Route Vienna S40 Line: Wien - Franz Josefs Bahnhof - Tulln An Der Donau - St. Polten

Like two days ago, while waiting for my leisure ride from Wien - Franz Josefs Bahnhof (only 2 stops to Heiligenstadt; now with those construction works on U4, this is actually the best way to get between those two, provided you catch one of the REX trains to Gmund, Krems or so), I got an idea for a quite nice and varied, albeit a bit slow route (atm the speeds are anywhere between 60 and 120 kph, not much more as far as I know)

S40, first off, connects some of Vienna's smaller stations compared to the likes of Mitte or Hbf, but they are big transport hubs nevertheless - Spittelau has pretty much every mode of transport plus two U-Bahn lines, Heiligenstadt being U4 terminus, S-Bahn station and having some bus and tram connections as well, then Nussdorf being the edge of Kernzone here (also has DIRECT connection to Hbf via tram D)... outside Vienna, it goes via Klosterneuburg (kind of twin town of Korneuburg, kind of interesting history) and then follows the river Danube all the way to Tulln an der Donau (Blumen/Gartenstadt of Osterreich cos of flowers being everywhere; also has a military air base/strip nearby, therefore there is an old jet as symbol when entering Tulln) before briefly joining the Tullnerfeld railway... then follows some smaller towns all the way to St. Polten

Similar to the Old Westbahn via Purkersdorf and Neulengbach, this isnt the best or fastest way, if you want to reach St. Polten - in terms of speed and travel time it just cant compete with CJX5 (from Wien Westbahnhof, uses part of highspeed corridors, stops only at Wien - Hutteldorf and Tullnerfeld before St. Polten) or any RailJet services (either those that also go through Tullnerfeld or just shoot straight for St. Polten via highspeed sections/tunnels), but thats not really the point... there is a lot of people travelling from either end of this line to Vienna or St. Polten, especially to Vienna

The line/corridors this line covers have big variety of service patterns, termini and rolling stock... some S40s go all the way to St. Polten, some only to Tulln, some even only to St. Andra - Wordern, with various stopping patterns, depending on service... also, some services, particularly REXs, diverge from this route at Tulln, before continuing to destinations like Gmund NO, Krems NO, České Velenice, some Breclav services, there is even a DIRECT service to Prague (besides Silva Nortica that only stops in Gmund which is outside this line) REX41 (which again sometimes goes to Gmund... Ceske Velenice, and a couple of those go all the way to Prague)

And now we get to rolling stock here - BIG variety:

OBB 4020 aka old S-Bahn trains


OBB 4024, mostly in CityJet livery


1144 or 1016/1116s + Wiesel dostos + 8033 cab car (I also saw a very WEIRD consist that had 1144 + Wiesel dostos + CityShuttle single-deck cab car lol)

sometimes they would just put CityShuttle single-deck carriages and cab car in there, I guess depends on service

Almost forgot, the line, according to the sites I found, is around 79km... the stations are supercool, views are great, nice infrastructure, and especially the way to Tulln is super-nice, as you observe the smaller towns and such... it also runs for nice chunks of length either besides roads, cycling paths, under structures... so yea, the views... not only Danube, but also Klosterneuburg etc. ... havent yet ridden further than Tulln as passenger, might do it after salary arrives

What goes FOR this route is that despite having to use a lot of assets for distinct stations and sights along the way, the parts in Vienna it passes through are not really as densely built as other routes might be

As an after-note, Franz Josefs Bahnhof is undergoing MASSIVE reconstruction, or even upgrade... the platforms and such are pretty much done, but there is still a lot of work... there are speculations that there might be far-future plans to connect Franz Josefs Bahnhof to Stammstrecke SOMEHOW... not like you couldnt get a train to Hbf, but it would be a huge bypass... will see I guess )

Edit: Apparently, the "Silva Nortica" also stops at Tulln, and even though it is also designated in OBB app as REX41, depending on if it is 9:00 or 15:00 service from Wien FJB (and other times when making return journeys) it also has designation as R326/324 by ČD (it has Taurus pulling like 5 IC coaches with vmax 200 kph)

 

I agree, even tough I think the OBB 4746 would make a great addition to this dlc.

 

4746 would make sense only if DTG also did either old Westbahn or the new highspeed Westbahn... havent really seen any Desiros on the whole corridor... there are mostly 4024/4124s and 4020/6020s, with various consists for services that go to Tulln but then diverge towards Krems and beyond

as for Wien - St. Polten in general, Desiros are present on the old Westbahn as S50s, but those usually only go to Neulengbach or closer... and as for new Westbahn, they do CJX5 service, which goes from Wien Westbahnhof, stops at Hutteldorf, then BLASTS its way to Tullnerfeld and from there to St. Polten and beyond (I believe it goes as far as Amstetten), full balls to the wall 160 kph most of the way (and since it isnt as air-tight as ICEs or RailJets, it can be quite a lot on your ear drums when in tunnels)

 

Oh yes please! 4020 and 1144 with 4024 layers would be perfect for this route! Some more ÖBB stuff would be welcoming, with variation of stock!

 

yesterday I rode on REX8 from Wien Hbf to Marchegg, CityShuttle cab car in the front, some CityShuttle coaches and pushed by 1144... got to 45 kph at the end of platform, 60-80 in Vienna, and outside, it got to 90-120 very quickly, and most of the way it blasted at 140 kph... after electrification and when the double tracking and such are completely done, this will become one of the best racetrack sections in whole OBB network