Vienna begins 10-year upgrade of five-kilometre Verbindungsbahn
Friday 18th September 2026 on 05:15 in
Austria
Work has begun on the upgrade of Vienna’s five-kilometre Verbindungsbahn railway line between Hütteldorf and Meidling, ORF reported. The project in the Hietzing district includes new stations and sections of elevated track and is scheduled for completion by 2036.
The modernisation is intended to allow S-Bahn trains to run every 15 minutes. Construction was originally due to start in 2025 but was delayed by appeals from environmental organisations and citizens’ initiatives. The Federal Administrative Court ultimately approved the project.
Construction to proceed in three sections
The northern section near Hietzinger Hauptstraße is scheduled for completion in 2030, the central section near Speising by 2032 and the southern section near Stranzenbergbrücke by 2036. The new Wien-Hietzinger Hauptstraße station, the centrepiece of the northern section, is due to open by the end of 2029.
Track in this section will run on an elevated structure for about 800 metres, from the Wiental bridges to approximately Beckgasse. This will allow the railway crossings at Auhofstraße and Hietzinger Hauptstraße to be closed.
Wien-Speising station will be modernised and moved east to enable step-free boarding, which is not possible at its current location in a tight curve. It will have accessible entrances from the redesigned Dreiecksplatz, Speisinger Straße and Hofwiesengasse.
The new Stranzenbergbrücke station will be located beneath the bridge of the same name. It will have two accessible entrances from the bridge and another entrance from a new accessible footbridge and cycle bridge between Klimtgasse and Kernstraße.
A road underpass for motorised traffic will be built on Versorgungsheimstraße via Jagdschloßgasse to replace the railway crossings at Veitingergasse, Versorgungsheimstraße and Jagdschloßgasse. Accessible pedestrian underpasses with lifts suitable for bicycles will also be built at Veitingergasse and Jagdschlossgasse. The Hildegard-Teuschl-Weg linking the two streets will be widened and made accessible.
The underpass at Hofwiesengasse will be enlarged, while the passages at Zehetnergasse, Guldengasse and Hackinger Straße in Vienna’s 14th district will be widened. Comprehensive noise protection will also be installed along the line for the first time.