Vienna S-Bahn

The Vienna S-Bahn is a suburban metro railway 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 ÖBB (federal railways), and consists of many branch lines. "S-Bahn" is short for "Schnellbahn", which means "fast train".

Network

The Vienna S-Bahn consists of a multitude of branch lines, most of which jointly transverse the city proper through a segment called the "Stammstrecke" ("main line"). While many of the individual lines run at half-hourly or hourly intervals, jointly they are able to offer frequencies of 15 minutes or less along the "Stammstrecke". Two lines, the S45 and S80, operate entirely within Vienna's boundaries.

History

Planning for an S-Bahn network for Vienna was started in 1954, as a part of reconstruction of the Austrian Federal 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.

The "S-Bahn-Stammstrecke" Wien Meidling - Wien Floridsdorf

The "Stammstrecke" ("Main Line") 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 Meidling (Philadelphiabrücke)
* Wien Matzleinsdorfer Platz
* Wien Südtiroler Platz
* Wien Südbahnhof Tracks 21/22
* Wien Rennweg
* Wien Mitte (Landstraße)
* Wien Praterstern
* Wien Traisengasse
* Wien Handelskai
* Wien Floridsdorf

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 Wagner'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 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. The line was extended from Heiligenstadt to "Handelskai" in 1996, to allow for an easy connection to line "U6" of the Vienna U-Bahn".

Gallery

External links

* [http://schnellbahn-wien.at Schnellbahn Wien information site]