The southerly departure side consisted of an ornamented portal with steps and three large arches supported by columns, that were crowned with statues.

On slightly elevated terrain, the departure side offered the most impressive view of the station from the southeast.

This motif was repeated in the northerly arrival side; however because of the grade, the building's foundation was lower and the portal was not built up as high, as arcades offered passengers who were waiting for carriages or carts protection from the elements.

In order to deal with the increased number of passengers, the two towers that flanked the departure gate were moved further apart in a modification that lasted from 1910 to 1912.

In April 1945, the station was hit by bombs and burned down in the course of battles at the end of World War II; the roof of the gallery collapsed.

After the end of the war, the buildings were by necessity adapted for the needs of rail travel, but a complete reconstruction was decided upon, so the station was torn down in 1949.

Because only narrow administration wings were built on the sides, space was available for eleven tracks in all, accessed from covered peninsular platforms.

The centerpiece of the rebuilt Westbahnhof is the large hall giving on to the Gürtel (Europaplatz), which is divided into a lower and an upper level that is reached by two flights of stairs and escalators.

The hall is lighted by high windows that are built into the east and west facades above the platform overhangs.

Later on, a pavilion was built in the lower hall that offered a service centre for bookings, hotel reservations and the like.

In the course of building the U3 subway line, a large new steel and glass construction was built in 1993, which accommodates some of the station's restaurants and a cafe on several levels.

In mid-September 2008 a series of works commenced at Wien West, including the renovation of the listed ticket hall, the removal of the expensive, redundant flag poles outside of the station (which were placed too closely next to one another to ever carry flags), and the construction of new buildings to the left and right of the main hall, all of which are part of the new BahnhofCity project.