Savings, staff cuts, economic crisis: a difficult start.

The Austrian Federal Railways, known as Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB), became an independent commercial entity on 1 October 1923, a major milestone. With the enactment of a new federal law, the railways were no longer under the direct administration of the Federal Ministry of Trade and Transport. While the transport minister maintained oversight of ÖBB, the technical matters were now entrusted to the employees of the Austrian Federal Railways.

Die Eisenbahner derkits 4zu3 230515

<h2>Hard times: staff cuts and savings</h2>
The initial phase proved incredibly challenging due to enormous inflation following the war. Prior to the boom of the 1920s, the circumstances were bleak and austere. ÖBB simply didn't have enough money at its disposal when it was founded, so the logical consequence was to implement cost-saving measures. Clear directives were issued from the highest levels of government, demanding a reduction of a quarter of the workforce within five years. Given the approximately 113,000 individuals employed by the railway during that period, this mandate translated to a reduction of nearly 30,000 employees by 1928.

Dokument 2 Personalabbau

At the same time, the switch from steam locomotives to electrically powered railways, known as "electrification", promised more cost-effective operations. However, progress in this area was sluggish. There was opposition from influential figures in the coal industry, who sought to impede the expansion of electrification. The economic turmoil caused by the 1929 stock market crash further exacerbated the situation. It should come as no surprise then that ÖBB's financial statements were far from satisfactory in its initial years. The prevailing circumstances were beyond suboptimal.

Bundesarchiv Bild 102 00815 Wien Streikende Eisenbahner 4zu3 230515

Dokument 1 Ueberleitung ins Unternehmen Oe BB

Unless otherwise stated, the image rights are subject to © ÖBB Infra.

Headerbild Geburtsstunde Oe BB

The birth of the Austrian Federal Railways

After World War I, the rail network was minimised and changed – and it faced several hurdles.

Austria's railway network experienced a significant reduction after World War I, shrinking to approximately one seventh of its original size. Of the once extensive 46,000-kilometre network within the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, only 6,000 kilometres remained intact. The establishment of the Republic of German-Austria in 1918 brought about new borders, subsequently altering the primary routes of the railway system. Vienna, once a central transportation hub, now found itself on the eastern periphery. Moreover, the orientation of the routes shifted from primarily north-south to a predominantly east-west direction.

<h2>Expensive coal, staff shortages, not enough trains</h2>

The country faced major difficulties in the aftermath of the war, such as the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of military personnel. Yet there was a widespread unavailability of locomotives, passenger coaches and freight wagons, as they had been relinquished to the rail administrations of the newly formed nations previously under the monarchy. Plus, the railway system faced staff shortages and the supply of coal for steam locomotives was so scarce, it had to be procured at a steep price from abroad.

<h2>Why "BBÖ" became the abbreviation of the railway</h2>
Under the management of the Austrian Office of Transport, back then the railway was known as "Deutsch-Österreichische Staatsbahnen" (German-Austrian State Railways). After the St. Germain Peace Treaty in 1919, the name was changed to "Österreichische Staatsbahnen" (Austrian State Railways). In 1921, the railway fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Trade and Transport. Then it was supposed to receive the name it still has today: ÖBB, or "Österreichische Bundesbahnen" (Austrian Federal Railways). However, as the railway industry was being restructured in 1922 and it turned out the privately operated Swiss network "Oensingen-Balsthal-Bahn" already used the abbreviation ÖBB, the name change had to wait. As a result, when it was founded in 1923, the railway adopted the abbreviation "BBÖ", which was also prominently displayed on the trains.

Franz Josefs Bahnhof c Ruebelt Lothar Oe NB Bildarchiv picturedesk com aufgenommen am 01 01 1925 230515

Unless otherwise stated, image rights are © ÖBB Infra.

1918 map Artarias Eisenbahnkarte von Oesterreich Ungarn und den Balkanlaendern 230516 ohne Rahmen

Before the railway was founded

Austrians ride electric railways.

Following the dissolution of the monarchy, Austria's primary objective was to attain independence from foreign coal. In pursuit of this goal, the "electrification programme" for railway lines was initiated in 1920, even including the establishment of a dedicated "electrification office". As part of this endeavour, power storage stations were constructed to convert water power into electric energy, which in turn powered the overhead lines enabling the operation of electric locomotives. The plan aimed to relegate coal-fired steam locomotives to obsolescence, with electrified railways representing a promising future. Not only did this transition liberate the country from reliance on foreign coal, but it also facilitated the adoption of more modern, faster and higher-capacity trains compared to their coal-dependent predecessors.

Organ FDEB H22 23 1927 11 30 2 06200002 Spullersee Hauptschaltwarte

<h2>The first steps are the hardest.</h2>

The plan did not proceed as swiftly as anticipated. By the time the Austrian Federal Railways were established in 1923, there were only 80 kilometres of electric railway in operation. This included a 25-km stretch in the Inn Valley and the 65-km Mittelwaldbahn, constructed in 1912 to connect Innsbruck with Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. These mountainous routes drew their energy from hydroelectric power plants in Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Even though these routes were relatively short, they demonstrated significant potential for cost savings, as the steep gradients and challenging terrain necessitated substantial coal consumption for steam locomotives.

<h2>From 90 to 883 kilometers - in ten years.</h2>

Status of electrification 1937 Transport Economics Review.

