Tag Archives: Vienna

Underground trams in Vienna

Like many cities the Austrian capital of Vienna has both a Straßenbahn (tram) system alongside their underground U-Bahn rail system, but it also has something in between – the untergrundstrassenbahn or “underground tramways”. Under the beltway The first section of […]

Continue reading

Posted in Trams | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

ÖBB switching from left to right hand running across Austria

Trains switching between left and right hand running has been a theme on this blog for some time, and here is one example I’d missed – Austria. When I visited Austria I only found trains running on the right hand […]

Continue reading

Posted in Trains | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Underground archaeology at the metro station

During my visit to Vienna, I found something interesting when passing through the U-Bahn station of Stephansplatz – a window into an underground crypt. The Vergilius Chapel (German: Virgilkapelle) dated back to the early 13th century, with the Magdalene Chapel […]

Continue reading

Posted in Trains | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mobile traction substations for powering trains and trams

The power for an electric railway has to come from somewhere – and that place is a traction substation, a facility that convert hogh voltage electricity from the power grid to the voltage and frequency that trains or trams use. […]

Continue reading

Posted in Trains, Trams | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Switching from right to left on the Wiener Straßenbahn

Trams on the Wiener Straßenbahn run on the right hand side just like every other road vehicle in Austria, but there is one exception – the elevated tracks of line 26. Opened in 2013, the 4.7 kilometre long extension of […]

Continue reading

Posted in Trams | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Freight trams of Europe

Trams are usually used to carry passengers, but across Europe there are a handful of tramway networks that also carry freight. Pure freight The best known in the English speaking world is the ‘CarGoTram‘ of Dresden, Germany. Photo by kaffeeeinstein, […]

Continue reading

Posted in Trams | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Animal themed trains of Europe

Trains named for cute animals – during my time in Europe, I found two rail operators who did just that.


Photo via the-village.ru Continue reading

Posted in Trains | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Train formation and carriage numbering diagrams

When travelling by long distance train across Europe, finding your booked seat can be difficult – the trains are long, so finding your carriage by walking along the entire train with heavy bags is something to avoid. It becomes doubly difficult if your train is one that splits up mid-journey to form two separate services! So how do you make sure that you end up in the right place?

Main concourse of Wein Westbahnhof railway station Continue reading

Posted in Trains | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Vienna to Budapest by train

For me the train journey from Vienna, Austria to Budapest, Hungary was the most boring one of our trip across Europe – the reason being the lack of daylight for spotting passing trains!

A lone 'Cargo' wagon stands out Continue reading

Posted in Trains | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Frankfurt to Vienna by train

My journey across Europe started in the German city of Frankfurt am Main, and my second stop was the Austrian capital of Vienna, with a seven hour long train trip between the two.

ICE 3 arrives into Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof Continue reading

Posted in Trains | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments