Vienna S-Bahn
Encyclopedia
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
railway network in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. As opposed to the city-run urban metro network, the Vienna U-Bahn
Vienna U-Bahn
The Vienna U-Bahn is a rapid transit system consisting of five lines. It is the backbone of one of the best performing public transport systems worldwide according to UITP in June 2009. More than 1.3 million passengers use the Vienna U-Bahn every day...
, it extends beyond the borders of the city, is operated by the ÖBB
ÖBB
The Austrian Federal Railways is the national railway system of Austria, and the administrators of Liechtenstein's railways...
(federal railways), and consists of many branch line
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
s. S-Bahn is short for Schnellbahn, which means "fast train".
Network
The Vienna S-Bahn consists of a multitude of branch lines extending beyond the city boundary, most of which converge at a central route segment called the Stammstrecke ("core route"). While many of the individual lines run at half-hourly or hourly intervals, they are able to offer combined frequencies of only a few minutes or less along the Stammstrecke. Two lines, the S45 and S80, operate entirely within Vienna's boundaries.Because of the enormous number of possible combinations of northbound and southbound branch lines, the lines along the Stammstrecke are named depending on their branch line on which they leave the Stammstrecke; thus, the same line northbound and southbound has different names. The table is as follows:
| Line name | Route |
|---|---|
| S1 | Stammstrecke – North railway |
| S2 | Stammstrecke – Laaer Ostbahn |
| S3 | Stammstrecke – Austrian Northwest Railway |
| S5 | Stammstrecke – Austrian Northwest Railway (unlike line S3, line S5 does not stop at Matzleinsdorfer Platz station) |
| S6 | Stammstrecke – Pottendorfer Linie |
| S7 | Stammstrecke – Vienna International Airport Vienna International Airport Vienna International Airport , located in Schwechat and southeast of central Vienna, is the busiest and biggest airport in Austria. It is often referred to as Schwechat, the name of the county it is in. The airport is capable of handling wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A340... – Wolfsthal Wolfsthal Wolfsthal is a town in the district of Bruck an der Leitha in Lower Austria in Austria. It along with neighboring Berg were part of the municipality of Wolfsthal-Berg until 1996. It is the end of the line for S7 Vienna S-Bahn trains.- Geography :... |
| S8 | Stammstrecke – East railway East railway (Austria) The Eastern Railway is a two-track, electrified railway line that runs from Vienna towards Hungary. The name Eastern Railway refers to several branches of the line as well. At present the western terminus of the railway line in Vienna, Wien Südbahnhof, is being replaced by the new Hauptbahnhof... |
| S9 | Stammstrecke – South railway |
| S15 | Stammstrecke – Verbindungsbahn – West railway |
There are also lines that do not go along the Stammstrecke:
| Line name | Route |
|---|---|
| S40 | Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof – Franz Joseph Railway |
| S45 | Hütteldorf Hütteldorf Hütteldorf is a part of Vienna's 14th district, Penzing. It is located in the west of Vienna, but roughly in the geographical center of the district, stretching roughly from Deutschordenstraße in the east to Wolf in der Au in the west, where Hütteldorf borders Hadersdorf-Weidlingau.Hütteldorf is... – Vorortelinie – Donauuferbahn – Handelskai |
| S50 | Wien Westbahnhof – West railway |
| S60 | Wien Südbahnhof – East railway East railway (Austria) The Eastern Railway is a two-track, electrified railway line that runs from Vienna towards Hungary. The name Eastern Railway refers to several branches of the line as well. At present the western terminus of the railway line in Vienna, Wien Südbahnhof, is being replaced by the new Hauptbahnhof... |
| S80 | Wien Südbahnhof – Marchegger Ostbahn – Hausfeldstraße |
No lines except for S45 and S80 always have the same route and final station; most have trains that go further and ones that don't.
History
Planning for an S-BahnS-Bahn
S-Bahn refers to an often combined city center and suburban railway system metro in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark...
network for Vienna was started in 1954, as a part of reconstruction of the Austrian Federal Railways
ÖBB
The Austrian Federal Railways is the national railway system of Austria, and the administrators of Liechtenstein's railways...
