Around 1,600 people who were trying to reach western Europe but spent the past few days trapped in Hungary have arrived in Munich since early Saturday morning.
By the end of the day, 3,000 people were expected to have arrived in the city.
The refugees were being taken to an accommodation centre in Munich for registration but could be distributed to shelters elsewhere in Germany in coming days.
Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds, reporting from outside the Munich station, said the refugees were relieved to have arrived in Germany, many with just the shirts on their backs, and had been warmly welcomed by cheering Germans.
"People here have been handing out soft toys, teddy bears for the kids, and you can see the relief on their faces that at least they have arrived safely," our correspondent said.
Austria's interior ministry arranged the transport to Germany after the refugees were bussed to the border by the Hungarian government, which gave up trying to stop them under pressure from the sheer numbers reaching its frontiers.
The ministry said about 4,000 people had arrived in Austria on Saturday and the number was expected to reach 10,000 by the end of the day.
Once they reached the Austrian border, the refugees, many of them from Syria, were whisked by train and shuttle bus to Vienna, where many said they still wanted to continue on to Germany.
After days of confrontation and chaos, Hungary's government deployed the buses to take more than 1,000 refugees, including disabled people and family groups, who had set off by foot on Friday from Budapest down the main highway to Vienna.
Austria said it had agreed with Germany that it would allow the refugees access, waiving the rules of an asylum system brought to breaking point by Europe's worst refugee crisis in decades.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) praised the two countries for their "political leadership based on humanitarian values".
'Refugees welcome'
Wrapped in blankets and sleeping bags against the rain, long lines of weary refugees, many carrying small, sleeping children, climbed off buses on the Hungarian side of the border and walked into Austria, receiving fruit and water from aid workers. Waiting Austrians held signs that read, "Refugees welcome"...................http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/refugees-start-arriving-germany-hungary-ordeal-150905162731417.html
5/9/15
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