The Austrian Federal Railways, now commonly known as ÖBB, is the national railway company of Austria, and the administrator of Liechtenstein's railways. The ÖBB group is owned entirely by the Republic of Austria, and is divided into several separate businesses that manage the infrastructure and operate passenger and freight services.
The Brenner Base Tunnel is a 55-kilometre-long (34 mi) railway tunnel under construction through the base of the Eastern Alps beneath the Brenner Pass. Once completed, the Brenner Base Tunnel will rank as either the second or third longest railway tunnel in the world, depending on the definition employed. It will be surpassed in length only by the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland and, depending on the relative completion dates of these projects, the Mont d'Ambin Base Tunnel between France and Italy. When combined with the Inntal Tunnel, which forms part of the existing Innsbruck bypass, the Brenner Base Tunnel will reach a length of 64 kilometres (40 mi), making it the longest underground railway connection in the world.
Rail transport in Austria is mainly provided by Austria's national rail transport company, the Austrian Federal Railways, which also manages rail transport in Liechtenstein. The Austrian railway network has a length of 6,123 km (3,805 mi), 3,523 km (2,189 mi) of which are electrified. Most lines are in 1,435 mmstandard gauge, while especially in the Alpine region there are several narrow-gauge railway lines and funiculars.
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. The 136.7 km line is a highly problematic mountain railway, in part because it is threatened by avalanches, mudslides, rockfalls and floods. It is operated by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and frequented by international trains, including the Orient Express.
The South Harz Railway is a railway line through the German states of Lower Saxony and Thuringia. It runs from Northeim to Nordhausen, via Herzberg am Harz, Bad Lauterberg-Barbis, Bad Sachsa, Walkenried and Ellrich. The line is 69 kilometres (43 mi) long.
The Bavarian Maximilian Railway was as an east–west line built between the Bavarian border with Württemberg at Neu-Ulm in the west via Augsburg, Munich and Rosenheim to the Austrian border at Kufstein and Salzburg in the east as part of the Royal Bavarian State Railways. The Munich–Augsburg section of the line had already been built by the Munich-Augsburg Railway Company and opened in 1840. The line was named after the reigning King of Bavaria from 1848 to 1864 Maximilian II.
Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in Innsbruck, the capital city of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol. Opened in 1853, the station is a major hub for western and central Austria. In 2019, it was the 8th-busiest station in the country, and the 2nd-busiest outside of Vienna after only Linz Hauptbahnhof, with 315 train movements and 38,500 passengers daily.
The Brenner Railway is a major line connecting the Austrian and Italian railways from Innsbruck to Verona, climbing up the Wipptal, passing over the Brenner Pass, descending down the Eisacktal to Bolzano/Bozen, then further down the Adige Valley to Rovereto/Rofreit, and along the section of the Adige Valley, called in Italian the "Vallagarina", to Verona. This railway line is part of the Line 1 of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). It is considered a "fundamental" line by the state railways Ferrovie dello Stato (FS).
The Berlin–Palermo railway axis is project No. 1 of the Trans-European high-speed rail network (TEN-R), which involves the creation of a 2,200-kilometre-long (1,400 mi) high-speed rail line between Berlin and Palermo. It is designated as one of the main transport links connecting Central and Southern Europe, tracking through Germany, Austria and Italy.
The Tyrol S-Bahn, operated by ÖBB, provides regional rail services in metropolitan Innsbruck, Austria and its hinterlands in the state of Tyrol; and extended rail services into Italy and Germany.
The Innsbruck bypass is a 14.853-kilometre (9.229 mi)-long double-track electrified main line of the Austrian railways. It connects the Lower Inn Valley railway with the Brenner railway, bypassing Innsbruck. It was opened on 29 May 1994. The line is at a major part of the rail freight network of Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB).
The New Lower Inn Valley railway is a partially completed double-track high-speed main line of the Austrian railways. It connects the Brenner railway at Innsbruck and the Innsbruck bypass with the line to Kufstein, connecting with Germany, Salzburg, and eastern Austria. It forms a part of the core of the network of Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). The bypass is part of Line 1 of the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). The first section (Kundl–Baumkirchen), which is designed for speeds up to 220 km/h (140 mph), was opened on 26 November 2012. Since the timetable change on 9 December 2012, it relieves the existing Lower Inn Valley railway between Wörgl and Baumkirchen with trains able to operate at up to 250 km/h (160 mph). In the future, these and other construction projects are expected to reduce travel time on the Munich–Innsbruck route from 1:50 to 0:55 and on the Munich–Verona route from 5:20 to 2:20. The cost of the project amounted to €2.358 billion.
The Rosenheim–Kufstein railway is a 32 kilometre-long double-track main line of the German railways. It connects the Munich–Rosenheim and the Rosenheim–Salzburg lines at Rosenheim with the line to Innsbruck, thus connecting Germany, Salzburg and eastern Austria with Innsbruck and the Brenner line to Italy and the Arlberg line to far western Austria. The line is part of the Line 1 of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). It is electrified at 15 kV, 16.7 Hz.
The Munich–Rosenheim railway is a 65 kilometre-long double-track main line of the German railways. It connects Munich Hauptbahnhof with Rosenheim station, where it connects with the Rosenheim–Salzburg railway, which connects with the line to Vienna at Salzburg, and the line to Kufstein, which continues to Innsbruck and the Brenner line to Italy. The line is part of the "Main line for Europe", connecting Paris with Bratislava and Budapest and the almost identical line 17 of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). It is part of the line 1 of TEN-T. It is electrified at 15 kV, 16.7 Hz. It was opened between Munich and Rosenheim in 1871.
The Western Railway is a two-track, partly four-track, electrified railway line in Austria that runs from Vienna to Salzburg via St. Pölten and Linz Hauptbahnhof and is one of the major lines of Austria. It was originally opened as the Empress Elisabeth Railway in 1858 (Vienna–Linz). The line is owned and operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB).
Brenner railway station is the border station of Italy and Austria. It serves the town and comune of Brenner in the autonomous province of South Tyrol, northeastern Italy.
Kufstein railway station serves the city of Kufstein, in the Kufstein district of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol. Opened in 1876, it is an Austrian-German border station, close to the border between Tyrol and Bavaria.
The Mittenwald Railway, popularly known as the Karwendelbahn, is a railway line in the Alps in Austria and Germany. It connects Innsbruck via Seefeld and Mittenwald to Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
The West railway between the capital Vienna and Salzburg is being upgraded. Most new sections have a continuous maximum design speed of 250 km/h (155 mph).
The Karlsruhe–Basel high-speed railway is a new line being built on the route of the Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway. As a result of the project, the railway through the Rhine Valley is being upgraded to four continuous tracks and its operational efficiency will be increased as a result of the segregation of the various transport flows. The travel time for passenger services between Karlsruhe and Basel is to be shortened by 31 minutes. The project forms part of the Rotterdam–Genoa corridor and part of it is also part of the Main line for Europe. In September 2010, it was forecast to be completed in 2020.
