Rail transport in Austria is mainly provided by

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

's national rail transport company, the

Austrian Federal Railways 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 ...

(, ÖBB), which also manages rail transport in Liechtenstein. The Austrian

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

network has a length of , of which are

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

. Most lines are in , while especially in the

Alpine region The main valleys of the Alps, orographically by drainage basin. Rhine basin (North Sea) High Rhine *Aare **Limmat ***Linth (Glarus) **** Lake Walen ***** Seeztal **** Klöntal **** Sernftal **Reuss ***Lake Lucerne ****Sarner Aa (Brünig Pass c ...

there are several

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...

lines and funiculars. Within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, Austria is among the leaders regarding the distance traveled by rail per inhabitant and year: in 2022. It was ranked fifth among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index. Austria is a member of the

International Union of Railways The International Union of Railways (, UIC) is an international rail transport industry body based in Paris. History The railways of Europe had originated during the nineteenth century as many separate concerns across numerous nations; this le ...

(UIC). The

UIC Country Code The UIC Country Code is a two digit-number identifying countries in which members of the International Union of Railways (UIC) are active. The UIC has issued numbering systems for rolling stock ( UIC wagon numbers) and stations that include the co ...

for Austria is 81.

Network

The Austrian network, aside from the principal rail system, also enfolds some

funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...

s and several

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

s mainly derived from part of disused lines. Some secondary lines are set up in

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

Standard gauge railways

The following is an alphabetical list of

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

railway lines in Austria: *

Arlberg railway The Arlberg Railway (), which connects the Austrian cities Innsbruck and Bludenz, is Austria's only ''east-west'' mountain railway. It is one of the highest standard gauge railways in Europe and the second highest in Austria, after the Brenner ...

Ausserfern Railway The Ausserfern Railway () is a cross-border railway line in the German state of Bavaria and the Austrian state of Tyrol (Bundesland), Tyrol. The single-tracked branch line starts from Kempten Central Station, Kempten in Germany, before crossing in ...

Bludenz–Schruns railway The Montafonerbahn (''Montafon Railway'', MBS) is a privately owned railway company that primarily operates services from Bregenz to Schruns, via Bludenz Bludenz (; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ''Bludaz'') is a town in the westernmost Austrian st ...

Brenner Railway The Brenner Railway (; ) is a major line connecting the Austrian and Italian railways from Innsbruck to Verona, climbing up the Wipptal ( German for "Wipp Valley"), passing over the Brenner Pass, descending down the Eisacktal ( German for " ...

Bruck an der Mur–Leoben railway The Bruck an der Mur–Leoben railway is a main line in Styria, Austria. It was opened on 1 September 1868 by the Austrian Southern Railway Company (''Südbahngesellschaft''). It is part of the core network of ÖBB Infra. The line is one of th ...

* Bürmoos–Ostermiething railway * Donauuferbahn (Vienna) *

Donauuferbahn (Wachau) The Donauuferbahn () is a railway line in Lower Austria. It runs from Krems an der Donau to Mauthausen, near St. Valentin. The line is no longer contiguous; in the middle between Weins and has been abandoned. Austrian Federal Railways (Ö ...

* Drava Valley Railway * Eastern Railway * Enns Valley Railway * Feldkirch–Buchs railway * Floridsdorfer Hochbahn * Franz-Josefs-Bahn * Gänserndorf–Marchegg railway line * Győr–Sopron–Ebenfurth railway * Innsbruck bypass *

Köflach railway line The Köflach railway line () is a standard gauge railway line in the province of Styria in Austria. It runs from a junction with the Southern Railway (Austria), Southern railway line at Graz Hauptbahnhof to Köflach. (GKB) owns and operates th ...

Koralm Railway The Koralm Railway () is an Austrian 127 km-long (79 mi)Johannes Fleckl-Ernst: ''Geodätische Herausforderungen beim Projekt „Koralmtunnel“''. In: ''Felsbau'', Heft 5/2010, S. 315–321, . Double track, double-track, Railway ele ...

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 ...

* Lower Inn Valley Railway * Marchegger Ostbahn * Mittenwald Railway * Neusiedler Seebahn * North railway line * Northwest railway line * Parndorf–Bratislava railway line * Pinzgauer Lokalbahn * Pyhrn railway line * Rosen Valley Railway * Rudolf Railway * Salzburg–Lamprechtshausen railway * Salzburg-Tyrol Railway * Salzkammergut railway line *

Schneeberg Railway The Schneeberg Railway () is a local railway line in Lower Austria running from Wiener Neustadt to the Schneeberg (Lower Austria), Hochschneeberg mountain. Location Between Wiener Neustadt and Puchberg am Schneeberg (the main section) it runs ...

