Trains run under the ground. 
Trains run under the city of Vienna.
Some tracks are very old. They used to be part of a different train system. 
Stations have many names. They are named after streets or big spaces. Some are named after buildings too.
Many people ride these trains. In 2019, millions of people used them. 
New lines are being built now. Soon there will be even more stations. The city will keep growing.
{
"text": "The Vienna U-Bahn is a fast train system in Vienna, Austria. 
The Vienna U-Bahn is a fast train system in Vienna, Austria.
Learning how the system works is very interesting. Some parts of the tracks are quite old. The U4 and U6 lines use parts of the Stadtbahn. This was a city railway that opened in 1898. Other lines were built differently. The U1 and U3 lines were built as new subway tunnels. Some parts of the U2 and U6 lines started as tunnels for trams.
Planning for an underground railway in Vienna started a long time ago. People began thinking about it as far back as the 1840s. An engineer named Heinrich Sichrowsky had a plan in 1844. He wanted to use a pneumatic system. This means air pumps would move the trains. 
The modern U-Bahn we see today is much newer. Test operations for the new system began in 1976. The first new underground stretch opened on 25 February 1978. This was the U1 line. The basic network was finished by 3 September 1982. Currently, the system has 109 stations. 
The system is still growing and changing. Workers are building a new line called the U5. This project was announced in early 2014. 
The Vienna U-Bahn is a high-capacity rapid transit system serving Vienna, Austria. It functions as a vital artery for the city's movement, moving millions of people every year. In 2019 alone, 459.8 million passengers used the network.
The current network is a mixture of entirely new construction and repurposed historical infrastructure. The U1 and U3 lines were built completely as new subway lines. However, other parts of the network have different origins. Parts of the U4 and U6 lines belong to the old Stadtbahn, or "city railway," which opened in 1898.
Planning for an underground railway in Vienna has a very long history. Engineers began proposing ideas as early as the 1840s. In 1844, Heinrich Sichrowsky proposed a pneumatic railway. This system would have used stationary steam engine air pumps to move trains through the city.
The first successful construction was the Stadtbahn, which opened in stages between 1898 and 1901. This system used steam trains and included beautiful Jugendstil stations designed by Otto Wagner.
Construction of the modern U-Bahn began on November 3, 1969, at Karlsplatz. This location was chosen because three lines of the basic network meet there. Test operations started on May 8, 1976, on the U4 line. The first official modern underground stretch, the U1, opened on February 25, 1978. The initial "basic network" was completed by September 3, 1982. Today, the network consists of 109 stations.
The lines vary in size and length. The U1 is the longest at 19.2 km, followed by the U6 at 17.4 km. The U4 is 16.5 km, the U2 is 17.2 km, and the U3 is 15.3 km.
The network is currently undergoing significant expansion. For many years, the U5 was only a placeholder designation for lines that were never built. However, in early 2014, construction of a new U5 line was officially announced.
🖼️ Images & Media (22)
+ 10 more
More to explore
✨ What else?
Related topics you might enjoy
🔬 Go deeper
More advanced topics to explore
🪜 Step back
Simpler topics to build understanding
What is Nepedia?
A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.