Wien Westbahnhof railway station

Geschichte

Wien Westbahnhof is a major Austrian railway station, the original starting point of the West railway and a former terminus of international rail services. In 2015, its role changed with the opening of Vienna's new main station and Westbahnhof now is mainly a commuter station and the terminus of private rail operator WESTbahn's intercity service from Salzburg. Locally, Wien Westbahnhof is served by S-Bahn-line S50 and underground lines U3 and U6. Six tram lines converge on Europaplatz in front of the station, although none go into the city centre. There are also buses to the airport.LocationWestbahnhof is in Vienna's 15th District on the Gürtel . Mariahilfer Strasse to the immediate south-east provides a direct route into the centre of the city.SignificanceWestbahnhof is one of the busiest stations of Vienna and used to be of one of several termini for international trains in the city. With the 2015 opening of Wien Hauptbahnhof, all long-distance services of state-owned Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) were transferred to that station, although private operator WESTbahn maintains its intercity service from Salzburg. Concomitantly, the frequency of fast regional service along the West railway was increased.The station is also the departure point for regional rail lines into the west of Vienna that are included in the Eastern Regional Traffic Authority and belong in part to the Viennese S-Bahn.