Railway lines in Upper Austria
The Almtalbahn is a 43 km long railway line that runs from the city of Wels via Sattledt and Pettenbach into the Almtal valley. The railway was built to promote the local timber and iron industries and to open up the Almtal region for tourism. The Wels-Sattledt-Kremsmünster line was put into operation on 14 October 1893. A few months later, on 19 November 1893, the Kremsmünster/Stift Rohr section was opened. A lot has happened since then and the railway section has long since been closed.
The Sattledt - Grünau im Almtal railway was opened on 23 May 1901. The railway was owned and operated by Welser Lokalbahn AG until 1942. The railway line runs from the Alpine foothills in the beautiful Upper Austrian Alps directly to Grünau in the Almtal, with intermediate stops in the municipalities of Pettenbach and Scharnstein. Today, the Almtalbahn is operated by ÖBB and the line has become very important for commuters in the region.
The Aschach railway is a regional line between Aschach an der Donau and Haiding. It runs 20 kilometres in a northerly direction towards the Danube until it reaches Aschach. It crosses the Linzer Lokalbahn (LILO) line at Eferding station.
The Aschacherbahn was opened on 20 August 1886. Since December 2007, freight transport on the Aschacherbahn has been handled by Stern & Hafferl, while passenger transport in this area has always been underdeveloped and was implemented by ÖBB. Passenger transport on the Aschacher Bahn was discontinued in December 2019.
The operation of the Aschacher Bahn was taken over by Schiene OÖ GmbH & Co KG on 1 January 2024. In addition to the operational maintenance and servicing of the facilities and buildings, the takeover includes the preservation of the line, including the necessary reinvestments and ongoing maintenance. This not only ensures the continuation of freight transport between Haiding and Aschach/Donau, but also lays the foundation for pursuing long-term goals in terms of improving public transport.
The Vöcklamarkt-Attersee local railway (Atterseebahn) is a railway line between the Westbahn and Lake Attersee.
The local railway was renamed from Attergaubahn to Atterseebahn in 2018. The railway was opened in 1913 and is 13.4 km long. The Attersseebahn is operated by the network partner Stern & Hafferl.
The Donauuferbahn railway runs along the Danube from Sankt Valentin to Krems an der Donau in Lower Austria and was put into operation in 1898.
Sankt Valentin to Mauthausen
The railway line from Sankt Valentin via Mauthausen to Gaisbach/Wartberg and on to Freistadt and Budweis was opened on 6 November 1872. A bridge was built near Mauthausen to cross the Danube. The section from Mauthausen to Gaisbach/Wartberg has since been closed.
Enns to Mauthausen
Since 12 December 2005, the Ennsdorf loop has provided a connection from Mauthausen to Enns, which represents a further link between the Danube bank railway and the Western Railway. This has significantly shortened the journey time from the railway stations in the district of Perg. In addition, several Park & Ride facilities were built in the district of Perg.
Mauthausen to Grein (Machlandbahn)
The 30.9 km long local railway originally had stations in Schwertberg, Perg, Arbing, Saxen and Grein as well as stops in Aisthofen, Auhof and Dornach. The use of modern train sets, the construction of the Ennsdorf loop, the modernisation of the stations and stops and the increase in the number of train connections to the central region have all contributed to making the line more attractive to passengers.
With the help of the province of Upper Austria, tracks and points were successively renewed in the Upper Austrian section between Mauthausen and Sarmingstein, the railway stations were made barrier-free and safety measures were improved.
The Hausruckbahn is a section of the Salzkammergutbahn and runs along the Attnang-Puchheim line to Schärding. The Salzkammergut railway was opened in 1877 and runs a total of 174 km from Stainach-Irdning (Styria) via Attnang-Puchheim to Schärding (Upper Austria).
The Innkreisbahn, also known as the Innviertelbahn, is a single-track main railway in Upper Austria with a route length of 60 km. It runs between Neumarkt-Kallham station on the Wels Passau line via Ried im Innkreis and Braunau am Inn to Simbach am Inn with a connection to the German railway network. It is the shortest connection between the cities of Vienna and Munich. However, since 2013, all long-distance traffic between these two cities has taken a diversion via Salzburg, as this route is better developed and the greater Salzburg area should not be left out as an important transport hub.
The railway line is an 8 km long, single-track standard gauge railway in Upper Austria between Vöcklabruck - Kammer-Schörfling (also known as the Kammer Railway, Kammerer Hansl) and was opened in 1882.
Some Kammerer Bahn trains run as far as Attnang-Puchheim, where there are connections to the Westbahn and Salzkammergutbahn to Bad Ischl and Ried im Innkreis.
The Linzer Lokalbahn (LILO) is a single-track local railway in Upper Austria that opened in 1912.
It runs from the provincial capital Linz via the district town of Eferding to Neumarkt im Hausruckkreis. In Niederspaching, a line branches off to Peuerbach.
The Neumarkt - Waizenkirchen - Peuerbach section, which has existed independently since 1908, was incorporated into the Linz local railway in 1998.
