Vienna U-Bahn

The efficient austrian train travels at lightning speed, serving some of the most demanding and discerning passengers in the world. You step onto the platform to await the next train, and notice how quiet and orderly everything seems, very different than the noisy bustle of your hometown. You feel a sense of calm and safety, yet miss the entertainment of a dirty, turbulent underground scene. The Vienna U-Bahn is a rapid transit metro system consisting of five lines. It is the backbone of one of the best performing public transport systems worldwide according to UITP (International Association of Public Transport) in June 2009. Compared to other underground railways, the U-Bahn is young. The question of whether to build it was the subject of heated debate for over one hundred years, from 1844 to the 1960s, with numerous mass transit plans discussed, ignored and rejected. The first system to be constructed was a 4-line Stadtbahn railway network using steam trains. Ground was broken in 1892, and the system was opened in stages 1898 and 1901. Starting in 1910, plans were interrupted by the First World War, In 1937, ambitious plans for a U-Bahn, as well as a new central railway station, were discussed. Test tunnelling took place, but these plans, too, had to be shelved when the Second World War broke out. It was not until the late 1960s, when the Stadtbahn and the Schnellbahn were no longer able to adequately serve the ever-increasing public traffic, that the decision to build a new network was taken.