* Semmering railway * Sopron–Kőszeg railway * Southern Railway * Spielfeld-Straß–Trieste railway * St. Margrethen–Lauterach line * Suburban line (Vienna) *

Tauern Railway The Tauern Railway () is an Austrian railway line between Schwarzach- Sankt Veit in the state of Salzburg and Spittal an der Drau in Carinthia. It is part of one of the most important north–south trunk routes (''Magistrale'') in Europe and als ...

* Verbindungsbahn (Vienna) * Vienna–Baden Railway * Vorarlberg Railway * Wels–Passau railway * Western Railway Due to the course of the

Austria–Germany border The border between the modern states of Austria and Germany () has a length of , or respectively. It is the longest international border of Austria and the tied longest border of Germany with another country (the other one being the border wit ...

and mountainous terrain, the shortest railway line between

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

(

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

) and

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

( Salzburg state) runs over German territory. This railway corridor, known as the ''

Deutsches Eck The Deutsches Eck (, "German Corner") is the name of a promontory in Koblenz, Germany, where the Moselle, Mosel river joins the Rhine. Named after a local commandry of the Teutonic Order, it became known for a monumental equestrian statue of Wil ...

'' (), consists of two railway lines, Kufstein–Rosenheim and Rosenheim–Salzburg, which are both located almost entirely in Germany. The Lower Inn Valley Railway and

represent an important north-south corridor for trains running between Germany and Italy via Austria. To shorten travel time, the long Brenner Base Tunnel is currently being built between Innsbruck and Franzensfeste (),

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

. Trains will run with a speed up to through this tunnel. It will be only slightly shorter than the world's longest railway tunnel, the

Gotthard Base Tunnel The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT; , , ) is a railway tunnel through the Alps in Switzerland. It opened in June 2016 and full service began the following December. With a route length of , it is the world's longest railway and deepest traffic tunn ...

in Switzerland. Another railway tunnel currently under construction is the long

Koralm Tunnel The Koralm Tunnel is a railway tunnel that is under construction in Austria under the Koralpe mountain range. It forms one section of the -long Koralm Railway which will link Graz with Klagenfurt. Once complete, the Koralm Tunnel shall be Austri ...

, which will shorten travel time between Klagenfurt and

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

Rail links to neighbouring countries

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 ...

– voltage change to 25 kV 50 Hz AC *

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

– same voltage 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC *

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 ...

– voltage change to 25 kV 50 Hz AC *

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

– voltage change to 3 kV DC *

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

– same voltage 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC *

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

– voltage change to 25 kV 50 Hz AC *

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

– voltage change to 3 kV DC *

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

– same voltage 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC, but different

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a Linkage (mechanical), mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a se ...

Narrow gauge railways

In Austria, many

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

s were constructed due to the difficult mountainous terrain. Many survive to this day as a

common carrier A common carrier in common law countries (corresponding to a public carrier in some civil law (legal system), civil law systems,Encyclopædia Britannica CD 2000 "Civil-law public carrier" from "carriage of goods" usually called simply a ''carrier ...

or a

Narrow-gauge links to adjacent countries

– gauge: ** The International Rhine Regulation Railway, a former industrial railway (now a

) along and across the Alpine Rhine

Funiculars

Operators

Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and WESTbahn are the main operators on Austria's railway network. In addition, the German

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

(DB) and the Czech

České dráhy České dráhy (English: ''Czech Railways''), often shortened to ČD, is the major Rail transport, railway operator in the Czech Republic providing regional and long-distance services. The company was established in January 1993, shortly after ...

(ČD) also operate passenger train services to destinations in Austria.

Austrian Federal Railways

Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) is the national railway company. It owns a ca. long network and operates domestic and international long-distance passenger trains (e.g.,

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 ...

, ''

Transalpin The ''Transalpin'' is a EuroCity express train linking Zürich Hauptbahnhof, Zürich (Switzerland) with Graz Hauptbahnhof, Graz (Austria) via Liechtenstein. Introduced in 2013, it is operated by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and the Swiss ...

''), most urban commuter trains, known as

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

(S), as well as

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 ...

(REX) and regional trains (R). ÖBB also runs

Intercity-Express Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE () and running under this Train categories in Europe, category) is a high-speed rail in Germany, high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland an ...

(ICE) trains to Germany using Class 4011 (ICE T)

tilting train A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train (or other vehicle) rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide about ...

s. In addition, ÖBB jointly operates the City Airport Train (CAT) to . ÖBB also runs its own brand of

night trains Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of su ...

to other European countries, branded

Nightjet Nightjet (stylised as nightjet) is a brand name given by the ÖBB, Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) to its overnight passenger train services. ''Nightjet'' operates in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Switze ...

