Austria has a highly developed and efficient transport system that includes road, rail, air, and water networks. The country’s rail system is extensive and reliable. High-speed trains connect major cities like Vienna, Salzburg, and Innsbruck, while regional trains serve smaller towns. International train services link Austria with neighboring countries, including Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Hungary, making rail travel a convenient option for both domestic and cross-border journeys.
Austria is also highly developed with well-maintained highways (Autobahns) and roads connecting all parts of the country. Driving is common, supported by strict traffic regulations and a toll system on major highways. Public buses and long-distance coaches provide additional options, especially for rural areas that are less accessible by train.
Urban transport is particularly efficient in Austrian cities. Vienna, Graz, and Linz, for example, have extensive networks of metros (U-Bahn), trams, buses, and suburban trains (S-Bahn), offering residents and visitors reliable and punctual public transport. Vienna is especially known for its comprehensive and user-friendly public transport system, which is widely used across the city.
Air transport connects Austria to the rest of the world, with Vienna International Airport serving as the main hub. While water transport is less significant, the Danube River allows for some passenger and freight movement, linking Austria with other Central and Eastern European countries. Cycling has also become increasingly popular, with dedicated bike lanes in cities and scenic routes in rural areas and the Alps, supporting sustainable and recreational travel.
Air
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Austria has 6 major airports, 55 airports in total and two heliports. The largest by passenger volume is Vienna International Airport. Secondary airports include Graz, Linz, Innsbruck, Salzburg and Klagenfurt.
Austrian Airlines is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of Lufthansa, the flag carrier of Germany. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat[1] where it also maintains its hub. The airline is a member of the Star Alliance.
Rail
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The national railway system of Austria is the Österreichische Bundesbahnen, or ÖBB. Besides, there are a few other railway companies in Austria.
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 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge, 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: 1,510 km (940 mi) in 2022.[2] It was ranked fifth among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index.[3]
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.
High-speed rail
editRather than build dedicated high-speed passenger rail lines, Austria has integrated fast, mixed-use segment in its national railway network. Most new high-speed rail sections have a continuous maximum design speed of 250 km/h (155 mph). Sections of the Western Railway (Austria) that connects Vienna to Salzburg, Munich and the western parts of the country were upgraded to 230 km/h. The Lower Inn Valley Railway in Tyrol has a top speed of 220 km/h. The Koralmbahn, the first entirely new railway line in the Second Austrian Republic opened in 2025. It includes a new 33 km (21 mi) tunnel (the Koralmtunnel) connecting the cities of Klagenfurt and Graz. Primarily built for intermodal freight transport, it is also used by passenger trains travelling at up to 250 km/h (155 mph). It reduced travel times between Klagenfurt and Graz will from three hours to less than one hour.
The 56 km (35 mi) Brenner Base Tunnel under construction will allow speeds of up to 250 km/h (155 mph) while also reducing gradients for freight and intermodal trains.
Night trains
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The Nightjet of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) runs routes out of Austria to international overnight destinations in Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland and more.
Nightjet trains offers beds in sleeper carriages (Nightjet's most comfortable service category), couchette carriages, and seated carriages. On certain connections, cars can also be transported on the train. Bikes can be transported in a bike transport bag, or on some connections also in special bike racks.
Funiculars
edit- Serfaus: see Serfaus U-Bahn, complete ban on cars in the village center
Rapid transit
editMetro
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One such rapid transit exists in Austria's capital, Vienna: the U-Bahn. 459.8 million passengers rode the U-Bahn in 2019.[4] Lines are designated by a number and the prefix "U" (for U-Bahn) and identified on station signage and related literature by a colour. There are five lines; U1, U2, U3, U4 and U6.
The modern-day U-Bahn opened on 25 February 1978,[5] after test operations that began on 8 May 1976. Parts of two of the lines, designated U4 and U6, date back to the Stadtbahn ("city railway") system, which opened in 1898. Parts of the U2 and U6 lines began as subway tunnels built to accommodate earlier tram lines. Only the U1 and U3 were built wholly as new subway lines.
S-Bahn
edit7 cities have suburban rail systems called the S-Bahn.
