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Because of the recent migrant crisis, it is okay and safe to travel by trains in Europe. I heard that trains between Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Denmark are too crowded and sometimes canceled.

I also heard that some euro zone countries (Germany) have imposed temporary border controls. Has anybody traveled recently?.

To narrow down the question, I am planning to take a train to from Hungary to Germany (Berlin) and then to Denmark (Copenhagen). I hold a valid residence permit issued by Hungary.

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    +1, I'm hoping we can get an early and fully fleshed out canonical for this question.
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Sep 14, 2015 at 15:10
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    Based on reports I've seen on twitter (eg on the Man in Seat 61's feed), the situation changes from day to day. For example, last week Denmark closed the rail crossing with Germany, but it's now back open and on Sunday there were about 2 dozen refugees on the train I was on into Copenhagen, who were met by volunteers on the platform
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Sep 14, 2015 at 15:20
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    I think this question is too broad. Europe is large and taking a train popular with refugees between Serbia and Hungary is very different from taking a rural train in Scotland. Secondly, "safe" is quite subjective.
    – gerrit
    Commented Sep 14, 2015 at 15:59
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    Even if interesting, an answer to this question might (and is likely to) be outdated within few hours. Currently, the train traffic between Hungary and Austria is suspended completely. Between Austria and Germany, some trains are running (most with significant delays) and some are suspended.
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Commented Sep 14, 2015 at 17:35
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    I don't think there is a general answer: if that day thousands arrive in Münich, they will maybe shut down train service from Austria, otherwise they won't. The border control thing just means that documents can be systematically checked at the border. Maybe it can cause delays. Why it happened now: 1. Hungary was closing the border and is now enforcing registration in Hungary so anybody who could squeezed in before that (pushed by serbia) 2. Germany is keeping everyone so syrians are moving en masse 3. summer. Winter is coming so maybe the flux will decrease, at least in Italy it does.
    – Formagella
    Commented Sep 14, 2015 at 20:26

2 Answers 2

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I live in Germany, near the Austrian border and for business and leisure I often travel to Italy, Austria, or simply along the Austrian border.
Yes, it is true that there are controls, but most of what I've seen happens on the highways (autobahn). Trucks are stopped and checked (there are also border controls in the German territory and not only at the border).
On the trains the situation is obviously different, but the police makes a lot of effort to control everything and ensure the security of the people. I've seen more than once a train blocked to ensure a full passport-check with at least 4 policemen entering each car.
I also saw often refugees at the station gathered by police (and sent to registration offices I guess).
Even if the presence of the police makes me feel at ease and secure, I would not say that refugees represent a security issue, that should be clear.
If by "safe" you meant instead "will I lose my money if I buy a ticket", I'd say that you most probably wouldn't (since normally if a train gets canceled you get a refund or they find you an alternative route).
What you may be most concerned of are delays. A lot of trains coming this way experience delays of at least 30 minutes due to border/police controls. That was before the chaos of the last 2 days.

I am sorry that I cannot give more advice on the Austrian territory, but I don't know more than what the news tell me.

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As far as I know, trains from Hungary to Austria are still cancelled (as od Sept. 15, 16:00 local time). You can check your connection at oebb.at.

The situation might change any minute.

There are many refugees at train stations in Vienna, so trains to Germany might be full, especially should Germany decide to stop the controlls at the border.

I would recommend flying if you can manage.

From the Austrian train company's homepage (oebb.at):

ÖBB müssen Zugverkehr nach Ungarn über Hegyeshalom vorübergehend wegen Überlastung einstellen. [...] Eingestellt sind die Railjet/EuroCity- und die EuroNight-Verbindungen auf der Strecke Wien - Budapest sowie die grenzüberschreitenden Regionalzüge.

Which I would translate as

The OEBB have to cancal all trains from Hungary via Hegyeshalom because of >too many people wanting to travel. [...] Cancelled are Railjet/EuroCity- and EuroNight- connections on the way from Vienna to Budapest and regional trains that cross the border.

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