Southern Railway (Austria)

The Southern Railway (German: Südbahn) is a railway in Austria that runs from Vienna to Graz and the border with Slovenia at Spielfeld via Semmering and Bruck an der Mur. Along with the Spielfeld-Straß–Trieste railway (lying largely in Slovenia), it forms part of the Austrian Southern Railway that connected Vienna with Trieste, the main seaport of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, via Ljubljana. A main obstacle in its construction was getting over the Semmering Pass over the Northern Limestone Alps. The twin-track, electrified section that runs through the current territory of Austria is owned and operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and is one of the major lines in the country.

Southern Railway (Austria)
Overview
Native nameSüdbahn (Österreich)
StatusOperational
OwnerAustrian Federal Railways
Line number105 01
LocaleVienna
Lower Austria
Styria
Termini
Stations82
Service
TypeHeavy rail, Passenger/Freight rail
Intercity rail, Regional rail, Commuter rail
Route number500 (Wien Hbf – Mürzzuschlag)

501 (Wien Hbf – Graz)
502 (Graz – Maribor/Bad Radkersdburg)
510 (Wien Hbf – Payerbach-Reichenau)
524 (Wien Meidling – Deutschkreutz)
600 (Wien Hbf – Tarvisio)

900 (Wien S-Bahn)
Operator(s)Austrian Federal Railways
History
OpenedStages between 1841–1848
Technical
Line length259.7 km (161.4 mi)
Number of tracksDouble track
• Wien Hbf – Werndorf, Lebring – Leibnitz
Single track
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius171 m
Electrification15 kV 16.7 Hz AC
Operating speed160 km/h (99 mph)
Maximum incline2.81 %
Route map

km
99.947
0.000
Wien Hauptbahnhof
208 m
right/left running change
Wien Matzleinsdorfer Platz
209 m
2.442
Wien Matzleinsdorf
3.437
Wien Meidling
210 m
Vienna Connecting Railway (new route) to Wien Penzing
4.475
Wien Matzleinsdorf-Wienerbergbrücke
5.220
Wien Hetzendorf
214 m
7.756
Wien Liesing Nord
8.240
Wien Atzgersdorf
221 m
8.607
Wien Liesing Frachtenbahnhof
9.611
Wien Liesing
225 m
Vienna / Lower Austria state border
10.998
Perchtoldsdorf
12.946
Brunn-Maria Enzersdorf
219 m
15.209
Mödling
213 m
19.304
Guntramsdorf-Thallern
(formerly Guntramsdorf a.d. Südbahn)
215 m
19.903
Mödling 2 crossover
20.832
Gumpoldskirchen
218 m
22.134
Gumpoldskirchen Tunnel (Busserltunnel) (165 m)
24.140
Pfaffstätten, Baden freight yard
238 m
26.004
Baden b. Wien
241 m
26.737
Baden-Frachtenbahnhof 1 crossover
30.340
Bad Vöslau
250 m
32.434
Kottingbrunn
253 m
33.929
Leobersdorf
259 m
Ebenfurth–Wittmannsdorf local railway
38.382
Sollenau
274 m
39.682
Felixdorf
277 m
Felixdorf–Tattendorf local railway to Blumau-Neurißhof
Felixdorf–Feuerwerksanstalt military railway[note 1]
42.612
Theresienfeld
282 m
43.118
Felixdorf 2 crossover
45.540
Wiener Neustadt Nord
275 m
47.000
Wiener Neustadt Hbf-track group 200
48.118
Wiener Neustadt Hbf
268 m
former terminus of Schneeberg Railway (now station yard)
Wiener Neustadt yard exit tracks
50.700
Wiener Neustadt Hbf-track group 700
51.367
Wiener Neustadt yard entrance tracks
56.952
Wiener Neustadt 2 crossover
St. Egyden
(station until June 2012)
326 m
62.574
Neunkirchen N.Ö.
369 m
64.600
Rohrbach bei Ternitz
abandoned on 15 Oct 1945
67.051
Ternitz
393 m
69.892
Pottschach
(former station)
398 m
73.149
GIG Karasek siding
74.902
Gloggnitz
439 m
Semmering Base Tunnel to Mürzzuschlag
(under construction)
77.694
Schlöglmühl
457 m
77.831
substation siding
81.961
Payerbach-Reichenau
494 m
84.798
Küb
543 m
88.222
Eichberg
608 m
92.284
Klamm-Schottwien
699 m
97.574
Breitenstein
794 m
102.098
Wolfsbergkogel
883 m
103.412
Semmering
894 m
old and new Semmering Tunnel
(1434 and 1512 m, peak at 898 m)
Lower Austria
000Styria
state border
bridge over former Feistritzwald Railway
107.685
Steinhaus
836 m
110.486
Spital am Semmering
789 m
Semmering Base Tunnel from Gloggnitz
(under construction)
116.100
Mürzzuschlag freight yard
116.727
Mürzzuschlag
681 m
118.373
Böhler siding
120.613
Hönigsberg
658 m
123.618
Langenwang
Halt and loading place
124.000
Mürzzuschlag 2 crossover
125.045
125.100
chainage change (−55 m)
128.462
Krieglach
612 m
132.709
Mitterdorf-Veitsch
592 m
135.070
Wartberg im Mürztal
582 m
140.098
Kindberg
566 m
144.216
Allerheiligen-Mürzhofen
548 m
146.694
Marein-St. Lorenzen
532 m
148.503
siding
150.582
Kapfenberg Fachhochschule
518 m
150.583
Böhler siding
153.645
Kapfenberg
509 m
156.629
Bruck an der Mur-Frachtenbahnhof
493 m
157.858
Bruck an der Mur
489 m
159.740
Bruck an der Mur-Übelstein
163.392
Stausee
closed on 28.05.1967
167.581
Pernegg
474 m
171.011
Mixnitz-Bärenschützklamm
466 m
179.231
Bauernfeind (Mondi) paper factory siding
183.022
Frohnleiten
427 m
track laying
188.022
Badl-Semriach
closed on 21.03.1966
Kugelstein tunnel (400 m)
190.814
Peggau-Deutschfeistritz
402 m
193.452
approach road to Pyhrn Autobahn
194.615
Stübing
195.428
195.600
chainage change (−172 m)
200.710
Gratwein-Gratkorn
381 m
200.024
200.200
chainage change (−176 m)
202.755
Judendorf-Straßengel
377 m
203.532
Neuber siding
207.191
Gösting
closed in 30.05.1965
209.485
Graz railway yard
368 m
210.700
Graz yard freight
368 m
211.355
Graz Hbf
364 m
211.549
Marienhütte siding
212.937
Graz Hart loading point
213.070
Graz Don Bosco
213.323
Koralm Railway to Klagenfurt (under construction)
216.158
Graz Puntigam
347 m
218.405
Feldkirchen-Seiersberg
339 m
220.123
Graz Airport-Feldkirchen
332 m
220.654
Abtissendorf
closed in 1996
331 m
224.203
Kalsdorf
326 m
225.000
Kalsdorf-Süd
to Kalsdorf Terminal, Graz Süd CCT
229.525
Werndorf
301 m
connecting line to Koralm Railway
230.715
230.684
chainage change (+31 m)
231.670
Steweag-Steg siding
234.962
Wildon
298 m
238.442
Lebring
291 m
240.750
Gralla
288 m
244.335
Kaindorf a. d. Sulm
281 m
245.177
Wildon 3 crossing
246.756
Leibnitz
275 m
249.454
Wagna
closed in 1945
251.750
Retznei
271 m
253.948
Ehrenhausen
260 m
257.915
Spielfeld-Straß
263 m
260.127
Austria
Slovenia
national border
km
Source: Austrian railway atlas[2]

