Kufstein railway station serves the city of Kufstein, in the Kufstein district of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol. Opened in 1876, it is an Austrian- German border station, close to the border between Tyrol and Bavaria. The station forms part of the Lower Inn Valley railway, and is also a terminus of the Rosenheim–Kufstein railway. It is owned and operated by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB).

Location

Kufstein railway station is situated in Südtiroler Platz, right in the heart of the city, on the west bank of the

Inn river , image = UnterinntalWest.JPG , image_caption = Lower Inn valley from Rattenberg castle , source1_location = Swiss Alps (Lägh dal Lunghin) , source1_elevation = , source1_coordinates= , mouth_location = Danube (Passau) , mo ...

History

038L33080678 Bahnhof Kufstein Festung Kufstein

In 1858, a railway was opened between Rosenheim and

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

via Kufstein. However, it was not until 1876 that a station was built in Kufstein. In 1980, the city's original

station building A station building, also known as a head house, is the main building of a passenger railway station. It is typically used principally to provide services to passengers. A station building is a component of a station, which can include tracks, p ...

was completely replaced by what was, for that time, quite a modern structure. At the start of the 1980s, the other facilities at the station were similarly comprehensively rebuilt. As part of the renovations, the pedestrian bridge in Kufstein's locality of Zell was moved a few hundred metres (yards) to the south. A new park-and-ride facility has been built on the west side of the station, and the platforms were equipped with lifts. The platforms at Kufstein are amongst the longest in Austria, at over . Up until now, the station has never been a hub, although several projects are well advanced. Even so, it can be designated indirectly as a node, because Austrian domestic trains operate from Kufstein along the line to Rosenheim until just before Rosenheim, where they turn onto the ''Rosenheimer Schleife'', and then continue on to Salzburg, without stopping in Germany.

Train services

Almost all trains passing through Kufstein stop there, including multiple daily Intercity-Express (ICE) connections (to Vienna, Bregenz, Innsbruck, and Berlin).

Regional trains Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail, but fewer stops and faster serv ...

operate between Rosenheim und Innsbruck and other stops in the Upper Inn valley, and between Wörgl Hauptbahnhof and Kufstein, Kufstein, and Rosenheim, and between Kufstein and Munich. Line S1 of the

Tyrol S-Bahn The Tyrol S-Bahn provides regional rail services in metropolitan Innsbruck, Austria and its hinterlands in the state of Tyrol. At present, it is only a nominally an S-Bahn in that it only operates on the lines of the Austrian Federal Railways. Expa ...

links Kufstein at hourly intervals with Landeck.

EuroCity EuroCity, abbreviated as EC, is a cross-border train category within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains allocated to the lower-level "IC" (InterCity) category, EC trains are international services that meet 20 criteri ...

and InterCity trains operate at least hourly to Innsbruck and then to further destinations alternating between Bregenz, Switzerland and Italy and also at least every second hour to Munich and Vienna. There are also other further trains, such as an express train to Zell am See, and various special trains and DB City Night Line, CityNightLine connections to Belgium, Denmark, northern Germany and the Netherlands.

Interchange

The station is a terminus for many regional and city buses. Taxis are available at a large taxi stand in front of the station building.

The future

In cooperation with the city of Kufstein and the Stadtwerke Kufstein,:de:Stadtwerke Kufstein the ÖBB is planning a redesigned station forecourt (Südtirolerplatz) - a concept still in development. The new Unterinntaltrasse (English:''Lower Inn Valley route'') is under construction between Kundl and Hall in Tirol. In a few years, other sections of the route will be constructed between Wörgl and Kufstein, and between Kufstein and Brannenburg. However, a construction start on these sections before 2020 is no longer a possibility. In all likelihood, the new route will not affect Kufstein station, but will pass further west of the city through open fields, and then lead into a long tunnel to Flintsbach/Brannenburg. The route selection process for Kundl to Langkampfen section is underway, but future plans depend heavily on the interests of Germany, as the tunnel will run under the border. Meanwhile, the ÖBB has submitted to the city of Kufstein a project for land use changes on the site of the former customs clearance facilities. The ÖBB hopes to obtain permission to build a multi-storey office and commercial building on that site.

References

External links

* {{ÖBB web, 1270502 ''This article is based upon a translation of the :de:Bahnhof Kufstein, German language version as at February 2011.'' Kufstein, Railway Station Railway stations in Tyrol (state) Railway stations opened in 1876