Imperial Austrian State Railways
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Imperial Austrian State Railways (in German kaiserlich-königliche österreichische Staatsbahnen) was a state railway company in the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary.
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[edit] Early history
In 1810 a horse-drawn railway (22 km) was opened at the Styrian Erzberg (Ore Mountain) for transportation of iron stones (see Eisenerz). In 1832 a horse-drawn railway between Linz and České Budějovice (Budweis) has been opened. It had length of 128.8 km and was the first interurban railway in Europe.
The first section of the railway between Vienna and Cracow ("Kaiser Ferdinands Nordbahn") was opened in 1837. Designed by Franz Xaver Riepl it was financed by the Rothschilds. The state took keen interest in railroads and in late 1854 994 km of railway lines were state owned (out of 1,443 km, almost 70%).
After 1854 because of financial crisis in the Empire the railroads in the Austrian part were sold at prices cut to the bone, some to French investors. Concessions for new private companies were granted. The Long Depression, started by Vienna stock market crash in 1873, resulted in bankruptcy of several railways and the state took them over.
After the Austro-Hungarian compromise in 1876 the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) were taken under state control.
[edit] Austrian state railways
At the end of 1884 the state railway network covered 5,103 km. On July 1, 1884 the "kk Generaldirektion der Staatsbahnen" ("Imperial General Directorate of the State Railways") was founded and this was birth of the "kaiserlich-königliche Staatsbahnen" (abbreviated as "kkStB" or "k.k.St.B.").
By nationalizing of other companies or taking over their traffic the company obtained practical monopoly in railway transport - "Südbahn" (SB, southern railway) was the only major company that remained private until the end of Empire. In 1914, out of a total of 22,981 km of railway tracks on Austrian territory, 18,859, (82%) were state owned.
After end of the First World War the vehicle park and infrastructure of kkStB was divided among state railway companies of successor states: Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD) in Czechoslovakia, Deutschösterreichische Staatsbahnen (DÖStB) in Austria (in 1919 renamed to Österreichische Staatsbahnen, ÖStB, in 1921 renamed to Bundesbahn Österreich, BBÖ), and others.
[edit] Timeline