History

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Südbahn train near Baden, 1847
 
Südbahn poster, 1898
 
Share of the Südbahn-Gesellschaft, issued May 1883
 
Wien Südbahnhof, built in 1875
  • 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain. Dissolution of Austria-Hungary after World War I. Austria lost all the Southern Railway south of the station at Spielfeld, Styria, which became a border station to Šentilj in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1929, present-day Slovenia).
  • 1923: The Austrian Federal Railways took over.
  • 1945 and after: During the Cold War trade between Vienna and Trieste was mainly run through Tarvisio.
  • 1963: By now the tracks from Vienna through Tarvisio to Trieste had been electrified.
  • 1966: By now the tracks from Vienna to Graz and Yugoslavia had been electrified.
  • 2007: Border controls were abolished with Slovenia's accession to the Schengen Area.
  • 12 September 2007: A very high value collectors' coin (the Austrian Southern Railways Vienna-Triest commemorative coin) was minted: its obverse shows the locomotive "Steinbrück" with one of the typical viaducts of the Semmering Railway in the background. The engine “Steinbrück” can be seen today in the Technical Museum in Vienna. It is the oldest existing locomotive built in Austria; it was built in 1848 for the Southern Railway.

Upgrading

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The railway is currently being upgraded with the Semmering Base Tunnel scheduled to be opened in 2030 as well as the new Koralm Railway branch-off to Klagenfurt, Carinthia scheduled to fully open in 2025, in total cutting travel time between Graz and Klagenfurt to 45 minutes from 3 hours and travel time between Vienna and Klagenfurt down to 2 hours and 40 minutes. The section Meidling-Mödling is being upgraded to quadruple-track railway to facilitate more trains.[3]

The section from Graz to the Slovenian border, which had been downgraded to a single track railway in the 1950s, is currently again enlarged to double track.

Train service

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There are ÖBB Railjet high-speed trains operating between Vienna and Graz.

Within the Vienna metropolitan region, the sections between new Vienna Central Station, Wien Meidling, Mödling, Leobersdorf and Wiener Neustadt Hauptbahnhof are part of the suburban Vienna S-Bahn railway network.

Notes

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  1. ^ Operating from 1916 until about 1918, dismantled in 1923[1]

References

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  1. ^ Friedrich, Paul; Slezak, Josef Otto (1990). Kanal, Nostalgie, Eisenbahn (in German). Vienna: Verlag Slezak. pp. 134, 136–137, 139. ISBN 3-85416-153-0., which refers to: Witz, Johann (1974). "Zwischen Wöllersdorf und Blumau. Die Militärschleppbahnen auf dem Steinfeld". Eisenbahn (in German) (12): 181–184. ISSN 0013-2756. and Witz, Johann (1975). "Zwischen Wöllersdorf und Blumau. Die Militärschleppbahnen auf dem Steinfeld". Eisenbahn (in German) (1–2): 4–6. ISSN 0013-2756. (section: Strecke Wöllersdorf↔Mittel)
  2. ^ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland [Austrian railway atlas]. Schweers + Wall. 2010. pp. 18–24, 26–31, 98, 99, 106. ISBN 978-3-89494-138-3.
  3. ^ "Südstrecke Wien–Villach". ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG (in German). Retrieved 2024-03-20.
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