AUSTRIA: The long-running upgrading of the Südbahn route between Wien, Graz, Klagenfurt, Villach and the Italian and Slovenian borders reached two significant milestones at the end of November.
The Koralmbahn project covers construction of a 250 km/h route including a 33 km base tunnel to link Klagenfurt with Graz, plus upgrading of part of the existing network. After 26 years of construction, a formal ceremony was held on November 28 to mark the end of civil works on the 130 km route; the 53 km western section from Klagenfurt to St Paul im Lavanttal had opened for service in December 2023.
The celebrations took place at Weststeiermark station, located east of the entrance to the 33 km Koralmtunnel which is the central feature of the new-buld part of the corridor. The Koralmbahn is expected to open fully for revenue service in late 2025; the parkway station at Weststeiermark will have nine platforms and 450 car parking spaces.
During the celebrations on November 28, Federal Minister for Climate Protection Leonore Gewessler said ‘the Koralmbahn is just the right thing; it will convince even more people how easy and fast public transport can be. The Koralmbahn is thus making an important contribution to the mobility transition.’
Andreas Matthä of Chief Executive added that ‘we are very proud of this important milestone and are facing a revolution in public transport. The Koralmbahn is opening up a bright future of mobility for the region. From December 2025, our passengers will be able to travel between Graz and Klagenfurt in 45 min — environmentally friendly, and comfortable.’
Between now and the opening of the Koralmbahn to traffic, around 15 000 km of the test running at up to 250 km/h is envisaged.
Semmering progress
Further north, the 27 km Semmering Base Tunnel on the corridor between Wien and Graz is due to be inaugurated in 2030.
Only a few hours after the Koralmbahn celebrations, the tunnel’s second bore was holed through. The first bore reached this stage in September after a decade of work.
The base tunnel links Gloggnitz in Niederösterreich with Mürzzuschlag in Steiermark. Designed to cut the Wien – Graz journey time to less than 2 h, the base tunnel alignment replaces the legacy Semmering route, which requires a steep climb to the original tunnel opened in 1854.
‘On this historic day, I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the construction, especially the miners. The last metres have been completed, and an important milestone has been reached’, said Matthä.