. Concrete plans were completed by 1955, but financing was not secured until 1958. The collapse of the investment budget of the ÖBB led to a partial stop of construction in 1960, necessitating a postponing of the grand opening of the network by a little over a year.
The S-Bahn era in Austria began on January 17, 1962. After a day of testing the network with empty trains, passenger transport began at midnight the following day.
From 1962 until 2005, the term S-Bahn was rarely used, the full term Schnellbahn being preferred. Starting with the 2005/2006 timetable, however, S-Bahn has begun to appear in timetables and loudspeaker announcements. Announcements in Wiener Lokalbahn trains still use the Term Schnellbahn as of 2009.
The S-Bahn-Stammstrecke Wien Meidling - Wien Floridsdorf
The Stammstrecke ("core route") of the Vienna S-Bahn has a length of 13,3 km (8.3 mi).From the south to the north, the following stations are served:
- Wien MeidlingWien Meidling railway stationWien Meidling is one of Vienna's main railway stations located at the Philadelphiabrücke. When the Südbahnhof was demolished in December 2009 to build Vienna's new Hauptbahnhof , Wien Meidling had to take over the functions of the Südbahnhof and is now frequented by 55,000 people daily and with...
(Philadelphiabrücke) - Wien Matzleinsdorfer Platz
- Wien Südtiroler Platz
- Wien Südbahnhof Tracks 21/22
- Wien Rennweg
- Wien Mitte (Landstraße)
- Wien Praterstern
- Wien Traisengasse
- Wien Handelskai
- Wien FloridsdorfFloridsdorfFloridsdorf is the 21st district of Vienna, Austria .Floridsdorf is located in the northern part of Vienna.The District Office and the centre of Floridsdorf are located round Am Spitz, at the junction of Prager Straße and Brünner Straße .Since 2004, Floridsdorf has had its own tower: the...
All lines stop at all Stammstrecke stations except for S5 and S6 which do not stop at Matzleinsdorfer Platz.
The Wiener Vorortelinie
The most highly frequented single line in Vienna is the S45 Wiener Vorortelinie, which translates to "Vienna Suburban Line". The localities along this line all lie within the city proper, although they were independent until the late nineteenth century, when they were annexed, six years before this line opened. Originally part of Otto WagnerOtto Wagner
Otto Koloman Wagner was an Austrian architect and urban planner, known for his lasting impact on the appearance of his home town Vienna, to which he contributed many landmarks.-Life:...
's federally operated Stadtbahn, this line was not taken over by the city with the rest of the network in 1925. The line was subsequently closed in 1932. Although still used for freight traffic for several decades afterwards, the line would not see passenger traffic until 1987, when it was reopened as part of the S-Bahn after extensive renovation.
Many of the original Otto Wagner stations are still standing and still in use. However, two of the present stations, Breitensee and Oberdöbling
Oberdöbling
Oberdöbling was an independent municipality until 1892 and is today a part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna. It is also one of the 89 Katastralgemeinden.- Geography :...
were demolished after the original line's closure and rebuilt in a different style by architects Alois Machatschek and Wilfried Schermann. One new station, Krottenbachstraße was added to the refurbished line, and two of the original line's stations, Baumgarten and Unterdöbling, which had also been demolished, were not replaced. Rebuilding Unterdöbling station is proposed for the near future, as is extending the line south to the Reichsbrücke
Reichsbrücke
The Reichsbrücke is Vienna's most famous bridge, linking Mexicoplatz in Leopoldstadt with the Donauinsel in Donaustadt on the other side of the Danube. It lies on an important axis leading from the city centre at Stephansplatz, through Praterstern, and on to Kagran in the north-east...
. The line was extended from Heiligenstadt
Heiligenstadt
Heiligenstadt may refer to several places:*Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Thuringia, Germany*Heiligenstadt i.OFr. , Bamberg , Bavaria, Germany*Heiligenstadt, Vienna, Austria*Heiligenstadt, part of Neuhaus in Kärnten, Carinthia, Austria...
to Handelskai in 1996, to allow for an easy connection to line U6 of the Vienna U-Bahn
Vienna U-Bahn
The Vienna U-Bahn is a rapid transit system consisting of five lines. It is the backbone of one of the best performing public transport systems worldwide according to UITP in June 2009. More than 1.3 million passengers use the Vienna U-Bahn every day...
.