Schwarzenau – Martinsberg-Gutenbrunn railway line

Schwarzenau-Martinsberg-Gutenbrunn

Route number :

176 (old 76)

Course book route (ÖBB) :

830

Route length:

57.791 km

Gauge :

1435 mm ( standard gauge )

Maximum slope :

25 ‰

Minimum radius :

171 m

Top speed:

60 km / h

Legend

	from Vienna
	from Waldkirchen an der Thaya
0.000	Schwarzenau	498 m
	to Gmünd
3.845	All
5,588	Bernschlag	604 m
9.303	Hörmanns	604 m
13.697	Groß Globnitz (vertex)	636 m
16.253	Great Haslau
18.116	Rotten
21,522	Zwettl	535 m
21.655	Viaduct (240 m)
22.694	Zwettl Stadt (formerly Syrnau)
28,891	Klein Schönau
28,891	Obernondorf
34.711	Waldhausen	~ 695 m
~ 36.8	Klein Weißenbach
~ 39.3	Kaltenbrunn
40.982	Grafenschlag	741 m
41.098	Bundesstrasse 36
~ 43.3	Lugendorf
~ 46.6	Beaver strike
	Kremsbach Viaduct
50.109	Ottenschlag	831 m
51.6	Vertex	860 m
~ 53.6	Kleinpertholz
57.615	Martinsberg - Gutenbrunn	825 m

The Schwarzenau – Martinsberg-Gutenbrunn railway is a branch line in Lower Austria . It branches off the Vienna – Gmünd railway line in Schwarzenau and leads via Zwettl to Martinsberg .

history

On July 4, 1896, the Schwarzenau – Zwettl local railway, licensed on October 22, 1894, was opened by AG Localbahn Schwarzenau – Zwettl . The Zwettl – Martinsberg section was licensed in 1904 and put into operation in 1906.

Thereafter, the further construction towards the south to the Danube was pursued, but no agreement could be reached on the route. While Zwettl favored the variant via Yspertal , the Ministry of Railways preferred the variant through the Weitental . The further construction finally failed due to the financing. The difference in altitude between the Waldviertel and the Danube valley would definitely have required the construction of a complex mountain railway.

On January 1, 1941, the AG Localbahn Schwarzenau – Zwettl was nationalized.

Passenger traffic between Zwettl and Martinsberg-Gutenbrunn, the full name of the station at the southern end of the line, was discontinued on September 28, 1986 due to a lack of capacity. However, there was still extensive freight traffic. Extensive timber transports for some of the largest wood processing companies in the Waldviertel ensured the continued existence of the route.

In 2007, freight traffic was intensified even further due to the large amount of damaged wood caused by hurricane Kyrill in the region. In 2012, 1 million tonnes of goods are still handled annually via the loading points in Kleinschönau (household waste in the Zwettl region for waste incineration), Zwettl (diesel oil, Eigl) and Waldhausen (wood, Stora Enso).

Short passenger train in Grafenschlag station (1986)
Railway viaduct in Zwettl
Station building in Waldhausen
Kremsbach Viaduct (2009)

Between Schwarzenau, Zwettl and Waldhausen the Museums-Lokalbahn Verein (formerly Martinsberger Lokalbahnverein) occasionally organized special trips with steam locomotives. After passenger traffic had only run to and from Zwettl in recent years, the 2010/11 timetable change on December 11, 2010 marked the end of passenger trains. Since then, buses have taken over passenger transport.

On December 27, 2010, the approval of the permanent cessation of railway operations according to § 28 EisbG was granted for the route 1762 between Waldhausen and Martinsberg-Gutenbrunn . In July 2012, this section of the railway line was offered for sale by ÖBB Infrastruktur AG . However, Rail Cargo Austria plans to close all goods loading points in the Waldviertel for 2014/2015, which would also mean closure for the Schwarzenau – Waldhausen route. Beginning in August 2014, the tracks between Waldhausen and Martinsberg were removed. However, the demolition was partially interrupted as the demolition company went bankrupt during the demolition. Therefore, there are still some tracks, switches or sleepers on the route.