What secrets do these brick walls hold? We are standing before the ehemaliger Straßenbahn-Betriebsbahnhof Koppreiter. It is a former tram depot in Vienna. This depot whispers tales of a bygone era. The Betriebsbahnhof Koppreiter opened its doors on March 11, 1914. It was originally planned for the tram line 64 to Liesing and Breitenfurt. That line never materialized. The depot never reached its full capacity.
Interestingly the architectural design is suspected to be from someone in the circle of the Otto Wagner School. The identity of the architect remains unknown. The Betriebsbahnhof Koppreiter was one of the smallest depots. In 1971, it had the fewest train departures with only 23. Favoriten had 97 departures at that time.
The Betriebsbahnhof Koppreiter’s operations ceased on January 15, 1977. This closure was due to numerous shutdowns in the 1960s and early 1970s. The reduced tram traffic also contributed to the closure. The trams were mainly moved to the Speising and Rudolfsheim depots. The line 9 rush-hour service from Währing was abandoned in September 1979.
After its closure, the wagon hall was used for cultural events. In 1981, a large exhibition on worker culture from 1918 to 1934 took place here. Later, the Wiener Linien used it as a maintenance facility for structural engineering. It also housed a ticket-canceling workshop.
Today, a short rail remnant remains on the grounds of the ehemaliger Straßenbahn-Betriebsbahnhof Koppreiter. It is about three to four meters long. These are the remains of the siding track next to Hohenbergstraße. In the early 1980s, an old tram freight car stood on this track. The depot itself had no connection to the rail network anymore. According to a photographer, the rail remnant was longer some time before 2004. It spanned the entire length of the former depot.
The Betriebsbahnhof Koppreiter is accessible by bus lines 7A and 8A. The Hohenbergstraße station is the closest. Tram line 62, the Badner Bahn, and U-Bahn line U6 are also nearby. The Wien Meidling station serves the S-Bahn and regional trains.
Access to the rail remnant is restricted. The area is viewable from the corner of Hohenbergstraße and Ruckergasse. Note the buildings themselves are protected as historical monuments. These structures even had apartments built on top of the large wagon hall. This design efficiently used the valuable building land.
So, as you stand here, consider the many lives of the ehemaliger Straßenbahn-Betriebsbahnhof Koppreiter. It was a bustling depot and a cultural space. It is now a silent reminder of Vienna’s transportation history.