Austria has a highly developed and efficient transport system that includes road, rail, air, and water networks. The countryâÂÂs rail system is extensive and reliable. High-speed trains connect major cities like Vienna, Salzburg, and Innsbruck, while regional trains serve smaller towns. International train services link Austria with neighboring countries, including Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Hungary, making rail travel a convenient option for both domestic and cross-border journeys.
Austria is also highly developed with well-maintained highways (Autobahns) and roads connecting all parts of the country. Driving is common, supported by strict traffic regulations and a toll system on major highways. Public buses and long-distance coaches provide additional options, especially for rural areas that are less accessible by train.
Urban transport is particularly efficient in Austrian cities. Vienna, Graz, and Linz, for example, have extensive networks of metros (U-Bahn), trams, buses, and suburban trains (S-Bahn), offering residents and visitors reliable and punctual public transport. Vienna is especially known for its comprehensive and user-friendly public transport system, which is widely used across the city.
Air transport connects Austria to the rest of the world, with Vienna International Airport serving as the main hub. While water transport is less significant, the Danube River allows for some passenger and freight movement, linking Austria with other Central and Eastern European countries. Cycling has also become increasingly popular, with dedicated bike lanes in cities and scenic routes in rural areas and the Alps, supporting sustainable and recreational travel.
Austria has 6 major airports, 55 airports in total and two heliports. The largest by passenger volume is Vienna International Airport. Secondary airports include Graz, Linz, Innsbruck, Salzburg and Klagenfurt.
Austrian Airlines is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of Lufthansa, the flag carrier of Germany. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its hub. The airline is a member of the Star Alliance.
The national railway system of Austria is the ÃÂsterreichische Bundesbahnen, or ÃÂBB. Besides, there are a few other railway companies in Austria.
The Austrian railway network has a length of , of which are electrified. Most lines are in , while especially in the Alpine region there are several narrow-gauge railway lines and funiculars.
Within the European Union, Austria is among the leaders regarding the distance traveled by rail per inhabitant and year: in 2022. It was ranked fifth among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index.
In Austria, many narrow gauge railways were constructed due to the difficult mountainous terrain. Many survive to this day as a common carrier or a heritage railway.
Most new high-speed rail sections in Austria have a continuous maximum design speed of . The Brenner Base Tunnel under construction will allow speeds of up to .
The Koralmbahn, the first entirely new railway line in the Second Austrian Republic has been under construction since 2006. It includes a new tunnel (the Koralmtunnel) connecting the cities of Klagenfurt and Graz. Primarily built for intermodal freight transport, it will also be used by passenger trains travelling at up to . The travel time between Klagenfurt and Graz will be reduced from three hours to one hour. The Koralmbahn is expected to be operational by 2025.
The Nightjet of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÃÂBB) runs routes out of Austria to international overnight destinations in Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland and more.
Nightjet trains offers beds in sleeper carriages (Nightjet's most comfortable service category), couchette carriages, and seated carriages. On certain connections, cars can also be transported on the train. Bikes can be transported in a bike transport bag, or on some connections also in special bike racks.
One such rapid transit exists in Austria's capital, Vienna: the U-Bahn. 459.8 million passengers rode the U-Bahn in 2019. Lines are designated by a number and the prefix "U" (for U-Bahn) and identified on station signage and related literature by a colour. There are five lines; U1, U2, U3, U4 and U6.
The modern-day U-Bahn opened on 25 February 1978, after test operations that began on 8 May 1976. Parts of two of the lines, designated U4 and U6, date back to the Stadtbahn ("city railway") system, which opened in 1898. Parts of the U2 and U6 lines began as subway tunnels built to accommodate earlier tram lines. Only the U1 and U3 were built wholly as new subway lines.
7 cities have suburban rail systems called the S-Bahn.
Trams in Austria begin their history in 1870, with a first horse-drawn system in Vienna. Austria has varying gauges on its tram systems; in Graz and in Vienna, trams run on the . In Innsbruck and Gmunden, trams drop to use the gauge. Completing the tram system in Austria is the fifth system in Linz, where stock rolls on the unusual track gauge of . The Gmunden line's maximum gradient of 10.0% makes it one of the world's steepest surviving adhesion-only tram lines.
In Austria, national highways are referred to as Bundesstrassen. Higher-capacity and higher-speed Bundesstrassen are further categorized into Autobahns and Schnellstrassen (expressways).
The traffic signs adhere to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.
The general speed limits are:
The Austrian autobahns are controlled-access highways in Austria. They are officially called BundesstraÃÂen A (Bundesautobahnen) under the authority of the Federal Government according to the Austrian Federal Road Act (BundesstraÃÂengesetz), not to be confused with the former BundesstraÃÂen highways maintained by the Austrian states since 2002. The allowed topspeed is 130 km/h for cars up to 3500 kg.
Austria currently has 18 autobahns, built and maintained by the self-financed ASFiNAG stock company in Vienna and earns revenue from road user charges and tolls. Each route bears a number as well as an official name with local reference, which, however, is not displayed on road signs. The current Austrian Autobahn network has a total length of . The system is going to be expanded; one autobahn is currently under construction, and one more is planned. The transit traffic across the main chain of the Alps, especially by trucks, has led to a considerable environmental load to the fragile Alpine ecosystem. Several action groups urge the transfer of freight transport from road to rail. In 1991, Austria signed the Alpine Convention on the protection of the natural environment.
, there were 100,000 electric vehicles in Austria, equivalent to 2% of all vehicles in the country. , 13.9% of new cars registered in Austria were electric.
358 km, mainly along the Danube
All ports access the Danube.
All Austrian ports are via the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal also connected to the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.