European Railroad Discussion > Wien Hauptbahnhof (Vienna Central Station) opened

Wien Hauptbahnhof was officially opened today. Though regional trains began serving the station two years ago and long-distance trains will begin serving it come the European timetable change in December (with full operation scheduled for December 2015), today the main public areas (main hall, shops, ticket offices) were finally opened. The transformation of the Südbahnhof terminal that previously occupied the site into Wien Hbf's through station cost over €1 billion and took five years.

Lots of photos over at Austrian Broadcasting (ORF): http://orf.at/stories/2248965/2248964/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/14 13:53 by pennengineer.

Wonder what is the long-term plan for the Bahnorama.

It IS a pretty cool overlook!

A good example, too, of the problems with passenger trains in the US: a billion euros for one station in a country with 3% of the population of the US, as much as the whole Amtrak system gets in a year. Those who rail against the failures of Amtrak never seem to take such a basic statistic as this into account.

Ptolemy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A good example, too, of the problems with
> passenger trains in the US: a billion euros for
> one station in a country with 3% of the population
> of the US, as much as the whole Amtrak system gets
> in a year. Those who rail against the failures
> of Amtrak never seem to take such a basic
> statistic as this into account.

Just goes to show that rich countries have choices, and it's all a matter of priorities between private consumption and public spending.
The GDP of the US is 20% greater than that of Austria, while the population is indeed over 30 times greater. However, there is only Wien in Austria, and it almost 10 times larger than the next biggest city (Graz). In contrast there are at at least 30 cities the size of Wien in the US.

I am not saying that the Hauptbahnhof is necessarily a worthwhile project, simply that it depends on what kind of world you want to live in. When you're affluent you face alternatives, the same as what kind of house or car you want to buy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/14 02:43 by spflow.

spflow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Just goes to show that rich countries have
> choices, and it's all a matter of priorities
> between private consumption and public spending.
> The GDP of the US is 20% greater than that of
> Austria, while the population is indeed over 30
> times greater. However, there is only Wien in
> Austria, and it almost 10 times larger than the
> next biggest city (Graz). In contrast there are at
> at least 30 cities the size of Wien in the US.


Per Wikipedia, the GDP of Austria is $400 billion (give or take, averaging between nominal and PPP). The GDP of the US is $16 trillion. This is about 40X larger.

Population of Austria is around 8-9 million. US is 310-320 million at this point....again same multiplier. However, US has easier access to resources, and is in full control of its monetary policy (Austria, being part of the Eurozone, does not have that flexibility), thus the US is even richer in reality.

Vienna is 1.8 million people. There are definitely NOT 30 comparable cities in the US. Maybe 10...although 5-7 sounds more right.


> I am not saying that the Hauptbahnhof is
> necessarily a worthwhile project, simply that it
> depends on what kind of world you want to live in.
> When you're affluent you face alternatives, the
> same as what kind of house or car you want to buy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/14 09:47 by chs7-321.

Overall GDP or GDP per head? As said above it is about choices - the US seems to have chosen to spend a lots of its GDP on the military, Austria on other things.

What this discussion illustrates is how hard it is to make any comparisons between nations that are structurally, culturally, geographically and economically so different.

Wien is a densely populated capital of a small nation at the hub of many central European routes. Many US cities are extremely dispersed mega-suburbias. Using data from "Metropolitan Statistical Areas" gives a total of 53 with populations greater than 1 million, with 37 greater than Wien.

But these are completely different kinds of cities, and indeed I suspect few if any US cities can properly be compared with European Capitals. A billion Euro landmark intercity rail station is probably the last thing most US cities need - they could perhaps much better start with a decent local bus or light rail system or (provocatively) a decent public health service!