Preparation ended, technical tunnel equipment starts soon Building block for building block of the new southern route Vienna - Villach is ready In December 2025, Koralbahn goes into operation, in 2030 the trains ride through the Semmering base tunnel

At the end of 2024, a historic milestone succeeded in the Semmering base tunnel. After around ten years of propulsion, you are dug through the mountain, the tunnel. All challenges were mastered with great commitment and know-how. The new south route Vienna - Villach will soon be noticeable for passengers if the Koralmbahn goes into operation at the end of 2025. And in Semmering, too, it continues in the future so that the car and trucks stop in the future and passengers and freight traffic can switch to the environmentally friendly comfortable train. In 2030 the entire south route is modernized and the new rail quality in southern Austria is consistently reality for rail travelers.

Now the technical tunnel equipment follows

The 27.3 kilometers of the two-tube Semmering base tunnel are dug and all 14 proposals have been successfully completed. In 2020, the "interior" of the tunnel tubes started. The tunnel is lined with a concrete inner shell, more than 45 km (of a total of 55 km in two tubes) are already interconnected. After completion of the inner shell, the last step is the railway -technical tunnel equipment (tracks, lines, technical systems) before the trains can drive through the tunnel. Construction of the tunnel equipment begins in the summer of 2025. 2030.

ÖBB-CFO Manuela Waldner: “The year 2025 is all about progress on our new southern route Vienna-Villach. We start the year with the great historical success that the Semmering base tunnel is ready after we can end the Koralbahn between Graz and Klagenfurt in 2024. For the people in the south, these two historical milestones mean a completely new rail quality and reality of life, new opportunities, better connections for our passengers and the economy: a real historical moment that will change the south sustainably. ”

Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler: “The Semmering base tunnel is another milestone for the expansion of the rail infrastructure in Austria. The tunnel connects Styria and Lower Austria from 2030 at a record speed and thus significantly reduces the travel time on the entire south route. As a native of Styria, I am particularly pleased to be able to be there today. We have invested a lot in recent years to make the switch to the train even more attractive for the people in our country. Not least with the great success project: the climate. But we also invest around 21 billion euros in six years with the existing framework plan. This creates comfortable, cheap and climate -friendly mobility for people in the city and country. ”

Anne Elisabet Jensen, EU coordinator Baltic-Adiatic Corridor: “If we want to create a green turn in the EU as a whole and especially in the traffic sector, in the sense of future generations, then we need a variety of measures. Large projects such as the Koralbahn or the Semmering base tunnel are very important parts of the Baltic-Adriatic corridor. At first glance, they may work like purely national projects, but their completion has a clear European dimension because they will bring enormous positive changes for humans and companies in both Austria and neighboring countries. And they contribute to the relocation of traffic from the street to the environmentally friendly train. ”

Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner: “For Lower Austria, the construction of the Semmering base tunnel and the connection between Vienna or Wiener Neustadt towards Styria is a very important project. We need a modern infrastructure in order to be able to be competitive in the future. And it is particularly important to us that people can do their everyday ways well and safely by car and public transport. The Semmering base tunnel creates a modern connection towards the south, from which we will all benefit greatly. ”

LH-Dep. STMK. Manuela Khom: “Especially for Styria and our economic and industrial location, the new south route is of outstanding importance- not only national, but also internationally. New dimensions will open up when Semmering base tunnels and KoralMahn go into operation. Lower Austria, Vienna but also our neighboring countries will be even easier to reach and make even closer connections

source: ÖBB.