ECO-FRIENDLY WAYS TO GET AROUND VILLACH
With the expansion of public transportation, the City of Villach is setting important standards for achieving its climate goals, and at the same time is motivating its citizens to leave their cars at home and switch to environmentally-friendly alternatives such as taking the bus or the train.
In addition to the ECitybus, the city’s light rail system, and the summer buses, nearly all the city buses have had a new schedule since July 11th.
A NEW SCHEDULE FOR VILLACH’S BUS NETWORK
“More trips and an optimized plan that is coordinated with other public transportation options,” was the goal in 2019. Since then, the city has more than tripled its spending on public transportation, and the first changes to the schedule of Villach’s city buses took effect on 11 July 2022.
Effective immediately, buses will run every half an hour at peak times on nearly all bus lines. Buses are guaranteed to run every hour at non-peak times. Two lines are excluded from this for the time being, but even on these lines traffic has improved significantly. So the first steps towards a high-quality public transportation system have been taken.
THE LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM
Villach’s light rail system, or StadtBahn, runs at convenient half an hour and hourly intervals. It runs via the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) to the Westbahnhof, to Landskron, St. Ruprecht, Seebach, and Warmbad. The railway stops are positioned in such a way that you can easily reach a considerable number of attractive destinations, whether it’s a family day at the KärntenTherme spa in Warmbad, a leisurely shopping trip through the city center, or going to one of the local recreation areas on the outskirts of the city. With the ErlebnisCard, which all city guests can get for free, you can even travel for free this year throughout Carinthia on local S-Bahn trains.
VILLACH’S SUMMER BUSES
Another attractive offering which allows you to get from A to B in an environmentally-friendly way are the summer buses, which take you to Faaker See or to Dobratsch for free (free for tourists with the ErlebnisCard, otherwise €6 round trip for adults and €3 round trip for children and youths under 18 years old). (Status: 27.07.2022)
Around the time of Villach’s Kirchtag festival and European Bike Week, there are also event shuttles, which run conveniently between Faaker See, Ossiacher See, and Villach.