Class 1029 passenger and freight locomotive, 1935.

Picture postcard of the Tauern Railway

Almanac "Accident Prevention at Work on Electric Locomotives" from 1934

Advertising for the Voith long-range jet turbine

In the following years, electrification gained more momentum. In 1924, stand-alone electric operation commenced on the Salzkammergut line "Attnang-Puchheim to Stainach-Irdning", followed in 1925 by continuous electric operation over the Arlberg pass, between Bludenz and Innsbruck. In the same year, the valley lines of the Brenner and lower Inn were electrified, after ÖBB had taken them over from private operator Südbahngesellschaft. With its political influence, the coal lobby managed to delay the modernisation, but there was no holding it back.

Oe BB 1930 Arlbergexpresz im Inntal 4zu3 ohne Rand

By 1930, the "Brenner – Innsbruck – Kufstein" and "Wörgl – Salzburg" lines were put into operation, and in 1933 the electrification of the Tauernbahn from Schwarzach St. Veit to Spittal-Millstätter See was finally completed. In the end, it only took ten years to expand the original 90 kilometres of electrically operated lines to a considerable 883 kilometres, including the construction of new power stations. Running on those lines were a large number of electric locomotives produced in Austria, transporting travel-eager passengers from A to B.

1 Elektrisierung Stromgewinnung aus Wasserkraft

The water is discharged in a controlled manner through a steeply sloping pipe (R).

The resulting uninterrupted flow of water drives a large turbine (T).

A generator (WE) is mounted on the same shaft, which generates a single-phase AC voltage of 3,000 volts through the rotary motion.

In a transformer (Tr), the voltage is increased to 50,000 volts in order to transport even longer distances from the power plants to the railway lines as loss-free as possible via the transmission lines (Ue).

In the substations (UW) along the railway lines, the high voltage is transformed in another transformer (Tr) from 50,000 V down to the contact wire voltage of 15,000 volts at a frequency of 16 2/3 Hertz and fed into the overhead line.

The current collector (F) of the locomotive slides over the copper wire of the overhead line. This is how the high voltage enters the locomotive transformer (Tr).

Different voltages are taken from different taps of the transformer and fed to the motors (M) via a switching mechanism, where the electrical energy is converted into kinetic energy and the wheels of the locomotive start to turn.

Cover photo: BBÖ 1029.02 with goods train at Bad Aussee station. © Josef Stögermayer
Unless otherwise indicated, the image rights are held by © ÖBB Infra.

BB Oe 1029 02 bad aussee 1928 07 01 stoegermayer 1

The beginning of the electrification era

A fresh boom in tourism revitalised rail travel from the mid-1920s onwards.

Austria experienced a boom in tourism starting from the mid-1920s. The country's economic situation stabilised, enabling working-class families from Vienna to travel to the countryside by train on weekends. In summer, the Danube "beach resort" in Kritzendorf was a popular destination. In winter, people grabbed their skis and headed for the snowy hills of Kaltenleutgeben to the southwest of Vienna. While in the spring and fall, many chose to go hiking on the nearby mountains of Semmering, Rax, etc.

Oe BB Bahn Lotterien Clip Poster v2

Oe BB Bahn Lotterien Clip

Other holiday destinations that were easy to reach by train were Salzkammergut, the lakes in Carinthia, the Gastein Valley, Kitzbühel and Arlberg. Since most people couldn't afford cars at the time, demand became so extraordinary that ÖBB had to run additional trains in the holiday seasons.

From the ÖBB travel album, 1993: The Semmering Railway.

Austria's main railway lines in international travel.

From the ÖBB travel album, 1993: The Mariazell Railway.

Travelling by train to St. Anton am Arlberg, 1933.

<h2>"Austria, the most beautiful and cheapest destination".</h2>
People wanted to get out of the city and into the mountains – but not necessarily on foot. As a result, the first cable cars were built. To attract holiday guests from abroad, a dedicated advertising firm was also founded at the time, known as the "Österreichische Verkehrswerbung GmbH", with offices in several European capitals and even overseas, including New York City. ÖBB also ran their own advertisements to promote travel to Austria, which was pitched as "the most beautiful and cheapest tourist destination in Europe".

Farewell scene at a Viennese railway station © Skrein Photo Collection / Brandstaetter Images/ picturedesk.com taken on 01.01.1929

School ski course © Votava / Brandstätter Images / picturedesk.com taken on 28.02.1970

The Salzkammergut also attracts travel enthusiasts with train journeys.

The general management of ÖBB calls for a summer retreat.

Far-flung slopes were now only a train ride away for skiing enthusiasts.

Holidays in Austria - there is something for everyone.

Semmering Railway observation car © Österreichische Lichtbildstelle / ÖNB Bildarchiv / picturedesk.com taken on 01.01.1934

Large advertising posters, many designed by renowned artists, boosted Austria's image as a romantic destination in the heart of Europe: mountains, lakes, forests, health spas, thermal baths, castles and palaces! And rail played an essential role in all of it, because any location with a railway station had a clear competitive advantage. Rail was not just a means of transport: it was an experience. One particular highlight: observation cars that were open at the sides and only had a protective roof. With such panoramic views, the journey truly became the destination on the electric mountain lines of the mid-1930s.

What to see in Austria © Mary Evans / picturedesk.com taken on 01.01.1900

Poster "Excursions in the Vienna Woods"

Take a holiday from the car - take the train!