Public transport
editTram
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Trams in Austria begin their history in 1870, with a first horse-drawn system in Vienna. Austria has varying gauges on its tram systems; in Graz and in Vienna, trams run on the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge. In Innsbruck and Gmunden, trams drop to use the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge. Completing the tram system in Austria is the fifth system in Linz, where stock rolls on the unusual track gauge of 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in). The Gmunden line's maximum gradient of 10.0% makes it one of the world's steepest surviving adhesion-only tram lines.[6][7]
Road
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In Austria, national highways are referred to as Bundesstrassen. Higher-capacity and higher-speed Bundesstrassen are further categorized into Autobahns and Schnellstrassen (expressways).
Traffic laws
editThe traffic signs adhere to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.
The general speed limits are:
- in inhabited areas 50 km/h
- outside of inhabited areas 100 km/h
- on marked expressways 100 km/h
- on marked motorways 130 km/h
Motorways
editThe Austrian autobahns are controlled-access highways in Austria. They are officially called Bundesstraßen A (Bundesautobahnen) under the authority of the Federal Government according to the Austrian Federal Road Act (Bundesstraßengesetz),[8] not to be confused with the former Bundesstraßen highways maintained by the Austrian states since 2002. The allowed topspeed is 130 km/h for cars up to 3500 kg.
Austria currently has 18 autobahns, built and maintained by the self-financed ASFiNAG stock company in Vienna and earns revenue from road user charges and tolls. Each route bears a number as well as an official name with local reference, which, however, is not displayed on road signs. The current Austrian Autobahn network has a total length of 1,720 km (1,070 mi). The system is going to be expanded; one autobahn is currently under construction, and one more is planned. The transit traffic across the main chain of the Alps, especially by trucks, has led to a considerable environmental load to the fragile Alpine ecosystem. Several action groups urge the transfer of freight transport from road to rail. In 1991, Austria signed the Alpine Convention on the protection of the natural environment.
- A1 (Westautobahn)
- A2 (Südautobahn)
- A3 (Südostautobahn)
- A4 (Ostautobahn)
- A5 (Nordautobahn, planned)
- A6 (Nordostautobahn)
- A7 (Mühlkreisautobahn)
- A8 (Innkreisautobahn)
- A9 (Pyhrnautobahn)
- A10 (Tauernautobahn)
- A11 (Karawankenautobahn)
- A12 (Inntalautobahn)
- A13 (Brennerautobahn)
- A14 (Rheintalautobahn)
- A21 (Wiener Außenringautobahn)
- A22 (Donauuferautobahn)
- A23 (Südosttangente)
- A24 (Verbindungsspange Rothneusiedel, planned)
- A25 (Welser Autobahn)
- A26 (Linzerautobahn, planned)
Electric vehicles
editCable transport
editOther
editReferences
edit- ↑ "Information about the city plan". City of Schwechat. Archived from the original on 12 December 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
- ↑ "Zurückgelegte Strecke per Bahn in ausgewählten Ländern Europas im Jahr 2019 und 2022 [Distance traveled by rail in selected European countries in 2019 and 2022]" (in German). Statista. 2022-04-06. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
- ↑ "the 2017 European Railway Performance Index". Boston Consulting Group. 8 January 2021.
- ↑ "Public transport 2014 to 2019 - Official Statistics of City of Vienna". www.wien.gv.at (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-23.
- ↑ "Happy Birthday! 45 Jahre Wiener U-Bahn" [Happy Birthday! 45 Years of the Vienna U-Bahn] (in German). Wiener Linien. November 2014. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
- ↑ Taplin, Michael; Russell, Michael (2002). Trams in Western Europe. Middlesex, UK: Capital Transport Publishing. p. 8. ISBN 1-85414-265-8.
- ↑ "Gmunden - Salt, Spa & Stadtregiotram". Locomotives International. No. 109. August 2017. pp. 10–20.
- ↑ Bundesstraßengesetz 1971 (in German)
- ↑ "VCÖ: Erstmals mehr als 100.000 Elektroautos zugelassen". Salzburger Nachrichten (in German). 2022-10-19. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
- ↑ "Flood of new electric cars in Austria". TheMayor.EU. 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2022-11-09.