After paying through the nose for the Tube in London, Vienna is a refreshingly cheap place. The Underground network is not that comprehensive, but is on the whole clean and reliable, although there is currently a major overhaul being done, at the expense of the tramways, with the U3 having been extended in both directions in the last three years (it now goes out to Simmering in the East), and the U2 expansion will take it through the Prater, and out to the North East of Vienna, although this is not due for completion until 2008 - just in time for Euro 2008 which Austria will be hosting jointly with Switzerland. The U1 is also going to be extended to the North - taking it out to Leopoldau.
The U2 has often been shut at weekends, to allow work on station modification to be carried out, although this is hardly that great a loss, as at the moment the U2 is only seven stops long and the D, 2 and 1 trams run overground along a fairly similar route. Now though that stage is completely, and there should be no further upheaval on the existing line.
The Strassenbahn network which complements the U Bahn is however far more comprehensive and although quite dirty is nevertheless reliable. It can be a bit confusing which direction you need to head in, and at night there are a lot of down and outs using the Straßenbahn. Some of the routes have the Porsche-designed ULF (Ultra Low Floor) trams - and these bomb along at a fair pelt - up to 80 kmph, and the ride is a lot smoother than the older "Bims".
For tourists, travelling without a ticket is actually quite pointless, since the fine is the equivalent cost of a monthly ticket (EUR45 - GBP28). If you are in Vienna for more than 36 hours, then I would recommend a week ticket (EUR 12.50) as it covers all the trams, buses, Schnellbahn trains and underground lines within Vienna. The 72 hour ticket is slightly less expensive. Weekly passes and monthly passes are available from all Tabak/Trafik as well as from ticket machines, and hotels often have tickets available from reception too.
The Schnellbahn services are only useful from getting from one side of Vienna to the other, and offer effectively a comparable service to Sprinter trains, as their also serve commuter routes. For Schnellbahn sections within the city (Schnellbahn lines are prefixed with an S) your travel card is valid. Similarly if you travel on the Schnellbahn into Vienna, you can of course buy a ticket for it up to the edge of the city and thereafter use your travel pass to travel further into the city.
Lots of people are confused by all the numbering systems used for the lines in Vienna. Underground lines are all prefixed with U (U1, U2, U3, U4 and U6), whilst trams (Straßenbahn) lines are just numbers, as well as D, J and O. Buses have an a suffix, with bus routes travelling out of Vienna being usually made up of three numbers (Regionalbusse), and Nightbuses (Nachtbusse) are prefixed with an N.
For those of you wondering why there is no U5, it is because of the similarity to OE5, an underground resistance movement during the Second World War. Generally the Viennese transport network is very reliable, although beware of strange re-arrangements in provision for Bank Holidays, although these are usually posted well in advance, and there are signs at all affected tram stops.
Of course, one thing that I have not mentioned is the CAT - City Airport Train. This runs from Wien Mitte to Vienna Airport - but for information about that, check out my CAT op.
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