(NJ). The company also owns and operates the Feldkirch–Buchs railway line, which links Austria and Switzerland via the

Principality of Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a doubly landlocked German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east and north and Switzerland in the west and south. Liechtenst ...

WESTbahn

WESTbahn operates

express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes few or no stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, providing faster service than local trains that stop at many or all of the stations along their ...

s over Austria's Western Railway line. It includes both domestic and international passenger services.

Other companies

Achenseebahn The Achensee Railway (, ) is a long metre gauge railway running between Jenbach () and Seespitz () on Lake Achen in Tyrol (Austria). Within its length it rises some in height, with the steeper sections using the Riggenbach rack system. It is ...

runs

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

hauled trains on the

line between and

Achensee Lake Achen () is a lake in Austria, north of Jenbach in Tyrol. Lake Achen is also called "Fjord of the Alps" and "Tyrolean Sea". The largest lake within the federal state, its maximum depth is . Together with the Achen Valley, it parts ...

* (GKB) runs the

between Graz Hauptbahnhof and

Köflach Köflach is a small city in the district of Voitsberg (district), Voitsberg in the Austrian state of Styria, at the foot of the Stubalpe mountain. The town has a federal stud in the village of Piber that supplies the Lipizzaner horses to the famous ...

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

* Montafonerbahn operates a line between and in the Montafon Valley,

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

* NÖVOG runs the

gauge Gauge ( ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, especia ...

Mariazell Railway between St. Pölten Hauptbahnhof and

Mariazell Mariazell (; Central Bavarian: ''Mariazöö'') is an Austrian city in the southeastern state of Styria. Well known for being a hub of winter sports and a pilgrimage destination, it is located north of Graz. It is picturesquely situated in the v ...

Pöstlingbergbahn The Pöstlingbergbahn () is a Narrow gauge, narrow-gauge electric railway, or "mountain tramway", in Linz, Austria. It connects the main square in the centre of Linz with the district of Pöstlingberg, located at the top of a hill (or small mou ...

operates

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

s on the gauge line from the main square () in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

to Pöstlingberg * Raaberbahn, or (GYSEV), operates the Győr–Sopron–Ebenfurth railway (

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

–

Ebenfurth Ebenfurth () is a municipality in the district of Wiener Neustadt-Land 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. Ma ...

) and the Neusiedler Seebahn (

Neusiedl am See Neusiedl am See (; ; ; ; ) is a town in Burgenland, Austria, and administrative center of the district of Neusiedl am See. Neusiedl am See is located on the northern shore of Lake Neusiedl. Geography Neusiedl am See is located in eastern Au ...

–

Fertőszentmiklós Fertőszentmiklós is a small town in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, 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 nor ...

) across the Austria–Hungary border, as well as other lines in Hungary * Schafbergbahn, a

between St. Wolfgang (

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

) and Schafberg

), is operated by the ''SchafbergBahn und Wolfgangsee Schifffahrt'' (SLB) * operates the Salzburg–Lamprechtshausen railway ( Salzburg Hauptbahnhof–

Lamprechtshausen Lamprechtshausen (Central Bavarian: ‘’Låmbéhausen’’) is a municipality in the district of Salzburg-Umgebung in the state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg in Austria. Geography Lamprechtshausen lies in the north of the district of Salzburg-U ...

) and Bürmoos–Ostermiething railway (

Bürmoos Bürmoos is a municipality in the district of Salzburg-Umgebung in the state of Salzburg in Austria. History Bürmoos was founded in 1967, making it the most recently created municipality in the state, by combining the outskirts of the neighbour ...

– Ostermiething) and

Pinzgauer Lokalbahn from

Zell am See Zell am See is the administrative capital of the Zell am See District in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. Located in the Kitzbühel Alps, the town is an important tourist destination due to its Ski resort, ski resorts and shorel ...

to Krimml. * Schneebergbahn, a

between Puchberg and Schneeberg in

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 ...

, is operated by ''Niederösterreichische Schneebergbahn GmbH'' () * Wiener Lokalbahnen operates the '' Badner Bahn'' in the Greater Vienna area, between Vienna Opera and * Zillertalbahn runs a

line in the Ziller Valley (

) between and

Mayrhofen Mayrhofen is a town in the Zillertal (Ziller river valley) in the Austrian state of Tirol, Austria, Tyrol. It is located approximately an hour from the Tyrolean capital city of Innsbruck. Population Tourism The town offers a variety of summer an ...

