About this journey

Budapest Keleti station, the departure point for this journey, was designed in eclectic style by Gyula Rochlitz and János Feketeházy and constructed between 1881 and 1884. Its name dates to 1891, reflecting its role as the easternmost of the city's rail termini — the gateway for lines toward eastern Hungary, Transylvania, and the Balkans. The main façade is adorned with statues of railway pioneers James Watt and George Stephenson, and the station's seven platforms serve thirteen tracks, handling a dense mix of domestic and international traffic.

From Keleti, the journey follows Line 1, the Budapest–Hegyeshalom railway, the main corridor between Budapest and Vienna. The line carries a wide range of cross-border services, including Railjet trains toward Zürich and München and EuroCity services to Vienna and Cluj Napoca, alongside overnight expresses such as the Dacia–Corvin Express between Vienna and Bucharest North. At the far end of the route, Hegyeshalom station — opened on 24 December 1855 — marks the border with Austria, where the line connects to the Austrian Ostbahn. Hegyeshalom is also a junction for Line 16 toward Szombathely and Line 132 toward Bratislava. A plinthed MÁV Class 411 steam locomotive stands in the station as a reminder of the line's long history.