KkStB Tender Class 36

The Imperial-Royal State Railways (german: k.k. Staatsbahnen) abbr. ''kkStB'') or Imperial-Royal Austrian State Railways (''k.k. österreichische Staatsbahnen'',The name incorporating "Austrian" appears, for example, in the 1907 official state handbook (''Staatshandbuch'') and on the title page of the Imperial-Royal Railway Ministry publication
''Die neuen österr(eichischen) Alpenbahnen''
Maass’ Söhne, Vienna, 1908.) was the state railway organisation in the Cisleithanian (Austrian) part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.

History

The introduction of railway traffic in the Austrian Empire had been pushed by pioneers like physicist Franz Josef Gerstner (1756–1832), who advocated a railway connection from the Vltava basin across the Bohemian Massif to the Danube river. After in 1810 a first long horse-drawn railway line was built at the Eisenerz mine in Styria for the transport of iron stones, in 1832 a wagonway between Austrian Linz and České Budějovice (Budweis) in Bohemia opened. It was long and was the second interurban railway in continental Europe (after the French Saint-Étienne to Andrézieux Railway line opened in 1827). The southern continuation from Linz to Gmunden was finished in 1836.

The first section of a new steam locomotive railway from the Austrian capital Vienna to Kraków in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria operated by the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway company opened in 1837. Designed by Franz Xaver Riepl, it was financed by the banker Salomon Mayer von Rothschild. The line then was the second solely steam-powered railway on the continent, after the inauguration of the Belgian Brussels–Mechelen railway line in 1835.

1841 railway programme

While the Northern Railway prospered, private investors held back on financing further railroad constructions and the expansion of the Austrian network came to a standstill. Nevertheless, after initial hesitation, the Austrian government took a keen interest in railways, and launched a public investment programme in 1841.

The Northern Railway in Lower Austria was completed up to the Bohemian border at Bernhardsthal, a branch-off from Olmütz (Olomouc) and Brünn (Brno) to Prague was opened in 1845/49. In 1851, construction works reached the northern imperial border with Saxony at Bodenbach, where the Northern Railway received access to the Royal Saxon State Railways.

Beside the extension of the Northern Railway, plans for the construction of a Southern Railway (''Südbahn'') from Vienna to the Adriatic seaport at Trieste via Semmering Pass and Graz were finally carried out. Opened in 1857, it was then operated by the private Austrian Southern Railway company. In the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, the first section of the Milan–Venice railway was opened in 1842. Plans for a connection to Trieste became obsolete upon the loss of Lombardy after the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859. First construction works on the projected Western Railway (''Westbahn'') line to the border with Bavaria via Linz and Salzburg got stuck in the beginning.

By late 1854, out of of Austrian railway lines were state owned (almost 70%). After 1854, however, because of financial crisis in the Empire, the railways were sold at prices cut to the bone, many of them to French investors. Concessions for new private companies, like the Imperial Royal Privileged Austrian State Railway Company, were granted.

Austrian state railways

After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Transleithanian (Hungarian) lines of the Dual Monarchy were nationalized as the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV). Already in 1866, the Austrian trade minister Bernhard von Wüllerstorf-Urbair had urged for a greater government commitment. A re-evaluation started in the Long Depression, sparked by the Panic of 1873. The Vienna stock market crash resulted in the bankruptcy of several Austrian railway companies, and the state took them over.

With effect from 1 January 1884, the ''k.k. Generaldirektion der Staatsbahnen'' ("Imperial-Royal General Directorate of the State Railways") was founded, situated at the Austrian Ministry of Trade; this was the birth of the Imperial-Royal State Railways. Operations Divisions were established in Vienna, Linz, Innsbruck, Villach, Budweis, Pilsen, Prague, Cracow, Lemberg, Pola, and Spalato. By the end of 1884 the state railway network covered 5,103 km.

On 15 January 1896, Emperor Franz Joseph I, at the suggestion of Minister President Count Kasimir Felix Badeni, approved the establishment of the ''k.k. Eisenbahnministerium'' ("Imperial-Royal Rail Ministry"). Further divisions were founded in Triest, Olmütz and Stanislau. Minister Heinrich von Wittek promoted the expansion of the '' Wiener Stadtbahn'' network and the ''Neue Alpenbahnen'' project providing the Alps with major rail crossings, including the Tauern Railway and the Bohinj Railway, realised upon a 1901 resolution passed by the Imperial Council legislature.