The fast day train with the greatest comfort only 1st class "Blauer Enzian".

Arlberg Express c Ruebelt Lothar Oe NB Bildarchiv picturedesk com aufgenommen am 17 04 1948 4zu3 250516

Cover photo: Semmering Railway interior view © Oesterreichische Lichtbildstelle / OeNB Bildarchiv picturedesk.com taken on 01.01.1934.
Unless otherwise indicated, the image rights are held by © ÖBB Infra.

OEBB Artikelheader Urlaub Semmeringbahn Innenansicht c Oesterreichische Lichtbildstelle Oe NB Bildarchiv picturedesk com aufgenommen am 01 01 1934

Going on holiday by train

Civil war, lost jobs and imprisonment of ÖBB employees.

On 1 March 1933, the railway workers took to the streets, as their financial situation remained precarious despite the upswing in tourism. They would no longer accept their salaries being paid in instalments and staged a warning strike. It was more of a symbolic strike than a true one, lasting only two hours from 9 to 11 am. Nevertheless, the Christian Socialists under Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss imposed disproportionately severe penalties on the strikers. This in turn infuriated the Social Democrats. A session of the National Council (lower house of parliament) was held three days later, and the parties quarrelled to such an extent that all parliamentary presidents announced their resignation. The government interpreted this escalation as the "self-elimination" of the Austrian parliament and introduced the authoritarian "Ständestaat" or Federal State of Austria, which was a dictatorial, one-party state, also known as Austrofascism.

<h2>Deployment in the civil war</h2>
Naturally, these developments did not bode well for the more left-leaning railway workers. To keep them compliant, they were obliged to become members of the "Fatherland Front" party, which insisted upon members' willingness to kill and die for their country. This meant that they had to take part in the Austrian Civil War in February 1934. From armoured railway trains, they shelled the homes of so-called "insurgents" in the workers' districts of Simmering and Floridsdorf. Many insurgents and railway workers lost their lives.

Call to join the Vaterländische Front from the news bulletin of the ÖBB Generaldirektion, 1933.

Information on accident prevention at work from the news bulletin of the ÖBB ÖBB Generaldirektion, 1933.

Instruction to join the Patriotic Front from the Nachrichtenblatt der ÖBB Generaldirektion, 1933.

1934: The General Directorate of ÖBB comments in its news bulletin on the attack on the Fatherland by the Red Traitors.

1934: Mourning rally of the late Federal Chancellor Dr. Engelbert Dollfuß of the Administrative Commission and the Board of ÖBB.

The authoritarian government suspended the Socialist Party and all its sub-organisations. The situation was also grim for ÖBB employees: those who took part in the uprising were immediately dismissed, imprisoned and lost their pension rights, along with the right to live in railway-owned housing. The affected employees were literally left with nothing.

Cover photo: Armoured trains at Floridsdorf station, February 1934 © DÖW Foto 5877/3
Unless otherwise indicated, the image rights are held by © ÖBB Infra.

Februar 1934 Panzerzuege im Bahnhof Floridsdorf

The authoritarian Federal State of Austria: a dark hour for ÖBB

ÖBB creates jobs to counter high unemployment rates following the assassination of Chancellor Dollfuss.

The assassination of Chancellor Dollfuss by Austrian National Socialists in July 1934 further aggravated the political climate. Unemployment figures rose rapidly.

<h2>Further electrification measures, investments and developments</h2>

Investitionen Oe Karte

To create jobs, the government introduced measures to expand the country's infrastructure. These included road works, such as the construction of the Vienna Reichsbrücke, the Vienna Höhenstrasse and the Grossglockner-Hochalpenstrasse, but it also included additional railway electrification measures. For example, the Tauern railway was electrified and the previously side-lined electrification of the western railway from Salzburg to Attnang-Puchheim was resumed. In addition, the government launched an extensive programme to replace the outdated carriage fleet with urgently needed new passenger and freight cars.

Electric railcars and diesel railcars were also developed and used, but in such small numbers that they were economically insignificant.

KÖB autobus for traffic on the Alpine roads.

Four-axle diesel-hydraulic light railcar

Cover photo: Electric standard locomotive, 2176 hp, 80 kilometres per hour, for passenger and goods trains.
Unless otherwise indicated, the image rights are held by © ÖBB Infra.

Oe EBB Artikelheader Arbeitslosigkeit 1920x1080

The fight against unemployment

Epoche 1 back

Ticket epoche 1 front relief

OEBB 1920x1080 E Lok 1082 01 St Anton am Arlberg 1931

How it all began

Note: Without addressing the period between 1938 and 1945, when the railways were a central means of rule by National Socialism, railway history remains fragmentary and insufficient. In the publication <a href="https://konzern.oebb.at/de/dam/jcr:433b058e-aa00-4745-bed7-669634147176/Verdraengte_Jahre.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">"Verdrängte Jahre"</a> (Repressed Years) we go into detail about all the events of World War II in connection with ÖBB.

When ÖBB was incorporated into Germany's Deutsche Reichsbahn, many employees were dismissed and the door was opened to loyal National Socialists

Everything went fast after the invasion of Austria by the German Wehrmacht, the SS and police units on 12 March 1938. One day later, Austria was annexed into the German Reich without resistance. Five days later, ÖBB was part of Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRB). In figures, this meant that 5,922 kilometres of track, 56,900 employees, 2,111 locomotives, 115 railcars and 38,990 passenger and freight cars were transferred to the DRB – from one day to the next.

