A large part of Austria is the Alps, that poses special challenges for trains. That's why these base tunnels are so important. Funny you ignored the comment about the Semmering tunnel being built, and how it will help with the travel time on that section.
Flights are so cheap because they are subsidized (primarily the fuel), and their CO2 emissions are just swept under the rug. There is also this problem of not having enough high speed cross-country trains, and even if they exist, you usually have to change trains and book tickets separately for each country. The EU has a plan to improve on this in the next 20 years.
> trains on that route are typically full of loud obnoxious people talking on their phone on speaker mode, who don't have courtesy for others so it ruins any enjoyment of sightseeing unless you have good noise cancelling headphones.
Yes, because Ryanair or Wizzair flights never have loud obnoxious people...
A "Sparschiene" ticket from Vienna to Graz typically costs between 10€ and 25€. With the Vorteilscard, a regular ticket costs 22€. (I believe the full regular price only exists to rip off tourists :)
I've never seen it below 19 Euros.
Are Austrian residents excempt from the "full regular price"?
Then it's ripping me off too not just tourists.
Actually the entire country is a ripoff.
I randomly picked next Wednesday (December 17). There several offers for 9,90€
> Are Austrian residents excempt from the "full regular price"?
No, and that would be against EU laws.
"Reverse discrimination" is generally legal under EU law.
For example, EU law grants the non-EU spouses of EU citizens living in an EU country other than the EU citizen's home country much broader right than the EU citizen's home country otherwise might.
And the train is still slower than that.
>Graz–Vienna is admittedly a bit of a special case
And yet flights from London, Paris or Berlin are cheaper than trains from Graz to Vienna.
Special case at being ripped off.