By nationalizing other companies or taking over their traffic, the State Railways obtained a practical monopoly in rail transport. After the acquisition of the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway Company in 1906, followed by the Imperial Royal Privileged Austrian State Railway Company and the Austrian Northwestern Railway in 1909, the Southern Railway was the only major company that remained private until the end of Empire. In 1914, of a total of 22,981 km of railway tracks on Austrian territory, 18,859 (82%) were state owned.

Dissolution

After the end of the World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the Imperial-Royal Rail Ministry was disestablished on 12 November 1918 by resolution of the Provisional Assembly of German-Austria. The vehicle fleet and infrastructure of former ''kkStB'' were divided among state railway companies of the successor states of the Dual Monarchy:
* Austria: ''Deutschösterreichische Staatsbahnen'' (DÖStB), renamed ''Österreichische Staatsbahnen'' (ÖStB) in 1919 and '' Österreichische Bundesbahnen'' (BBÖ) in 1923
* Poland: '' Polskie Koleje Państwowe'' (PKP)
* Czechoslovakia: '' Československé státní dráhy'' (ČSD)
* Yugoslavia: ''Jugoslovenske Železnice'' (JŽ)
* Italy: '' Ferrovie dello Stato'' (FS)
* Romania: '' Căile Ferate Române'' (CFR).

With the promulgation of the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law on 10 November 1920, the supervision of the national railway system passed to the newly established Ministry of Transport.

