| Austria | |
| Nationalrailway: | Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) |
| Majoroperators: | ÖBB WESTbahn |
| Passkm: | (2022) |
| Length: | 6123km (3,805miles) |
| Ellength: | 3523km (2,189miles) |
| Hsgauge: | standard gauge |
| El1: | 15 kV 16,7 Hz |
| El1length: | Main network |
Rail transport in Austria is mainly provided by Austria's national rail transport company, the Austrian Federal Railways (de|Österreichische Bundesbahnen, ÖBB), which also manages rail transport in Liechtenstein. The Austrian railway network has a length of, of which are electrified. Most lines are in, while especially in the Alpine region there are several narrow-gauge railway lines and funiculars.
Within the European Union, Austria is among the leaders regarding the distance traveled by rail per inhabitant and year: in 2022.[1] It was ranked fifth among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index.[2]
Austria is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Austria is 81.
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.
The following is an alphabetical list of standard gauge railway lines in Austria:
Due to the course of the Austria–Germany border and mountainous terrain, the shortest railway line between Innsbruck (Tyrol) and Salzburg (Salzburg state) runs over German territory. This railway corridor, known as the Deutsches Eck, consists of two railway lines, Kufstein–Rosenheim and Rosenheim–Salzburg, which are both located almost entirely in Germany.
The Lower Inn Valley Railway and Brenner Railway 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 (Italian: Fortezza), South Tyrol. 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 in Switzerland.
Another railway tunnel currently under construction is the long Koralm Tunnel, which will shorten travel time between Klagenfurt and Graz.
See main article: Narrow gauge railways in Austria. In Austria, many narrow gauge railways were constructed due to the difficult mountainous terrain. Many survive to this day as a common carrier or a heritage railway.
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 passenger train services to destinations in Austria.
See main article: Austrian Federal Railways. Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) is the national railway company. It owns a ca. long network[3] and operates domestic and international long-distance passenger trains (e.g., RailJet, Transalpin), most urban commuter trains, known as S-Bahn (S), as well as Regional-Express (REX) and regional trains (R). ÖBB also runs Intercity-Express (ICE) trains to Germany using Class 4011 (ICE T) tilting trains. In addition, ÖBB jointly operates the City Airport Train (CAT) to . ÖBB also runs its own brand of night trains to other European countries, branded Nightjet (NJ). The company also owns and operates the Feldkirch–Buchs railway line, which links Austria and Switzerland via the Principality of Liechtenstein.
See main article: WESTbahn. WESTbahn operates express trains over Austria's Western Railway line. It includes both domestic and international passenger services.
See main article: Rail Cargo Austria. Cargo trains are operated by Rail Cargo Austria (RCA).
See also: List of town tramway systems in Austria. Urban railway services are known as S-Bahn (S) and U-Bahn (U). Regional trains are called Regionalzug (R) in Austria.
See main article: High-speed rail in Austria.
See also: Austrian Society for Railway History.
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.[8] [9]
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[10] 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.[11]