<h2>Dissolution of the ÖBB, uniforms with imperial eagle.</h2>
The incorporation of ÖBB had brutal consequences for the organisation and its staff. The DRB dissolved the ÖBB General Directorate, converted the Federal Railway Directorates of Vienna, Linz and Villach into Reichsbahndirektionen (Reich Railway Directorates), and dissolved the Directorate of Innsbruck, assigning its railway lines to the existing Reichsbahndirektionen of Munich and Augsburg. Also, new traffic regulations now applied under the German Reich. These were laid down on 6 October 1940 as service regulations for the "Ostmark" lines. "Ostmark" was the designation for Austria during the Nazi era. The integration was most visible on the employees' uniforms, which prominently featured the German Reich's imperial eagle.

<h2>Targeted Nazification of the staff</h2>
Worst of all were the measures taken on the personnel. Hundreds of staff were dismissed for racial, political or other reasons, while others were forced into retirement with reduced benefits. At the same time, by the end of 1938, there were 9,000 new recruits: so-called "old fighters" who had joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) before 1933, back when it was still prohibited. The ranks of the former ÖBB now included these "old fighters". For the most part, they were not professionally suited to the job, but given precedence as political functionaries of the SS, the SA or other party organisations, such as the National Socialist Motor Transport Corps or pensioners loyal to the regime. Employees had to take an oath to Hitler as well as complete an ancestry questionnaire to prove they were of Aryan and not Jewish descent. They also had to ask for permission if they wanted to marry. The future spouse had to be of Aryan descent; the Service Board would not approve other marriages. The railway was one of the most important pillars of the Nazi regime. Increased passenger and freight transport made it necessary to expand the Reichsbahn. These expansions put Hitler in the position to attack Poland in 1939 – and thus trigger World War II.

Cover picture: Far from home © Private collection Derkits family.
Unless otherwise indicated, the image rights are held by © ÖBB Infra.

OEBB Artikelheader Fern der Heimat

ÖBB as part of the Deutsche Reichsbahn

Wheels must roll for victory: in World War II, the railways were one of the most important instruments of war, and working conditions were tough.

Even before the war, travelling by train was not much fun: carriages jolted along bad rails, third class passengers sat on wooden benches, and many breathed in the smell of steam locomotives and soot particles that seeped through leaky windows. Trains were slow and the journeys were time-consuming. There were longer stops at the stations and there were far fewer trains than today. Railway employees didn't have it easy, either. Their work was hard – and during the war, of course, the situation got even worse.

<h2>Toiling for the railways </h2>
Steam locomotive drivers and firemen did most of their work standing up in bumpy cabins with leaky doors and no suspension. Firemen had to shovel about 5 tonnes of coal into a locomotive's fireboxes in one shift – or even up to 11 tonnes for mountain routes. They were also responsible for ensuring that the lubrication points were well oiled and that there was enough water in the tank. Working for the railway was truly a back-breaking job.

<h2>Blue and grey railwaymen</h2>
Many railwaymen were drafted into the German Wehrmacht, as fighters were needed on countless fronts. For the planning and handling of the increased traffic, however, more personnel were also needed on the railways, so many operational staff and administrative officials were deemed indispensable. Consequently, so-called "blue" railwaymen – mostly operational staff such as locomotive drivers, firemen and conductors as well as personnel for line maintenance work – were transferred to areas that the Wehrmacht had conquered. They involuntarily found themselves transferred to posts in France and Belgium, and even more were sent to Poland, Ukraine and Russia. In addition to these "blue" men, there were also "grey" railwaymen who transported military supplies to the fronts. They were also known as "field" railwaymen.

<h2>Does your journey help secure victory?</h2>
The holiday trips originally advertised by the Nazi organisation "Strength through Joy" in 1938 and 1939 were no longer offered – the war took priority and troops had to be transported. Time and again, there were traffic restrictions and train cancellations. In 1943, journeys of over 70 kilometres were subject to authorisation, and propaganda posters emblazoned the question: "Will your journey help secure victory?" Freight traffic was also subordinated to the war. There weren't enough railcars to handle the increasing transport of goods. Unloading and reloading also had to be done as quickly as possible, fuelled by propaganda slogans such as "Every carriage counts" and "Wheels must roll for victory".

Unless otherwise indicated, the image rights are held by © ÖBB Infra.

2518 011

Working under the Third Reich

Note: Without addressing the period between 1938 and 1945, in which the railway was a central means of rule under National Socialism, the railway history remains fragmentary and insufficient. In the publication <a href="https://konzern.oebb.at/de/dam/jcr:433b058e-aa00-4745-bed7-669634147176/Verdraengte_Jahre.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">"Verdrängte Jahre"</a> we go into detail about all the events of World War II in connection with ÖBB.

The role of the Reichsbahn in Hitler's brutal campaigns.

On 1 September 1939, the National Socialist German Reich invaded Poland. England and France had previously guaranteed protection of the Polish borders, because after the German invasion of Czechoslovakia it was obvious that Hitler had his eyes on Poland. So by attacking Poland, there were no more excuses: England and France had to declare war on the German Reich. That was the beginning of World War II.

