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Rail transport in Austria

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Austria
View of Wien Hauptbahnhof
Operation
National railwayÖsterreichische Bundesbahnen
System length
Total6,123 kilometres (3,805 mi)
Electrified3,523 kilometres (2,189 mi)
Freight only?
High-speed233 km
Track gauge
Main1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Electrification
15 kV 16,7 HzMain network
Map
Map of the main network in Austria as of 2020.
An ICE T on the Trisanna Bridge, Wiesberg[1]
Railjet is a domestic and international long-distance train
Some tramways in Gmunden
The Hartkaiserbahn funicular near Ellmau

Rail transport in Austria is mainly owned by Austria's national rail transport company, the Austrian Federal Railways (German: Österreichische Bundesbahnen, ÖBB). The railway network consists of 6,123 km (3,805 mi), its gauge is 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge and 3,523 km (2,189 mi) are electrified. Besides, there are also several narrow-gauge railways and funiculars.

Austria is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Austria is 81.

Network

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See also: Austrian Federal Railways

The Austrian network, aside from the principal rail system, also enfolds some funiculars, rack railways and several heritage railways mainly derived from part of disused lines. Some secondary lines are set up in narrow gauge.

Standard gauge railways

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The following is an alphabetical list of standard gauge railway lines in Austria:

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  • Czech Republic Czech Republic – voltage change to 25 kV 50 Hz AC
  • Germany Germany – same voltage 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC
  • Hungary Hungary – voltage change to 25 kV 50 Hz AC
  • Italy Italy – voltage change to 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC / 3 kV DC
  • Liechtenstein Liechtenstein – same voltage 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC
  • Slovakia Slovakia – voltage change to 25 kV 50 Hz AC
  • Slovenia Slovenia – voltage change to 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC / 3 kV DC
  • Switzerland Switzerland – same voltage 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC

Narrow gauge railways

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Main article: Narrow gauge railways in Austria

In Austria, many narrow gauge railways were constructed due to the difficult mountainous terrain. Many survived to this day as a common carrier or a heritage railway.

Funiculars

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Main article: List of funicular railways § Austria

Operators

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Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and WESTbahn are the main operators on Austria's railway network. In addition, the German Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the Czech České dráhy (ČD) also operate services to destinations in Austria.

Austrian Federal Railways

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Main article: Austrian Federal Railways

Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) is the national railway company. It operates domestic and international long-distance trains (e.g., RailJet, Transalpin), most urban commuter trains, known as S-Bahn, as well as Regional-Express (REX) and regional trains. In addition, it jointly operates the City Airport Train to Vienna Airport. ÖBB also operates night trains to other European countries as Nightjet (NJ).

WESTbahn

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Main article: WESTbahn

WESTbahn operates express trains over Austria's Western Railway line. It includes both domestic and international services.

Others

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Train categories

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Main article: Train categories in Europe § Austria

Urban railways

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See also: List of town tramway systems in Europe § Austria, and S-Bahn § Austria

History

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The Rakete (Rocket) of the Kaiser-Ferdinands-Nordbahn

The history of Austrian rail transport starts with the Reisszug, a private, horse-drawn funicular serving Hohensalzburg Fortress. Built at the end of the 15th century and first documented in 1515, it is the oldest known funicular in the world, and possibly the oldest existing railway line.[6][7]

In the 19th century, after building of several horse tramways, the Nordbahn line Vienna–Břeclav opened in 1837. The Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways (Kaiserlich-königliche österreichische Staatsbahnen, kkStB), a company serving the Austrian side of Austria-Hungary, was created in 1884[8] and in 1923, some years after the dissolution of the empire, the national company BBÖ (Bundesbahnen Österreich) was founded.

Following the Anschluss of Austria to National-socialist Germany in 1938, the BBÖ were taken over by the Deutsche Reichsbahn. After the end of World War II, the Austrian federal railways were re-installed in 1945, soon under the name of Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB).

In 1998 the market was liberalised and had one of the highest degrees of market openness in the EU according to the 2011 Rail Liberalisation Index, although the market share of ÖBB remains above 90% for passenger rail.[9]

See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ^ A village part of Strengen
  2. ^ Not to be confused with the historic and private Reisszug
  3. ^ "S-Bahn Vorarlberg". oebb.at. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  4. ^ an underground air cushion funicular
  5. ^ Article on Funimag
  6. ^ The "Reisszug" on Funimag
  7. ^ The "Reisszug" on Funiculars.net
  8. ^ History of Austrian Railway until 1918 (on the ÖBB website) Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ OECD Economic Surveys: Austria 2013 page 135. OECD. 2 July 2013. ISBN 9789264183070.
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