ÖBB‘s KISSes started passenger operation
posted on 7th May 2026 00:24
On 6 May 2026, the ÖBB‘s new Cityjet Doppelstock EMU carried out its inaugural run on the Wien Hbf - Wiener Neustadt route and back. This was possible on account of the fact that in mid-April 2026 the Class 4734 and 4736 KISSes have been approved for operation in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The approval for Austria was already achieved in 2025.
From the end of June, the KISSes will start operating on the Wien - Payerbach/Reichenau route. Their main area of operation in the eastern region will be the north-south axis, i. e. the REX services Znojmo/Retz - Wien and Břeclav/Bernhardsthal - Wien as well as Wien - Wiener Neustadt - Payerbach-Reichenau.
ÖBB is investing approximately 1.5 billion EUR in 109 KISS Cityjet EMUs: these are 20 six-car Class 4736 units and 89 four-car Class 4734 units. In early January 2026, all 20 Class 4736s and eight Class 4734s had been built; of this number, 26 trains were present in Austria. 45 of these KISSes are to be deployed by the end of 2026. The introduction of this batch is part of ÖBB's largest investment program, which includes 6.1 billion EUR for the purchase of around 330 new trains by 2030.
