The Vorarlberg S-Bahn is a label for

regional rail 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 ...

services in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

. It is integrated into the which manages ticket pricing, and is operated by the state-owned

ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways (german: Österreichische Bundesbahnen, formally (lit. "Austrian Federal Railways Holding Stock Company") and formerly the or ''BBÖ''), now commonly known as ÖBB, is the national railway company ...

and privately owned Montafonerbahn (mbs). In addition to Vorarlberg, the network connects to the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

town of

Lindau Lindau (german: Lindau (Bodensee), ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Ge ...

and the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

town of St. Margrethen.

Establishment

In December 2005, the first

Bombardier Talent The Talent is a multiple unit railcar manufactured by Bombardier that was developed by Waggonfabrik Talbot in Aachen shortly before the company was acquired by Bombardier in 1995. The name ''Talent'' is an acronym in German for ''TALbot LEicht ...

s were given

S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban- suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble co ...

branding. However, only VVV timetables designated these services as such - ÖBB ran them as a standard

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

service, and only later the S1 and S3 lines took over. Since December 2020, mbs' services on the S4 line are also designated as S-Bahn. Fleet modernization began in 2018 to the standard. This includes a new paint scheme, new seat covers, and passenger information monitors.

Lines

ÖBB operates lines the lines 1, 2, and 3 while Montafonerbahn operates line 4.

S1: Lindau - Bludenz

The S1 is the busiest of the Vorarlberg S-Bahn's lines. S-Bahn and

Regional-Express In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at f ...

trains run on separate tracks in intervals of less than ten minutes. Since December 2011, between Bregenz and Bludenz there is a time interval of 30 minutes until 23:00. The most important urban transport hubs along the route are Bludenz Station,

Bregenz Railway Station Bregenz railway station (german: Bahnhof Bregenz) is a railway station in the municipality of Bregenz, located in the Bregenz district in Vorarlberg, Austria. It is an intermediate stop of the Vorarlberg line of Austrian Federal Railways. Serv ...

, Dornbirn and Feldkirch.

S3: Bregenz - St. Margrethen

S3 trains currently run every half an hour, with some hourly services in the mornings and evenings. The line was expanded to an almost continuous half-hourly coverage until 2016. With its terminus in St. Margrethen, the S3 provides connection to the S-Bahn St. Gallen. The most important metro node along the route is

Lustenau Lustenau (; gsw, Luschnou) is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg in the district of Dornbirn. It lies on the river Rhine, which forms the border with Switzerland. Lustenau is Vorarlberg's fourth largest town. Geography Luste ...

. All former '' R'' and '' REX'' trains on the route become S-Bahn trains but retain their old stopping pattern.

S4: Schruns - Bludenz

S4 trains run primarily on an hourly basis.

S2 (proposed): Feldkirch - Buchs

The

Feldkirch–Buchs railway The Feldkirch–Buchs railway is a electrified single track railway line that links Austria and Switzerland passing through Liechtenstein. Owned by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), it is the only railway line in Liechtenstein. History The ...

is already operated by ÖBB. Proposals are underway to upgrade the line and designate it as part of the S-Bahn network, under the project name "

S-Bahn Liechtenstein The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...

" ( de; formerly ''S-Bahn FL.A.CH''). A Letter of Intent was signed between Austria and Liechtenstein in April 2020.

Rolling Stock

2015-06-09 ÖBB 4024 im Bahnhof Kirchbichl in Tirol

ÖBB currently operates 1st-generation Bombardier Talent Class 4024s across all its S-Bahn lines. ÖBB signed an agreement to purchase up to 300 new

Bombardier Talent 3 The CAF Talent 3 is a family of railcars designed by Bombardier Transportation and produced by CAF. The first generation Talent ''(Talbot leichter Nahverkehrs-Triebwagen)'' was built in 1996 by Waggonfabrik Talbot in Aachen, Germany. In contrast ...

units for delivery from mid-2019. However, Bombardier is behind on testing and the Talent 3 is yet to be delivered, prompting the refurbishment of the existing Talent 1 series. ÖBB has now decided to re-tender the contract, after a single unit was given for passenger testing in November 2020.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.oebb.at/en/regionale-angebote/vorarlberg/s-bahn-vorarlberg.html

Transport in Vorarlberg Passenger rail transport in Liechtenstein Cross-border railway lines in Switzerland Cross-border railway lines in Germany