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Vienna (in German Wien) is the capital of Austria and has about 1.7 million inhabitants. Famous as a city of classical music, it is also home to the United Nations Office at Vienna.

Vienna's modern underground network actually goes back to the 19th century, when a system of urban steam railway lines was built to connect the various mainline railways serving the once large Austro-Hungarian Empire. Three Stadtbahn lines opened in stages between 1898 and 1901, with stations and viaducts designed by Otto Wagner, the outstanding art-nouveau (Jugendstil) architect. Two of these lines were later upgraded to become today's U4 and the central section of U6, and the third, a suburban line, was converted into Schnellbahn in the 1980's (S45). The first two lines were electrified in 1925 and operated as a rapid tramway on independent right-of-way, either elevated along the Gürtel (a kind of ring road > now U6) or in an open tunnel along the Danube Canal and the River Wien (> now U4).

In 2010, the Vienna U-Bahn system comprises 5 lines with a total length of 74.5 km and 101 stations.

Line U1 constitutes Vienna's major north-south trunk route which links the districts on the eastern side of the Danube to the city centre and the populous southern district of Favoriten. A southern extension to Oberlaa has been under construction with five new stations since early 2012, while the formerly planned terminus at Rothneusiedl is now an option for a future branch.

Starting as an underground tram route on the western side of the city centre back in the 1960s, line U2 has gradually been upgraded and is now an important east-west route that links the city centre to the stadium and fairgrounds, as well as the new development areas across the Danube River. An eastern extension is under construction.

Line U3, like the U1 a completely newly-planned line, runs from the western districts to the southeastern parts of the city, serving Westbahnhof (West Railway Station), the city's major shopping artery Mariahilfer Straße (Zieglergasse & Neubaugasse stations), the city centre proper as well as the important railway hub Landstraße/Wien Mitte.

The entire line U4 was developed out of the old Stadtbahn Wiental-Donaukanal line (WD), which had opened in as early as 1898. Initially steam-operated, the line was upgraded to electric operation in 1925 before becoming a modern U-Bahn line in stages between 1976 and 1981.

Like the U4, the central part of line U6 was also part of the old Stadtbahn system. But whereas line U4 was converted to full U-Bahn standard, the Gürtel line (G) has continued being operated with light rail vehicles, but with 110 m long trains and the line being fully segregated it can be classified as a full metro line. Though by-passing the city centre, it is one of the busiest lines on the Vienna U-Bahn system.

Phase 1: 

In 1968 the city decided to build a full metro system which included the new U1, the semi-circular-line U2 upgraded from a tram tunnel which had opened in 1966, and U4 which was totally converted from the former WD Stadtbahn - W stands for 'Wiental' along the Wien River, and D for 'Donaukanal' (Danube Canal). Construction started at Karlsplatz where all three lines meet. In 1978 the first part of U1 (Reumannplatz - Karlsplatz) and U4 (Heiligenstadt-Schottenring) opened. By 1982 the initial 3-line network had been completed:

Phase 2:

U3 - This east-west line is almost entirely underground and newly built. The first part (Erdberg-Volkstheater) through the city centre opened in 1991, two years later it reached Westbahnhof and in 1994 Johnstraße. The permanent terminus in the west at Ottakring was inaugurated on 5 Dec. 1998. After Kendlerstraße the line leaves the tunnel and arrives at Ottakring on a viaduct. This is an interchange station to S45. The southeastern extension to Simmering opened on 2 Dec. 2000. The line is now 13.5 km long and has 21 stations. This line is nicknamed 'the culture line' because of special station designs (especially Volkstheater with a huge wall frieze) and architectural and historical buildings along the line.

U6 - This line was converted from the former G-Stadtbahn (G for Gürtel - ring road) and is an up-and-down line. The central historic section from the 19th century runs mainly on a viaduct although trains go underground for the main railway station Westbahnhof, which was rebuilt when the interchange to line U3 was built in the early 1990s. To the south of this station the line comes back to the surface before reaching the historic station at Gumpendorfer Straße and crossing the Wien River on the marvellous bridge designed by Otto Wagner. After the bridge there is a steep gradient into Längenfeldgasse station, where cross-platform interchange with line U4 is provided. From here the line continues in a new tunnel to Philadelphiabrücke and then heads south on the surface to Siebenhirten, partly on a viaduct previously used by a fast tram line. The northern section opened in 1996 as a mainly underground extension crossing the Danube on a bridge to Floridsdorf.

Phase 3:

The third phase of U-Bahn construction in Vienna included the northern U1 extension and the 9 km U2 eastern extension (see below in Projects).

Construction work on the 4.6 km U1 extension to Leopoldau began in 2001 once U3 had reached Simmering. The new section includes 5 stations and was opened on 2 Sept. 2006. While Kagraner Platz and Großfeldsiedlung stations lie underground, Rennbahnweg is elevated and Aderklaaer Straße at grade; the terminus at Leopoldau actually also lies at grade, but it is intergrated into a building with a car park on top of it. The design of the new stations is almost identical to that of the older stations, following the concept of the 'Architektengruppe U-Bahn'.

Phase 3 also included the long discussed U2 extension from Schottenring to Praterstern and Stadion, and in a second stage across the Danube to Donaustadt and Aspern (total length from Schottenring is 9 km). Along the original line which was initially opened in 1966 as a tram tunnel, platforms were lengthened from 75 m to 115 m, and Lerchenfelder Straße was closed as Volkstheater station was too close. For the new alignment, Schottenring, which previously offered cross-platform interchange with U4, had to be rebuilt so that U2 can pass under U4 in an L-shaped station located under the Danube Canal. The next station is the deep-level Taborstraße station before crossing line U1 at Praterstern. The line runs underground to Messe (fairgrounds) and then elevated. The first stage to the stadium (4.2 km) was opened in May 2008 for the European Football Championship, while the remaining section across the Danube to Aspern followed in October 2010. Line U2 runs on an elevated structure from Krieau to Aspernstraße.