<h2>The role of the railways in the blitzkrieg</h2>
Hitler was able to conquer Poland within a few weeks. On 8 October 1939, Poland was formally annexed to the German Reich. This was the first of several blitzkriegs that were to follow, in which Hitler forced Denmark, Norway, the Benelux countries, France, as well as later Yugoslavia and mainland Greece, to surrender. On the one hand, the railways were used to transport raw materials and armament products and, on the other, to transport the armed forces of the Wehrmacht.

<h2>The transport crisis in the Soviet Union</h2>
However, the attempted conquest of the Soviet Union starting on 22 June 1941 led to a change of course. In the autumn, the Wehrmacht got bogged down due to frequently unpaved roads, and then winter set in prematurely. With sub-zero temperatures, the extreme cold guaranteed a transport and supply crisis on the roads and on the railway lines. Even if locomotives were available, they simply froze up. The planned conquest of Moscow failed due to Stalingrad. It was not until the spring of 1942 that major territory gains were once again feasible. For the much needed supply transports by rail, the Germans had to "re-nail" hundreds of kilometres of Russian "broad gauge" track to match the European track standard.

<h2>7,000 new locomotives for the Reichsbahn</h2>
To avoid future transport crises, the Ministry of Armaments drew up a locomotive construction programme of immense proportions. The design of a "war locomotive" was based on an existing steam locomotive design, which required fewer raw materials and less time on the assembly line. However, it was only designed for five years of service. Within two years, 16 German locomotive factories were to deliver 15,000 operation-ready locomotives to the Reichsbahn. In reality, from September 1942 to the end of the war in the spring of 1945, around 7,000 locomotives were supplied.

<h2>The fall of the German Reich</h2>
The defeat at Stalingrad was the beginning of the end, eventually leading to the Red Army of the Soviet Union taking over Berlin in April 1945. During all the years of the war, thousands of supply transports had been driven for the Wehrmacht. After the western Allies (England, USA, Canada) had forced Axis power Italy to surrender in July 1943, the Allies were also able to liberate France in 1944. Thus, the reconquest of Western Europe began. Bombing raids on industrial and transport facilities served to hinder German supplies. Particularly strategic targets were bridges, railway junctions and large factories. Ostmark (today's Austria) saw large-scale destruction of railway facilities in Wiener Neustadt (armament and aircraft industries), St. Pölten, Linz (Hermann Göring steelworks), Wels, Attnang-Puchheim, Salzburg, Knittelfeld and Graz.

<h2>Liberation of Austria by the Allies and end of the war</h2>
The liberation of Austria from the Nazi regime was multi-pronged. The Red Army entered through Sopron, Hungary, and progressed via Wiener Neustadt towards Vienna, then further west. The French conquered the provinces of Vorarlberg and Tyrol with little resistance. The British liberated Carinthia and Styria. The USA moved across conquered Bavaria towards Salzburg and further east into Upper Austria. On 27 April 1945, a provisional government was formed in Vienna under Karl Renner, and on 8 May the German Wehrmacht surrendered unconditionally. World War II was over in Europe, and Austria was re-established as a country, but divided into four occupied zones.

Cover photo: Bomb damage at Wels station, 1944.
Unless otherwise indicated, the image rights are held by © ÖBB Infra.

Bombenschaeden im Bf Wels 23 09 1944

World War II in Europe

Note: Without addressing the period between 1938 and 1945, when the railways were a central means of rule by National Socialism, railway history remains fragmentary and insufficient. In the publication<a href="https://konzern.oebb.at/de/dam/jcr:433b058e-aa00-4745-bed7-669634147176/Verdraengte_Jahre.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">"Verdrängte Jahre"</a> (Repressed Years) we go into detail about all the events of World War II in connection with ÖBB.

Railway workers who resisted through acts of sabotage were killed and persecuted.

Not all Deutsche Reichsbahn employees were loyal to Hitler's regime. Many railway workers were involved in the Austrian resistance to National Socialism. 154 employees were sentenced to death and executed. 1,438 received prison sentences or were sent to concentration camps; of these, 135 died during their imprisonment. In addition to the Gestapo (Nazi Germany's secret state police), the "Railway Protection Police" also monitored the rail to root out saboteurs and resisters.

<h2>Acts of sabotage by members of resistance groups</h2>
Individuals could be arrested for acts of sabotage on railway traffic, whether carried out by larger resistance groups with a communist or socialist agenda or by unorganised individuals. Explosive attacks on carriages and tracks were usually attributable to groups, while individuals would remove sealing rings, cut brake coupling hoses or scatter sand in the axle bearings, causing technical faults. Another act of resistance was to remove or replace labels so carriages would be directed to other destinations. This was often noticed too late and returning the carriages to their correct destinations could be very time-consuming. Through these acts of resistance, railway workers put their lives on the line. They could even be denounced for listening to enemy radio stations, which could lead to arrest, prosecution and, in the worst case, even to the death penalty.

Cover photo: Soviet forced labourer (SU) repairing roofs at the Reichsbahn repair works in Floridsdorf. The Floridsdorf elevated railway is in the background.
Unless otherwise indicated, the image rights are held by © ÖBB Infra.

