Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof

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Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof is a train station in Vienna’s Alsergrund district and the southern end of the Franz-Josefs-Bahn. The first provisional terminus opened in 1870, and the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof was built starting in 1872 and completed in 1878. It was designed in a grand historicist style. In 1907 it gained a tram connection to link with other Vienna stations. During the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair, there were direct trains from here to Prague, taking about nine hours by day and eighteen hours overnight.

In World War II the station was damaged but it was the first Vienna main station to reopen after the war. The old reception building later appeared in the 1968 film Mayerling and was demolished in 1974. A new station building with large office spaces above the tracks opened in 1978, and the nearby UZA lecture hall complex was finished in 1995.

Today Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof is mainly a regional train station. Regional-Express trains run to Krems, Gmünd, Tulln, and České Velenice in the Czech Republic. It is the terminus of Vienna S-Bahn line S40 to St. Pölten. Since the 2022/23 timetable, it also serves international Silva Nortica trains from Prague. The station area includes a grocery store serving local residents outside regular hours.