The Eastern Railway (), formerly also known as the Vienna-Raab railway (), is a two-track, electrified railway line that runs from

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

towards

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. The name ''Eastern Railway'' refers to several branches of the line as well. The previous western terminus of the railway line in Vienna,

Wien Südbahnhof Wien Südbahnhof ( German for ''Vienna South Station'') was Vienna's largest railway terminus. It closed in December 2009 and was demolished in 2010 to be replaced with a new station, Wien Hauptbahnhof. It was located in Favoriten, in the south ...

, has been replaced by the new

Hauptbahnhof Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

, which allows for continuous east-west traffic and connects the Eastern Railway directly to the Western Railway and Southern Railway.

Route

The Eastern Railway originates east of

Wien Hauptbahnhof Wien Hauptbahnhof, Vienna Central Station or Vienna Main Station is the main railway station in Vienna, Austria, located in the Favoriten district. It became fully operational in December 2015, linking major railway lines from the North railway ...

. It runs parallel to the

Laaer Ostbahn The Laaer Ostbahn () is a railway line in Lower Austria. It runs from Wien Hauptbahnhof to , on the Czech–Austrian border. The line formerly continued to Brno. Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) owns and operates the line. Route The Laaer Os ...

for several kilometers before that line veers off to the east. There are several major railway yards in the vicinity of the

Vienna Central Cemetery The Vienna Central Cemetery () is one of the largest Cemetery, cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its significance as Vienna's big ...

. The line continues south to

Gramatneusiedl Gramatneusiedl is a municipality in the district of Bruck an der Leitha in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It belonged to Wien-Umgebung District which was dissolved in 2016. Population Marienthal Job Guarantee In 2020 Gramatneusied ...

, at which point it turns east for the run to the Hungarian border. The line is electrified at between Vienna and .

Operation

the of the

Vienna S-Bahn The Vienna S-Bahn is a suburban commuter rail network in Vienna, Austria. As opposed to the city-run urban metro network, the Vienna U-Bahn, it extends beyond the borders of the city, is operated by the Austrian Federal Railways, ÖBB (Austria ...

provides frequent service between Wien Hauptbahnhof and . This is supplemented by

Regional-Express In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (; RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with a top speed of and an average speed of about as it calls at fewer stations than ''R ...

services that operate between Vienna and , , and Hegyeshalom. Long-distance

Railjet Railjet is a high-speed rail service in Europe operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Czech Railways (ČD). Branded as ''Railjet Express'' (RJX category) for the fastest services and as ''Railjet'' (RJ) for services with additional s ...

and

EuroCity EuroCity (EC) is an international Train categories in Europe, train category and brand for European inter-city rail, inter-city trains that cross international borders and meet criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. E ...

services bound for

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

and other destinations also use the route.

References

External links

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Wien-Südbahnhof
Photogallery and documentation about the Vienna Southern Railway Station (Wien-Südbahnhof) by Martin Frey and Philipp Graf Railway lines in Austria Cross-border railway lines in Austria Cross-border railway lines in Hungary {{Austria-transport-stub