OEBB Artikelheader Widerstand

Resistance and persecution

Without addressing the period between 1938 and 1945, when the railways were a central means of rule by National Socialism, railway history remains fragmentary and inadequate. In the publication<a href="https://konzern.oebb.at/de/dam/jcr:433b058e-aa00-4745-bed7-669634147176/Verdraengte_Jahre.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">"Verdrängte Jahre"</a> (Repressed Years) we go into detail about all the events of World War II in connection with ÖBB.

Around 50,000 Jews, Sinti, Roma, dissidents and others were deported from Vienna on railway trains.

The darkest chapter in railway history was the organised deportation via rail to concentration camps and extermination camps, where those unable to work were killed in gas chambers immediately after arrival and burned in specially built crematoriums.

<h2>Deportations from Vienna</h2>
Almost 100 deportation transports were dispatched from Vienna, most of them leaving from the Aspang railway station. Around 50,000 Jews, Sinti and Roma, as well as dissidents, were deported in special transports. In some cases, passenger cars were used for the transports, but often closed freight cars were used, which was incredibly inhumane. They had no windows, seats or toilets. The journey could take up to four days, because all other trains had priority. The main destinations of the transports from Vienna were Theresienstadt (in today's Czech Republic), Maly Tronstinec near Minsk (in today's Belarus) and Auschwitz/Oswiecim (in today's Poland).

<h2>Prisoner transports in cell cars</h2>
The transport of prisoners in so-called cell cars of the Reichsbahn remains largely unresearched. These cars were attached to scheduled passenger trains. For example, there is evidence of a circular route from Vienna Franz Joseph Station to Mauthausen, the site of the largest concentration camp in Ostmark.

<h2>Transport of forced labourers to the German Reich</h2>
There is also little research on the transport of forced labourers to the German Reich, many of whom were forced into agricultural work, or to replace labourers in German industries who had been drafted to the Wehrmacht and often died in the war. In 1944 alone, 7.6 million people from nearly every occupied country in Europe were deported to Germany and forced to work. Almost 20,000 people were also employed by the Deutsche Reichsbahn in Ostmark, for example in track construction or workshops. Women often had to slave away in factory kitchens. To make communication easier, the Reichsbahn even produced phrasebooks to translate railway terminology into various foreign languages.

Cover picture: View of a two-axle prisoner car.
Unless otherwise indicated, the image rights are held by © ÖBB Infra.

Gefangenenwagen ohne Rahmen

Deportations: the darkest chapter in railway history

From 1942 onwards, the Deutsche Reichsbahn was desperately looking for personnel and specifically recruited women.

In 1942, the staff shortage in the Reichsbahn was so great that new target groups were recruited. Many employees, "well trained staff" as it says in the annual report, had been drafted by the Wehrmacht. In order to fill the resulting gaps and "to increase services in vehicle repair and railway maintenance to the level required for operation [...], it was necessary to resort to women and foreign workers even more than before". "The possibility of extending working hours to 56 hours per week and working overtime" was also required, according to the report.

<h2>German women and girls – help out in the Reichsbahn!</h2>
In contrast to industrial jobs, women in the Reichsbahn received equal pay for equal work. However, management positions for women were the exception: most worked in lower-paid positions. Since women were prohibited from carrying more than 15 kg at work, positions with physically demanding work were not possible for them. What remained were "simple" jobs. In order to fill these positions, the Reichsbahn advertised with postcards that read: "German women and girls – help out in the Reichsbahn!" In order to be able to fill the vacancies, from 1942 the permitted working age for women even dropped to under 16.

<h2>Cleaning, cooking, office work</h2>
These menial jobs for which women were desperately sought could be found in almost every department. The wording in the official gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion read: "[Women] are especially needed for the following purposes: office workers with technical knowledge, shorthand typists, counter and dispatch services for ticket issues, baggage and goods handling, operational services as telegraphist, pointswomen, inhibitor layer, train dispatcher, security guard for track work, barrier attendant, machine and carriage cleaner, housekeepers and cleaners, factory and warehouse kitchen workers." The fact that so many women worked for the Reichsbahn had nothing to do with equal rights: they were only hired because there was a lack of cheap labour.

Zugmeldungen ueber das Morsegeraet

Women in the Deutsche Reichsbahn

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Truppentransport

World War II

ÖBB re-founded and re-staffed.

World War II left Europe in ruins. After the German Reich capitulated on 8 May 1945, Austria was restored by the four Allies (USA, England, France and USSR), which re-established the borders of 1937. 
The four occupying powers divided up the country. The restoration also affected the entire federal administration – the "Federal Ministry of Transport" responsible for the railway system was also newly founded and staffed. The federal railways were even given a different name at that time: "Österreichische Staatseisenbahnen" (ÖSTB) or "Austrian State Railways". 
It was not until 1947 that "Österreichischen Bundesbahnen" or "Austrian Federal Railways" was re-established, introducing the abbreviation "ÖBB" once again.

<h2>Denazification of the staff</h2>
After the horrors of the Nazi regime, the main priority was to expel politically active National Socialists as quickly as possible. In order to determine who would be incriminated as a collaborator of the regime, the employees were interviewed. Wehrmacht recruits who had survived the war were put back in their old jobs, while women, who had often replaced their husbands serving on the front, were generally sent back home after the war. Despite the challenging staff restructuring and the great shortage of raw materials and spare parts, there was a lot to be done after the end of the war, such as repairing destroyed sections of track and rebuilding stations to make them usable again.

