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Vienna (in German Wien) is the capital of Austria and has about 1.6 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).

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 includes 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 and Leopoldau lie at grade, the latter having been built over by a car park. The design of the new stations is almost identical to that of the older stations, following the concept of the 'Architektengruppe U-Bahn'.

Apart from the U-Bahn and S-Bahn there's an underground tram section between Südtiroler Platz and Eichenstraße on tram route 18, which connects the two main railway stations (Südbahnhof and Westbahnhof). There is a branch under Wiedner Hauptstraße. Part of the tunnel is also used by tram routes 6, 62, 65 and the Badner Bahn. There are 6 underground stations, Südtiroler Platz, Blechturmgasse, Kliebergasse, Matzleinsdorfer Platz, Eichenstraße and Laurenzgasse.

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, the S7 to the airport or the S80 to the new residential areas in the eastern part of the city. In Dec. 2005, the traditional line numbering system was changed for a destination numbering system. 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 union VOR (Verkehrsverbund Ostregion).

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 Schottentor - Stadion

 Projects

Construction work is going on along the long discussed U2 extension from Schottenring to Praterstern and Stadion. In a second stage it will continue 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 now offers cross-platform interchange with U4, has to be rebuilt so that U2 can pass under U4 in an L-shaped station. The next station will be the deep-level Taborstraße station before crossing line U1 at Praterstern. The line runs underground to Messe (fairgrounds) and from there it is elevated. The first stage to the stadium is scheduled to open in May 2008 for the European Football Championship, the remaining section across the Danube to Aspern will follow in 2010.

Phase 4, approved in July 2007, will include the following extensions:

U2 Aspernstraße - Flugfeld Aspern: 4.5 km, elevated/at grade, 4 stations (An den alten Schanzen, Hausfeldstraße, two at Flugfeld Aspern to be named), 2013.
U1 Reumannplatz - Rothneusiedl: 4.7 km, with intermediate stations at Trostgasse (underground), Altes Landgut (underground), Alaudagasse, Donauländebahn and Oberlaaer Straße, 2015.
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.

For the future there are several projects, although no detailed timeframe is known:

U6 Floridsdorf - Rendezvousberg (with intermediate stations at Werndlgasse, Shuttleworthstraße, Siemensstraße, Hanreitergasse, Kummergasse and Stammersdorf)
U4 Hütteldorf - Auhof
U2 (new southern branch) Schottentor to Wienerberg City via Rathaus (U5), Neubaugasse (U3), Pilgramgasse (U4) and Matzleinsdorfer Platz
U5 Dornbach - Gudrunstraße via Hernals (S), Alser Straße (U6), Rathaus and then on present/future U2

See Horst Prillinger's page for more details!

- OPERATION

The U-Bahn operates from 5:00 until 0:20 every 5 minutes during daytime and every 7-8 minutes in the evening.

- FARES (2008, in Euro)

Single ticket - EUR 1.70
Stripcard (4 trips) - EUR 6.80

24-Hour-Ticket - EUR 5.70
72-Hour-Ticket - EUR 13.60

Weekly Pass - EUR 14.00

All tickets are valid on the U-Bahn, buses, trams, local and S-Bahn trains within Vienna city (central zone of the VOR tariff system). Yearly passes need a transport ID-card.

Wiener Linien (Official Site)

Verkehrsverbund Ostregion (VOR - tariffs and timetables)

Wiener Lokalbahnen (Badner Bahn - Light Rail)

Magistrat Wien: U1-extension | U2-extension

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

Gerald Kempel's Wiener Linien Page

Wiener Linienpläne Online

Wolfgang Auer's Vienna Tramway page

Newsgroup (Verkehr in Österreich)

FanPage der Wiener Linien by Gerardo Valido Gonzalez

Straßenbahnjournal

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

Wiener Linien (ed): 3 Jahrzehnte U-Bahn-Bau in Wien. - 256p, 2000, Keller Verlag, Wien, ISBN 3-900607-397

Great book about the first 30 years of metro construction, with many illustrations, unfortunately only available at Wiener Linien info centres

Wiener Stadtwerke (ed.): Zeitmaschine U-Bahn. Eine Reise durch Jahrtausende. - Ueberreuter, Wien, 1994.

Pawlik, Hans-Peter and Josef Otto Slezak: WAGNERS WERK FÜR WIEN. Gesamtkunstwerk Stadtbahn. - Slezak, Vienna, 1999.

Largely illustrated Stadtbahn history of today's U4, U6 and S45 focusing on Otto Wagner's stations, 160 pages.

Wolfgang Kaiser: Die Wiener Straßenbahnen. Vom "Hutscherl" bis zum "Ulf". - Nov. 2004, 160 p., GeraMond, ISBN 3765471895