The boring in Semmering Base Tunnel has reached halfway.

The 27.3 km Semmering Base Tunnel is a railway tunnel under construction between Gloggnitz and Mürzzuschlag under the Semmering Pass. The tunnel is built for Southern Railway that connects Vienna to Graz, two biggest cities in Austria. Semmering Base Tunnel will shorten the 41 km long current route to 27.3 km and will offer times savings of 30 minutes, partly due to the shorter distance and partly because the tunnel lends itself to higher speed train speeds. Construction is expected to finish in 2027 (original estimate was 2026).

Although the tunnel is 27.3 km long, ÖBB-Infrastruktur, the Austrian rail infrastructure manager mentions that a total of 62 km of tunnels need to be bored when entrances, shafts and connecting tunnels are taken into account. Therefore, when ÖBB says `halfway`, it corresponds to 31km of tunnelling.

The existing route is 41 km in length and the Semmering Base Tunnel will be 27.3 km in length. The new route will offer time savings of up to 30 minutes, partly on account of the shorter route and partly on account of the higher speed limit (maximum 250 km/h).

According to reports, ÖBB and its contractors have resumed the works during height of the coronavirus crisis.

https://www.railtech.com/infrastructure/2020/05/01/obb-on-halfway-in-digging-semmering-tunnel/