The Franz-Josefs-Bahn () is a standard gauge railway line in the Austrian state of

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

. It 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. ...

, the Austrian capital, to the border with the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

at Gmünd. The line was originally built by the

Emperor Franz Joseph Railway The Emperor Franz Joseph Railway (German: ''Kaiser-Franz-Josephs-Bahn'', KFJB) was an Austrian private railway company, named after Emperor Franz Joseph I. It operated railway lines from the Austrian capital Vienna to Prague and Eger (Cheb) in B ...

and is today owned and operated by Austrian Federal Railways (

ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways ( , formally or () and formerly the or ''BBÖ'' ), now commonly known as ÖBB (), is the national railway company of Austria, and the administrator of Liechtenstein's railways. The ÖBB group i ...

Route

The southern terminus of the line is at

Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof (translated as Vienna Franz Joseph Station, abbreviated as Wien FJB) is a train station in the Alsergrund district of Vienna, Austria. It serves as the southern terminus of the Franz-Josefs-Bahn. History A first provi ...

, in the

Alsergrund Alsergrund (; ) is the ninth district of Vienna, Austria (). It is located just north of the first, central district, Innere Stadt. Alsergrund was incorporated in 1862, with seven suburbs. As a central district, the area is densely populated. Accor ...

district of

. From there, the line follows the west bank of the

Donaukanal The Donaukanal (, ''Danube Canal'') is a former arm of the river Danube, now regulated as a water channel (since 1598), within the city of Vienna, Austria. It is long and, unlike the Danube itself, it borders Vienna's city centre, Innere St ...

to and a junction with the Suburban line and the Donauuferbahn. From there, the line follows the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

river, finally crossing it at

Tulln an der Donau Tulln an der Donau () is a historic town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, the administrative seat of Tulln District. Because of its abundance of parks and gardens, Tulln is often referred to as ''Blumenstadt'' ("City of Flowers"), and "The ...

. At Tulln, it has a junction with the . From Tulln, the line runs west-northwest towards Gmünd on the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

border. At Gmünd, the line crosses the Lužnice river and continues to

České Velenice České Velenice (, , 1938–1945: ''Gmünd III'') is a town in Jindřichův Hradec District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,700 inhabitants. It lies on the border with Austria and is adjacent to the town of Gmü ...

, where it splits into the and .

Operations

The Franz-Josefs-Bahn hosts primarily

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 ...

and regional traffic. The S40 operates at hourly intervals between Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof and , leaving the Franz-Josefs-Bahn at . Regional trains operate every hour to and every two hours to . Direct service between Vienna and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

over the route, defunct since 1992, resumed in December 2022 as the ''Silva Nortica'' ().

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 ...

trains operate hourly to , crossing the Danube at Tulln and leaving the Franz-Josefs-Bahn at .

References

External links

* {{commons category-inline Railway lines in Austria 15 kV AC railway electrification