period. This has resulted in a complete reconsideration of the regional bus network, particularly in the entire inner Salzkammergut region. Despite the complex reorganisation, it was possible to implement positive innovations for passengers in Upper Austria, taking into account the many concerns of the region, schools and local companies and institutions.
"Overall, we have succeeded once again this year in creating a balanced and high-quality timetable offering with a number of regional highlights despite the challenging new framework conditions," says a delighted Günther Steinkellner, Provincial Councillor for Mobility and Infrastructure.
These highlights include, for example, the new morning REX connection from Garsten to Linz and the new regional bus booster services in the Vöcklabruck/Schwanenstadt/Attnang-Puchheim area. In the inner Salzkammergut region, the operating times in the direction of Gosau, Bad Goisern, Obertraun and St. Wolfgang were extended and the industrial companies in Steeg-Gosau were better connected. At the same time, the Obertraun through road has been greatly relieved by reducing the number of journeys through the narrow Seestraße. A number of improvements have also been implemented in school transport throughout Upper Austria, making everyday life easier for many pupils in the province.
"Due to the tight budgetary situation at both federal and Upper Austrian state level, it is not possible this time to implement such extensive expansion measures as in previous years. This year's timetable adjustments are characterised by many selective optimisation measures, which we have implemented in the light of a targeted and demand-oriented adjustment of the already existing and very good public transport services," points out Klaus Wimmer, Managing Director of OÖ Verkehrsverbund Gesellschaft.
Nevertheless, this year's timetable change also shines with new services, such as the newly planned transport concept of the new Traun city bus "Spetzi" with numerous improvements and a comprehensive expansion of services. From 15 December 2025, the new Traun city bus will operate four new routes (631, 632, 633 and 634) in the Traun city area every half hour. Six electrically powered and two diesel-powered, manoeuvrable, new and modern buses will travel to the most important transport hubs such as the Traun crossroads, Traun railway station and Traun main square. This ensures attractive transfers between the city buses, regional buses and local trains, as well as the tram. "All four districts of Traun, important social facilities and localities for daily needs will be connected. Compared to the existing timetable, the annual timetable kilometres will be increased by around 45%," emphasises Provincial Councillor Günther Steinkellner.
Numerous innovations also await all passengers on the regional bus route625 in Pasching from 15 December 2025. A targeted streamlining of the route will ensure significantly shorter journey times. The newly built central stop at Pasching Dörnbacher Straße, which will replace the Ruflinger Straße, Schulstraße, Westzeile and Mühlweg stops in future, has contributed to this in particular. Optimisations were also achieved by relocating the Wagram Kürnbergstraße stop (in the direction of Thurnharting) towards the Wagram tram stop and by concentrating all courses at the Plus-City (North) stop as a central stop (between Plus-City and Bauhaus). In addition to greater comfort, better frequency and more attractive journey times, passengers can also look forward to longer operating times in the evening.
Another major start to operations was the reopening of the Linz Hauptbahnhof bus terminal on 5 October 2025 following the completion of the general refurbishment. The largest bus terminal in Upper Austria has been redesigned, refurbished and adapted to modern operating standards by the new operator Schiene OÖ, bringing significantly improved comfort and greater operational safety for the around 6,000 people who use the bus terminal every working day.
Linz bus terminal: new solutions for regional bus routes 240, 252 and 315
New legal requirements relating to accessibility, road safety and the length of the vehicles used made it necessary to reduce the number of platforms available for regional bus services from 15 to 13. One of the biggest challenges when reopening the Linz bus terminal was therefore to organise operations as smoothly and efficiently as possible despite the reduced number of platforms, reports Klaus Wimmer: "Several routes or courses run almost simultaneously at individual platforms at one-minute intervals. This meant that we were only able to assess whether a safe and efficient process could be guaranteed under these conditions during real operations. When the Linz bus terminal was reopened, a conscious decision was therefore made not to initially integrate all lines into the terminal and to gradually develop solutions for the remaining lines after a thorough evaluation of the traffic situation."
This approach affected lines 315 (Gallneukirchen - Engerwitzdorf - Linz), 252 (Linz - Zwettl/Rodl) and 240 (St. Peter am Wimberg - Linz), for which the replacement timetable in place during the renovation work was continued.
"The evaluation phase has now been completed and we will be able to largely reintegrate lines 240 and 252 into the bus terminal with the 2025/26 timetable change," says Klaus Wimmer. For line 240, this is possible again for all four routes departing from Linz and the three routes travelling to Linz to/from the bus terminal. On route 252, eight out of eleven departing services will run from the bus terminal again. In the opposite direction, nine out of ten services travelling to Linz will run to the bus terminal
With the end of line Musiktheater and the start of line Linz Volksgartenstraße, line 315 is already close to the bus terminal. "We are also trying to improve this situation by setting up a bus platform on Bahnhofplatz (at the level of the ÖBB headquarters building) to bring the line closer to the main railway station. However, this solution is currently still being coordinated," says Provincial Councillor Steinkellner, who is very keen to find a solution to this issue.
All details and changes for your line at a glance