The Vienna S-Bahn main line will be open again from Monday. The U4 will also be running again.
The difficult summer is coming to an end – difficult in terms of public transport in and around Vienna. During the holiday months, numerous construction sites and closures caused moments of frustration for users of ÖBB and Wiener Linien. Everything should be running again – more or less – when school starts in early September.
The biggest construction site was probably the closure of the main S-Bahn line between Floridsdorf and Praterstern. According to the ÖBB, regular traffic is due to resume there on September 2nd. Replacement bus services will then no longer be necessary, and the diversion of REX1 trains via Simmering and Stadlau will also be a thing of the past.
Ban again in 2025 and 2026
At least for now, because in 2025 and 2026 the section of the line will be closed again over the summer, from September 2026 to October 2027 it will be the turn of the section between Praterstern and the main station, and in November and December 2027 there will be a closure between Rennweg and Meidling. Then, according to the ÖBB schedule, the upgrade of the S-Bahn should be completed, and thanks to platform extensions and various technical changes on the route, longer trains should then be able to run at shorter intervals.
According to the ÖBB, the southern route, where tracks and switches were replaced and platforms extended between Vienna and Wiener Neustadt, will also be open again from Monday. And the Badner Bahn should also be able to run continuously again after the summer track construction work.
Waiting for U2, 43 and 44
Wiener Linien is pleased to announce that several tram lines (0, 2, 26 and 31) will be able to resume regular service when school starts. The closure of the U4 between Schwedenplatz and Schottenring will also end then. But there are also some delays.
Firstly, there is the U2 main line between Karlsplatz and Schottentor, which was actually supposed to reopen in autumn 2023, but was postponed to the beginning of September 2024. Due to earth movements in the Rathaus station and the associated damage to the new platform edge doors, the start had to be postponed again. At the moment, there is talk of “autumn 2024”, but no one wants to commit to a more precise date.
On the other hand, the currently discontinued line 44 and the 43, which is shortened to the Gürtel, will not be running again as planned when school starts. The current plan is: the end of September.