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1100 height:1080
PlotArea = width:1080 height:1060 left:0 bottom:20
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal # dummy, required
Period = from:1825 till:1920 # dummy, required
Define $s = fontsize:M
Colors =
id:red value:coral
id:blue value:skyblue
id:green value:limegreen
id:yellow value:yellow
id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9)
BackgroundColors = bars:lightgrey canvas:lightgrey
AlignBars=justify
DateFormat = yyyy
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:black unit:year increment:5 start:1830
PlotData=
bar:MM from:1839 till:1852 color:green
at:1840 text:" Milano-Monza"
from:1852 till:1858 color:blue
from:1858 till:1918 color:red
bar:LVF from:1844 till:1858 color:orange
at:1845 text:" LVF"
from:1851 till:1858 color:blue
at:1854 text:" LVStB"
from:1858 till:1918 color:red
bar:Ti from:1857 till:1858 color:green
from:1858 till:1918 color:red
at:1857 text:" Ti"
at:1890 text:" Südbahn (SB)"
bar:SStB from:1844 till:1858 color:blue
from:1858 till:1918 color:red
at:1845 text:" Südliche Staatsbahn"
bar:OStB from:1846 till:1850 color:green
from:1850 till:1858 color:orange
from:1858 till:1892 color:blue
from:1892 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1847 text:" Kr.-Ob."
at:1851 text:" Östl. Staatsbahn"
at:1859 text:" Carl Ludwig-Bahn"
bar:NStB from:1845 till:1855 color:blue
from:1855 till:1909 color:red
from:1909 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1846 text:" Nördliche Staatsbahn"
bar:SOStB from:1845 till:1850 color:orange
from:1850 till:1855 color:green
from:1855 till:1909 color:red
from:1909 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1846 text:" Ung.Zentr."
at:1851 text:" SöStB"
at:1886 text:" Staats-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (StEG)"
bar:Raaber from:1841 till:1855 color:blue
from:1855 till:1909 color:red
from:1909 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1845 text:" Wien-Raaber-Bahn"
bar:BrünnR from:1856 till:1879 color:green
from:1879 till:1909 color:red
from:1909 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1857 text:" Brünn-Rossitzer Eisenbahn"
bar:KFNB from:1837 till:1906 color:blue
from:1906 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1865 text:" Kaiser-Ferdinands-Nordbahn (KFNB)"
bar:Pferd from:1827 till:1859 color:green
from:1859 till:1884 color:red
from:1884 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1835 text:" Erste Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft"
at:1865 text:" Kaiserin Elisabeth Bahn
bar:Dalm from:1877 till:1884 color:blue
from:1884 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1878 text:" Dalm.Stb."
bar:Dnie from:1872 till:1884 color:green
from:1884 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1878 text:"Dniester Bahn"
bar:Istr from:1876 till:1884 color:blue
from:1884 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1877 text:" Istr.Stb."
bar:Rakonitz from:1872 till:1884 color:green
from:1884 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1873 text:" Rakonitz-Protiviner Bahn"
bar:BCB from:1881 till:1910 color:blue
from:1910 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1890 text:" Böhmische Commerzialbahnen"
bar:BNB from:1865 till:1867 color:blue
from:1867 till:1883 color:green
from:1883 till:1908 color:red
from:1908 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1865 text:" TKP"
at:1868 text:" Turnau-Kralup-Prag & BNB"
at:1890 text:" Böhmische Nordbahn"
bar:BWB from:1867 till:1894 color:orange
from:1894 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1875 text:" Böhmische Westbahn"
bar:BozMer from:1881 till:1906 color:blue
from:1906 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1890 text:" Bozen-Meraner Bahn"
bar:DuxB from:1871 till:1892 color:green
from:1892 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1875 text:" Dux-Bodenbacher Eisenbahn (DBE)"
bar:EPPK from:1872 till:1884 color:blue
from:1884 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1873 text:" Pilsen-Priesen(-Komotau)"
at:1900 text:" kaiserlich-königliche"
bar:EUGE from:1872 till:1889 color:green
from:1889 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1873 text:" Erste Ungarisch-Galizische Eisenbahn"
at:1900 text:"österreichische"
bar:EAB from:1873 till:1892 color:blue
from:1892 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1880 text:" Erzherzog Albrecht-Bahn"
at:1900 text:" Staatsbahnen"
bar:KFJB from:1868 till:1884 color:green
from:1884 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1870 text:" Kaiser Franz Josefs-Bahn"
at:1900 text:"kkStB"
bar:KTB from:1881 till:1906 color:orange
from:1906 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1890 text:" Kremstalbahn"
bar:KRB from:1868 till:1884 color:blue
from:1884 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1873 text:" Kronprinz Rudolf-Bahn"
bar:LCJE from:1866 till:1889 color:green
from:1889 till:1918 color:yellow2
at:1871 text:" Lemberg-Czernowitz-Jassy Eisenbahn"
bar:MGB from:1871 till:1895 color:blue
from:1895 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1880 text:" Mährische Grenzbahn (MGB)"
bar:MSCB from:1872 till:1895 color:green
from:1895 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1873 text:" Mährisch-Schlesische Centralbahn (MSCB)"
bar:Mühl from:1888 till:1900 color:green
from:1900 till:1918 color:yellow2
at:1889 text:" Mühlkreisbahn"
bar:NÖSWB from:1877 till:1882 color:blue
from:1882 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1878 text:" NÖSWB"
bar:ÖLEG from:1880 till:1894 color:green
from:1894 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1882 text:" ÖLEG"
bar:ÖNWB from:1868 till:1908 color:red
from:1908 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1869 text:" Österreichische Nordwestbahn (ÖNWB) & Süd-Norddeutsche Verbindungsbahn"
bar:PD from:1872 till:1892 color:blue
from:1892 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1880 text:" Prag-Duxer Eisenbahn (PD)"
bar:TL from:1873 till:1884 color:green
from:1884 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1874 text:" Tarnow-Leluchow Stb."
bar:UWB from:1871 till:1889 color:blue
from:1889 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1874 text:"Ungarische Westbahn (UWB)"
bar:VB from:1872 till:1885 color:green
from:1885 till:1918 color:yellow
at:1874 text:" Vorarlberger Bahn (VB)"
bar:ATE from:1858 till:1918 color:orange
at:1884 text:" Aussig-Teplitzer Eisenbahn (A.T.E.)"
bar:BEB from:1855 till:1918 color:red
at:1864 text:" Buschtiehrader Eisenbahn (BEB)"
bar:NLB from:1880 till:1918 color:orange
at:1884 text:" Neutitscheiner Lokalbahn (NLB)"
bar:StStB from:1881 till:1918 color:red
at:1884 text:" Stauding-Stramberger Eisenbahn (StStB)"
bar:KsOd from:1869 till:1918 color:orange
at:1874 text:" Kaschau-Oderberger Bahn (Ks.Od.)"

See also

* List of locomotives and railbuses of the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways

References

External links

History of Austrian Railway until 1918
(PDF
as HTML
(PDF
as HTML

{{Authority control

Defunct railway companies of Austria
Railway companies established in 1884
Railway companies disestablished in 1918
Organizations based in Austria-Hungary