About this journey

Hartberg station lies on the Aspangbahn corridor in eastern Styria, and from here the ÖBB 5022 heads westward to reach one of Austria's most important railway junctions. The Styrian Eastern Railway connects this corner of the province to Graz, threading through the eastern approaches of the Styrian capital before arriving at Graz Hauptbahnhof.

Graz Hauptbahnhof has a long railway history: the first station on this site opened in 1847, and a larger replacement was built between 1871 and 1876. That building was totally destroyed in Allied bombing raids in 1945, and the current station was completed in 1956 in the style of that decade — its main ticket hall is now a listed building. Since 2010 the station has been undergoing major reconstruction as an international transport hub, with all platforms rebuilt and two additional platforms added for regional traffic. Outside Vienna, it is the most frequented railway station in Austria, and the future Koralm Railway will route all international traffic from Vienna to Italy through here.

The journey in this video runs the full length of that eastern approach, from the quieter market town of Hartberg to the busy terminus at Graz Hauptbahnhof — a transition from the rural eastern margins of Styria to the province's principal rail gateway.