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A new beginning after World War II

How the division of Austria into four occupation zones affected rail transport.

The occupation zones of the Allies were based on the federal state borders of 1937 from the pre-war period. The Soviet Union administered Lower Austria, Burgenland and Upper Austria north of the Danube. The USA was assigned Upper Austria south of the Danube and Salzburg. France was responsible for Tyrol and Vorarlberg. England administered Carinthia, Styria and East Tyrol. Vienna was a special case: the Allies divided 22 districts among themselves, only the First District was administered jointly.

<h2>New borders and controls</h2>
There were now several new borders within the country, called demarcation lines. Only people with a quadrilingual identity card and an Allied Travel Permit were allowed to move between the zones. Controls at the demarcation lines existed for many years. At some point, the Western Allies abandoned them, except for the USSR. The Soviet border controls were strict and feared, and for good reason: frequently there were arbitrary arrests and people were deported to Soviet camps.

<h2>Separate trains for the Allies</h2>
The Allied military authorities depended on the railway for everyday necessities, from mail and parcels to delivery of supplies. At first, only military personnel travelled by train, but later civilians could as well. The best-known occupation-period train was called the "Mozart Train". Reserved for the USA, it travelled from Vienna Franz Joseph Station to Salzburg and Munich. Initially, the route for the USSR went from Vienna's Ostbahnhof towards the Hungarian border. Later, it departed from Baden, where the Soviet headquarters were located, via Wiener Neustadt to Gramatneusiedl.

<h2>Refugees, returnees and displaced persons</h2>
In addition to these occupation-era trains, after the end of the war, many refugees, displaced persons and former forced labourers were returned to their home countries. There were also Austrians who needed to come back home, such as former Wehrmacht soldiers had been in Soviet captivity. They mostly arrived at stations such as Vienna's Ostbahnhof or Wiener Neustadt, where they were greeted by crowds of people. Many women, however, waited in vain for their husbands to return.

Cover photo: Russian border guards at the stop on the demarcation line at the south portal of the Semmering Tunnel, 1950.
Unless otherwise indicated, the image rights are held by © ÖBB Infra.

Russische Grenzkontrolleure beim Haltepunkt an der Demarkationslinie beim Suedportal des Semmeringtunnels 1950 230517

ÖBB under the administration of the Allies

The war destroyed countless railway lines, carriages, buildings and bridges, all of which took a long time to repair.

There were too many sad statistics: 40% of the railway network, 25% of railway buildings, 75% of steam locomotives, about 50% of passenger and freight carriages and 381 bridges were destroyed or badly damaged during the war. Since most of the workshops specialising in the construction of certain types of vehicles had also fallen victim to the war, little progress was made on repairs. The destruction was caused both by air raids and direct combat. Even though the Allied air raids did result in so much rubble and ashes, they were necessary. Without them, Austria's liberation from the Nazi regime would not have been possible. The country was now liberated – but in a desolate state.

<h2>Step by step out of destruction</h2>
Following the end of the war, only minimal operation was possible on the railway lines. This posed a dire situation as the populace relied heavily on the transportation of food and supplies. To expedite the repair efforts, temporary railway workshops were established in repurposed factories with rail access. The task of rebuilding the tracks, railway structures and especially the bridges proved to be highly challenging, demanding extensive time and labour.

<h2>Particularly time-consuming and material-intensive: the reconstruction of bridges</h2>
The Northern Railway Bridge over the Danube, currently one of Austria's busiest railway sections, remained out of commission until 1959, a staggering 14 years after the war was over. The Vienna elevated railway, running between Jedlersdorf and Leopoldau, wasn't reactivated until 1996. It took more than 60 years for the Freudenau Winter Harbour Bridge to reopen. This particular railway link, connecting the Freudenau container terminal to Vienna's southern railway lines and the Kledering central transfer station, was finally finished in 2008.

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The daunting task of reconstruction

Further electrification, construction of new stations and workshop buildings, and the procurement of new equipment.

In addition to the reconstruction work, various new projects were also initiated. However, delays were common due to limited financial resources, a common challenge faced by ÖBB. Among these endeavours, the most significant was undoubtedly the electrification of the final stretch of the Westbahn between Amstetten and Vienna. 
Starting from December 1952, uninterrupted electric operation became a reality, connecting Vienna to the Swiss border at Buchs.

<h2>The new Westbahnhof in Vienna – and other new stations</h2>
As part of the electrification process, the initial section of the new station building of Wien Westbahnhof was unveiled, featuring eleven new platform tracks. The striking "modern" design, characterised by a large glass façade, garnered significant attention. 
Regrettably, some errors were made during the planning phase, such as the use of separate roofing for each platform. This led to operational issues during heavy snowfall, which could have been mitigated with a unified roofing system for all tracks.
 In addition to Vienna's Westbahnhof, new station buildings were also constructed in Linz, Graz, Villach and Innsbruck, along with several smaller stations, all following a minimalist architectural style.

<h2>Power stations, tunnel works &amp; more: all part of electrification</h2>
Electrification necessitated a whole host of additional measures. New power stations had to be built concurrently to ensure sufficient electricity for rail operations. Moreover, all overhead telephone and telecommunications lines had to be converted to underground cables and the safety systems had to be adjusted to meet current standards. For the electrification of the southern railway line, it became imperative to drill a second tunnel tube parallel to the Semmering Summit Tunnel. This new single-track tunnel had to be wide enough to accommodate the electric train infrastructure. Additionally, the double-track "Old Semmering Tunnel," previously used for steam-powered locomotives, underwent comprehensive renovation and sealing, finally reopening as a single-track tunnel. By 1959, the entire Semmering line was operating under electrical power.

