Salzburg-St. Gilgen bus route adds services after overcrowding

The bus service on route 150 between Salzburg and St. Gilgen will be expanded from the start of the school year on September 14 because buses are often overcrowded, ORF reported.

Two additional services will run in the morning and two in the afternoon in each direction. Departures from Salzburg Central Station are scheduled for 7:30, 8:07, 15:52 and 16:22. From St. Gilgen bus station, buses will leave at 8:49, 9:19, 17:19 and 17:49.

The Salzburg Transport Association said the route would operate up to four times an hour during peak periods.

“Our main goal is to create additional capacity for commuters from the Flachgau district so they can reach their destinations on time,” said Johannes Gfrerer, managing director of the Salzburg Transport Association.

A spokesperson said employees of a large employer in Fuschl were repeatedly facing problems because of full buses on route 150. The Red Bull group has its headquarters there.

The expanded service will be financed with public funds. The transport association said additional revenue from a mobility levy on tourists was being directed to public transport, and that no private company was co-financing the expansion.

The additional services will run until further notice. Negotiations are under way on the timetable from the mid-December schedule change, with the route’s high passenger numbers expected to be taken into account.

Route 150 is one of Austria’s most heavily used regional bus services. On busy weekends, up to 10,000 passengers use the connection between Salzburg and Bad Ischl in Upper Austria.

The transport association and the state of Salzburg are also considering additional services during the holiday and swimming season from May to September. The route serves both Lake Fuschl and Lake Wolfgang and provides the fastest public transport connection between Salzburg and the tourist destinations in the Salzkammergut.

“I am very pleased by the success of route 150. It shows that people are happy to use an attractive service,” said Stefan Schnöll, Salzburg’s transport councillor from the Austrian People’s Party.