Freight

Cargo trains are operated by Rail Cargo Austria (RCA).

Rolling stock

Train categories

Urban railways

Urban railway services are known as

(S) and

U-Bahn Rapid transit in Germany consists of four systems and 14 systems. The , commonly understood to stand for ('underground railway'), are conventional rapid transit systems that run mostly underground, while the or ('city rapid railway') are c ...

(U). Regional trains are called '' Regionalzug'' (R) in Austria. *

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. ...

counts a system of ''

'', ''

'', and a large tramway network (also see

Transport in Vienna Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelines, ...

). *

counts a regional ''S-Bahn'', an extended tramway network and a

. *

counts a regional ''S-Bahn'' and a tramway network including the ''

''. *

counts a regional ''S-Bahn'' (with some services to

) and a

. *

counts a regional ''S-Bahn'', with some services to Germany and

, a tramway network (including the ''

Stubaitalbahn The Stubaitalbahn (Stubai Valley Railway) is an long narrow gauge interurban tram from Innsbruck to Fulpmes in Tyrol, Austria. In the city of Innsbruck, it uses the local tramway tracks Tramway track is used on tramways or light rail o ...

'') and a

. * Klagenfurt counts a regional ''S-Bahn''. *The federal state of

counts a regional ''S-Bahn'', with services to Germany,

and

. Some services are also part of the

Bodensee S-Bahn Bodensee S-Bahn is an international marketing effort grouping various regional rail services (S-Bahn, R/RB, RE, RE/REX) around Lake Constance () in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Cross-border rail and bus services along with Lake Constance ...

. *The small town of

Gmunden Gmunden () is a town in Upper Austria, in the district of Gmunden (district), Gmunden. It has 13,204 inhabitants (estimates 2016 ). Geography Gmunden covers an area of and has a median elevation of . It is situated next to the lake Traunsee on t ...

counts a tramway line, which since 2018 is linked to the

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

Vorchdorf Vorchdorf is a market town in the district of Gmunden in Upper Austria, Austria, as well as the name of the municipal area (" Gemeinde") that the town and others occupy. As of the 2005 census, the town of Vorchdorf had a population of 7,287 inhabi ...

. *The village of Serfaus in

, with the '' U-Bahn Serfaus'', is sometimes considered as ''the smallest town with a subway in the world''.

High-speed rail

Heritage railways and trains

History

The history of Austrian rail transport starts with the

Reisszug The Reisszug (also spelt Reißzug or Reiszug) is a private cable railway providing goods access to the Hohensalzburg Castle at Salzburg in Austria. It is notable for its extreme age, as it is believed to date back to 1460. A wall for its protec ...

, a private, horse-drawn funicular serving

Hohensalzburg Fortress Hohensalzburg Fortress () is a large medieval fortress in the city of Salzburg, Austria. It sits atop the Festungsberg mountain at an altitude of 506 m. It was erected at the behest of the prince-archbishops of Salzburg. The fortress is long a ...

. 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

. In the 19th century, after building of several horse tramways, the '' Nordbahn'' line

–

Břeclav Břeclav (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 25,000 inhabitants. Located at the Czech-Austrian state border and near the Czech–Slovak state border, it is an important railway hub. Administrative divis ...

opened in 1837. The

Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways The Imperial-Royal State Railways () abbr. ''kkStB'') or Imperial-Royal Austrian State Railways (''k.k. österreichische Staatsbahnen'',The name incorporating "Austrian" appears, for example, in the 1907 official state handbook (''Staatshandbuch'' ...

''(Kaiserlich-königliche österreichische Staatsbahnen, kkStB)'', a company serving the Austrian side of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, was created in 1884 and in 1923, some years after the dissolution of the empire, the national company BBÖ ''(Bundesbahnen Österreich)'' was founded. Following the ''

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

'' of Austria to National-socialist Germany in 1938, the BBÖ were taken over by the ''

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' (), also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the Weimar Republic, German national Rail transport, railway system created after th ...

''. After the end of World War II, the Austrian federal railways were re-installed in 1945, soon under the name of ''

Österreichische Bundesbahnen 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 ...

'' (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.

Notes and references

External links

ÖBB official websiteRailway network map of AustriaAustrian rail transport gallery
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rail Transport In Austria

Network

Standard gauge railways

Rail links to neighbouring countries

Narrow gauge railways

Narrow-gauge links to adjacent countries

Funiculars

Operators

Austrian Federal Railways

WESTbahn

Other companies

Freight

Rolling stock

Train categories

Urban railways

High-speed rail

Heritage railways and trains

History

See also

Notes and references

External links