Austrian State Railways
At the end of 1884 the state railway network covered 5,103 km. On July 1, 1884 the "k.k. Generaldirektion der Staatsbahnen" ("Imperial General Directorate of the State Railways") was founded; this was the birth of the "kaiserlich-königliche Staatsbahnen" (abbreviated as "kkStB" or "k.k.St.B.").
By nationalizing other companies or taking over their traffic the company obtained a practical monopoly in railway transport. "Südbahn" (SB, southern railway) was the only major company that remained private until the end of Empire. In 1914, of a total of 22,981 km of railway tracks on Austrian territory, 18,859 (82%) were state owned.
After the end of the First World War the vehicle fleet and infrastructure of kkStB were divided among state railway companies of successor states: Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD) in Czechoslovakia, Deutschösterreichische Staatsbahnen (DÖStB) in Austria (in 1919 renamed to Österreichische Staatsbahnen, ÖStB, in 1921 renamed to Bundesbahn Österreich, BBÖ), and others.
Read more about this topic: Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways
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