Nebenbahnen#

Branch Railway Lines, according to the Railway Act of 1957, branch railway lines are railways (other than tramlines) destined for areas with a low volume of traffic.

The branch railway lines emerged from the local railway lines that existed in the Austro-Hungarian empire; in those days, the building of these lines was subsidized by the state, and special regulations were set up to facilitate and support their construction in economically underdeveloped regions. 2,600 km out of 6,300 km (in 1993) of Austria´s entire railway network belong to branch railway lines, 440 km are run by private enterprises.

By establishing modern and efficient structures (radio-controlled train traffic, use of light-weight and economical equipment) efforts are being made to increase traffic on branch railway lines. This would improve their economic situation and could secure the continuation of at least some of them.