AUSTRIA: A €50m 18-month project to modernise and electrify the 12·1 km Klagenfurt – Weizelsdorf line was completed when the route re-opened for revenue services with the December 11 timetable change.
The line is Route S3 of the Kärnten S-Bahn network. According to operator ÖBB, the installation of 15 kV 16·7 Hz electrification will reduce annual CO₂ emissions by an amount equivalent to what 0·75 km2 of forest can absorb.
A new station has been built at Köttmannsdorf Lambichl with 23 car and 30 bicycle parking spaces. The platforms at the existing Klagenfurt-Süd and Weizelsdorf stations have been extended to 160 m, and parking for 30 cars and 30 bikes provided at Maria Rain station.
The 167 m long Hollenburg bridge over the River Drava was refurbished, and 12 level crossings upgraded or closed.
‘I am very proud to this further step towards a new green railway era’, said ÖBB Infrastruktur board member Judith Engel at the reopening ceremony held on December 7. ‘We will invest €1·2bn in Kärnten by 2028.’
Land Governor Peter Kaiser said ‘climate protection and public transport are inextricably linked. These investments in infrastructure are direct investments in climate and environmental protection, and in Kärnten as a business, working and living location for the benefit of future generations.’
