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                      Room	I:	The	history	of	railways
















       The	railway	age	in	Austria	was	heralded	in	1832	with	the	completion	of
       the	“horse-drawn	railway”	from	Linz-Urfahr	to	Budweis.	The	project	was
       realised	 under	 Emperor	 Franz	 II.	 The	 railway	 served	 for	 transporting
       goods,	and	the	trains	were	pulled	along	tracked	routes	by	horses.
       The	 opening	 of	 the	 first	 partial	 stretch	 of	 the	 “Kaiser-Ferdinands-
       Nordbahn”	railway	in	1837	was	ground-breaking	for	the	development	of
       the	 railway,	 as	 the	 first	 steam	 railway	 in	 Austria	 started	 operations.
       After	 it	 was	 completed,	 the	 railway	 ran	 from	 Vienna	 to	 the	 northern
       province	of	the	empire.
       Further	pioneering	work	took	place	in	the	years	1848	to	1854	with	the
       construction	 of	 the	 first	 mountain	 railway	 in	 the	 world,	 the
       “Semmeringbahn”.
       These	 projects	 set	 the	 course	 for	 the	 development	 of	 a	 regional	 and
       national	railway	network	with	connections	extending	beyond	Austria.	As
       early	as	1857	there	was	uninterrupted	track	from	the	North	Sea	to	the
       Adriatic.	 With	 the	 opening	 of	 the	 “Kronprinz-Rudolf-Bahn”,	 which	 ran



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