08 May 1976: U4 Heiligenstadt - Friedensbrücke (trial operation)
25 Feb 1978: U1 Reumannplatz - Karlsplatz
03 Apr 1978: U4 Friedensbrücke - Schottenring
15 Aug 1978: U4 Schottenring - Karlsplatz
18 Nov 1978: U1 Karlsplatz - Stephansplatz
24 Nov 1979: U1 Stephansplatz - Nestroyplatz
30 Aug 1980: U2 Karlsplatz - Schottenring
26 Oct 1980: U4 Karlsplatz - Meidling
28 Feb 1981: U1 Nestroyplatz - Praterstern
31 Aug 1981: U4 Meidling - Hietzing
20 Dec 1981: U4 Hietzing - Hütteldorf
03 Sept 1982: U1 Praterstern - Kagran

07 Oct 1989: U6 Philadelphiabrücke - Heiligenstadt
06 Apr 1991: U3 Erdberg - Volkstheater
04 Sept 1993: U3 Volkstheater - Westbahnhof
03 Sept 1994: U3 Westbahnhof - Johnstraße
15 Apr 1995: U6 Philadelphiabrücke - Siebenhirten
07 Oct 1995: U4 Spittelau station added
04 May 1996: U6 Nussdorfer Straße - Floridsdorf (Nussdorfer Str. - Heiligenstadt closed)
05 Dec 1998: U3 Johnstraße - Ottakring
02 Dec 2000: U3 Erdberg - Simmering
27 Sept 2003: U2 Lerchenfelder Straße closed

02 Sept 2006: U1 Kagran - Leopoldau
10 May 2008: U2 Schottenring - Stadion
02 Oct 2010: U2 Stadion - Aspernstraße

 Projects

Phase 4, approved in July 2007, includes the following extensions:

U2 Aspernstraße - Seestadt: 4.5 km, elevated/at grade, 4 stations (An den alten Schanzen - to be added later, Hausfeldstraße, Aspern and Seestadt), 2013.
U1 Reumannplatz - Oberlaa: 4.6 km, with intermediate stations at Trostgasse (underground), Altes Landgut (underground), Alaudagasse (underground), Neulaa (elevated), Oberlaa (elevated) > under construction [2017].
U2 Karlsplatz - Gudrunstraße: 4.6 km (all underground, with intermediate stations at Schwarzenbergplatz, Rennweg, St. Marx and Arsenal), 2019 > to become part of a future U5 in the long run.

The completion of phase 4 will increase the total length of the Vienna U-Bahn network to 89 km, with 116 stations.

See Horst Prillinger's page for more details!

There is an underground tram section between Südtiroler Platz and Eichenstraße on tram route 18, which connects the two main railway stations (Südbahnhof and Westbahnhof), with a short branch below Wiedner Hauptstraße (lines 1, 62 and WLB), and a southern ramp at Matzleinsdorfer Platz (lines 1 and 6). Part of the tunnel is also used by tram routes 1, 6, 62 and WLB (Badner Bahn). The underground tram system includes a total of 6 stations, Südtiroler Platz, Blechturmgasse, Kliebergasse, Matzleinsdorfer Platz, Eichenstraße and Laurenzgasse.

More about the Vienna tram system

The Badner Bahn is a light rail line, which shares tram tracks from its Vienna terminus at Kärntner Ring/Oper and Philadelphiabrücke (including the underground tram section between Laurenzgasse and Eichenstraße). From Philadelphiabrücke it runs mostly on its own right-of-way south to Baden, located some 28 km south of Vienna. During peak hours, Badner Bahn trains run every 7.5 minutes to Wiener Neudorf.

Similar to the S-Bahn in many German cities the Schnellbahn is an important complementary rail service also within the city, especially along the north-south trunk line (Floridsdorf - Meidling), but also on other routes like the former Stadtbahn S45 as a western tangential line and the S7 to the airport. The S-Bahn is fully integrated into the Vienna tariff system, as are all other means of transport, like tram and buses. Vienna city is Zone 100 of the regional fare system VOR (Verkehrsverbund Ostregion).

Wiener Linien (Official Site)

Verkehrsverbund Ostregion (VOR - tariffs and timetables)

Wiener Lokalbahnen (Badner Bahn - Light Rail)

Magistrat Wien: U-Bahn extensions

Die Wiener U-Bahn | The Vienna Metro System by Horst Prillinger

Schnellbahn Wien by Thomas Kohlwein

Vienna Tramway by André Loop (incl. many U-Bahn photos)

Architektengruppe U-Bahn

Otto Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerk Wiener Stadtbahn

Wiener Linienpläne Online

Wolfgang Auer's Vienna Tramway page

Newsgroup (Verkehr in Österreich)

FanPage der Wiener Linien by Gerardo Valido Gonzalez

Straßenbahnjournal

Wiener Untergrund by Thomas Stadler

Public-Transport.at by Steve Stipsits

Robert Schwandl: WIEN U-BAHN ALBUM. Urban Rail in Vienna. Oct. 2006, Robert Schwandl Verlag, ISBN 3-936573-14-X (More info)

Robert Schwandl:

   TRAM ATLAS SCHWEIZ & ÖSTERREICH

Dec. 2010, Robert Schwandl Verlag, ISBN 3-936573-27-5 (More info)

Detailed geographically correct maps of all Swiss and Austrian tram and trolleybus systems, illustrated with numerous colour photos and enhanced with basic data about routes, lines, rolling stock, etc.