The local railway is operated by Stern & Hafferl. Since 11 December 2016, the Linzer Lokalbahn in the Linz-Eferding section has been part of the S-Bahn Upper Austria as S 5.
The Mattigtal railway has a route length of 37 km and was opened in 1873. It branches off from the Austrian Western Railway in Steindorf near Straßwalchen and leads to Braunau am Inn. The majority of the route runs through the Mattigtal valley, which gives the railway its name.
Since December 2017, some stops along the route (and beyond) have no longer been served or only to a very limited extent.
In future, the Salzburg S-Bahn will run as far as Friedburg station and therefore use part of the Mattigtal railway. In a concept paper by ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG, the complete electrification of the Mattigtal railway was proposed. The state of Upper Austria will finance this measure so that the Mattigtal railway will be fully electrified by 2030. Current plans assume completion in 2027.
The Mühlkreisbahn is 57.78 km long and a single-track branch line. The line starts at Linz Urfahr station (Mühlkreisbahnhof) in the Urfahr district of Linz, initially runs along the northern bank of the Danube and then from Ottensheim continues in a north-westerly direction to the terminus at Aigen-Schlägl.
In future, the S6 will connect Linz Central Station with Mühlkreisbahnhof.
The Passau railway is a double-track main line in Austria and Germany. It runs from Wels in Upper Austria to Passau and the route is 83 kilometres long, 79.6 kilometres of which run through Austria. This route is particularly important for international freight transport between Austria and northern Europe on the one hand and south-east Europe on the other. It has also always been of great importance for international long-distance passenger transport from Hamburg and Frankfurt to Vienna and further east.
The railway line Linz - Rohr Bad Hall - Selzthal crosses large parts of the federal states of Upper Austria and Styria and is 104.2 km long.
As part of the Pyhrn-Schober axis, the Pyhrn railway is also important for freight transport. The S-Bahn line S4 also runs on the railway line from Linz to Kirchdorf.
The Rudolfsbahn railway was opened between 1868 and 1873. The line relevant to Upper Austria is also known as the Ennstalbahn or Ennstal line and runs from St. Valentin via Steyr to Kleinreifling. Today's S1 runs on the Rudolfsbahn or Ennstal line.
The Salzkammergut railway runs from Stainach-Irdning via Attnang Puchheim to Schärding. Stainach-Irdning station connects the Salzkammergutbahn with the Bischofshofen - Selzthal railway line, while Attnang-Puchheim station provides the connection to the Westbahn. The section between Attnang and Schärding is also known as the Hausruckbahn.
The Salzkammergutbahn is a main railway and connects Upper Austria with Styria via the Salzkammergut. A special feature of this railway line is the unique view of Lake Traunsee, Lake Hallstättersee and the journey through the romantic Koppen Gorge.
The Summerau railway is a single-track main line in Austria. It connects the Upper Austrian capital of Linz with Summerau in the municipality of Rainbach im Mühlkreis on the border with the Czech Republic and continues from there to Prague. The S3 runs on the Linz - Pregarten section of the Summerau railway.
There are a total of 5 S-Bahn lines in Upper Austria. These run from Garsten/Steyr, Wels, Kirchdorf, Pregarten and Eferding to Linz and back again.
The S-Bahn lines are operated by ÖBB and Stern & Hafferl. These are commissioned and operated by OÖVV.
Network map (PDF)
The Traunseetram is an important pillar of regional commuter transport and connects the district capital of Gmunden with the municipalities of Gschwandt, Kirchham and Vorchdorf. The Traunseetram is a merger of the former Traunseebahn railway and the Gmunden tramway. Passengers can therefore travel from Vorchdorf to Gmunden main station without changing trains.
The Vorchdorf railway runs from Vorchdorf-Eggenberg via Bad Wimsbach-Neydharting and Stadl-Paura to Lambach. Scheduled services can connect in Vorchdorf-Eggenberg to the Traunseetram to Gmunden and in Lambach to the Westbahn railway line to Wels, Linz, Vienna or Salzburg.
The Westbahn is a main railway line that runs from Vienna via St. Pölten and Linz to Salzburg. The line is 312.2 km long and can be travelled at top speeds of up to 250 km/h. The Westbahn consists of the "old" and the "new" Westbahn line. The line was opened in 1858 from Vienna Westbahnhof to Linz and has been open all the way to Salzburg since 1860.
The Westbahn is also supplemented by a number of local lines, which run as a local railway from Vienna-Hütteldorf to Unter-Purkersdorf or as an interurban line from Pottenbrunn via St. Pölten to Prinzersdorf.
Vienna Westbahnhof is at the eastern end of the Westbahn line. Since 2014, Vienna Central Station has also been located on the line, but is operated as a through station. In addition to ÖBB, WESTbahn GmbH has also been operating on the route between Salzburg and Vienna since 2011.
The S2 (Linz main station to Wels main station) runs 24 km on the Westbahn line.