<h2>New workshops, new equipment</h2>
Gradually, newly constructed railway-owned workshops emerged, equipped with state-of-the-art machinery and tools. In 1948, the Jedlersdorf freight car factory underwent reconstruction, introducing an efficient flow-cycle procedure for scheduled overhauls of the freight cars, a pioneering development. As a result, the Floridsdorf main workshop was able to handle a greater number of steam locomotive repairs. By the end of the 1950s, the repair of electric railcars was successfully established, expanding the capabilities further. Over time, ÖBB procured and deployed new electric locomotives, diesel railcars, passenger carriages and freight cars. ÖBB was on the move again.

Small Der Neue Wiener westbahnhof Kassenhalle 1953

New buildings and modernisation

No more competition between bus and train: after World War II, the Austrian postal service and ÖBB began to cooperate.

The history of the postbus in Austrian territory began 116 years ago: in 1907, the first motorised "postal bus" was put into service. It replaced the previously common stagecoach, had room for 17 passengers and ran between Neumarkt and Predazzo in South Tyrol – at a maximum travel speed of 22 km/h. A lot has happened since then. In 1927, bus transport over the Grossglockner Mountain was started, and the lorry and bus transport company LOBEG (Lastwagen- und Omnibus-Betriebs-GmbH) was founded. In 1931, LOBEG was bought by the railway’s automobile company “Bundesbahn Kraftwagenunternehmung”, and after a reorganisation renamed "KÖB – Kraftwagenbetrieb der Österreichischen Bundesbahn" (Automobile Operations of the Austrian Federal Railway). During World War II, KÖB was incorporated into “ROB – Reichsomnibusverkehrsgesellschaft m.b.H.” (Omnibus Transport Company of the Reich). 1948 then saw the first cooperation between the Austrian Post and ÖBB: they jointly founded "KWD – Kraftwagendienst der ÖBB" (Automobile Service of ÖBB) and divided up the areas of operation.

Despite the success story of the train, the bus plays a decisive role in Austria's public transport, mostly since the mountainous terrain makes it impossible to cover the whole country with a rail network. Also, regular train connections don’t always make sense in less densely populated areas, such as in the countryside where buses are strongest.
The connection of bus and rail in Austria has become a model of success. In 2003, ÖBB took over 100 per cent of the shares of the country’s postal bus provider “Österreichische Postbus AG” with the aim of merging postal and rail bus services. On 1 January 2005, the two services indeed merged to form a joint bus offer under the brand name “Postbus – Ein Unternehmen der ÖBB” (Postbus – an ÖBB company). This marked the birth of Austria's largest mobility service provider in public bus transport: ÖBB-Postbus GmbH. After deploying the first e-buses for intercity service in 2018, with the aim of further consolidation, ÖBB-Postbus then became part of the larger public limited company “Österreichische Postbus Aktiengesellschaft”, which was specially formed for this purpose in 2020.

Following its eventful history, Österreichische Postbus Aktiengesellschaft is now the largest bus company in Austria. Every year, their postbuses take more than 190 million passengers to their destinations. With more than 800 routes and almost 18,000 stops, it serves about 80 per cent of Austria's municipalities. In fact, the postbus is the only means of public transport in over a third of the 1,600 communities they serve several times a day, thus ensuring public connections in rural areas – even for the remotest corners of Austria.

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Excursion: ÖBB and the postbus

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Reconstruction

As a form of reparation, crude oil was transported by ÖBB to the Soviet Union.

"We are free" exclaimed the headline of the extra edition of the daily newspaper Kurier on 15 May 1955. The paper detailed a special report from the grand hall of the Belvedere, where the State Treaty was signed. This momentous occasion marked a solemn act and signalled the beginning of a new chapter in the nation's history.

<h2>What the new freedom meant for ÖBB</h2>
Although Austria had regained its political independence, it still grappled with the repercussions of the war. The Soviet Union, in particular, demanded reparations from Austria until 1965 – a ten-year commitment. 
These reparations, however, would be made in the form of crude oil rather than cash, since Austria possessed ample oil reserves. In fact, the country was one of Europe's largest oil producers at that time. 
The majority of the crude oil transported by ÖBB tank cars originated from wine growing areas, specifically Aspern, Neusiedl an der Zaya and Aderklaa in the Marchfeld area near Vienna. These locations housed the most productive oil wells in the country.

Cover photo: Last Austrian relief shipment for USSR. © Votava / Brandstätter Images / picturedesk.com taken on 27.07.1961.
Unless otherwise indicated, the image rights are held by © ÖBB Infra.

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The State Treaty and its consequences

ÖBB's non-electrified lines saw a gradual switch from steam to diesel.

"Blauer Blitz" (blue lightning) was the name given to the new long-distance diesel railcars designed to replace steam locomotives on non-electrified railway lines. Depending on the route, they also had other nicknames. For instance, "Venezia" operated on the Vienna-Venice route, while "Vindobona" ran the Vienna-East Berlin route starting in the mid-1960s.