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In yesterday’s presentation of the ÖBB master plan, which names investments for the years 2021 to 2026, the superlatives were not spared: Infrastructure Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) spoke of the largest investment program to date for the expansion of the railways. ÖBB boss Andreas Matthä thanked him that the railway proved worthy of implementing the projects.
Therefore, 8 billion euro projects have been included in the ÖBB planning program. A total of € 17.5 billion will be spent by 2026. This includes the costs of completing the Koralm route and the Semmering and Brenner base tunnels. These three large projects consume a third of the total investment.
For Upper Austria, nine projects called “New” were presented yesterday. Until now, they have not been explicitly foreseen in the ÖBB framework plan.
8.5 kilometers of expansion
The only new line extension project concerns the Pyhrn line and is the extension of the double track in a 8.5 kilometer section from Hinterstoder to Pießling-Vorderstoder for 200 million euros. Here, planning will take place by 2025 and implementation by 2034. The large-scale Linz-Wels four-way expansion continues, of course. It is estimated at 1,200 million euros by 2027.
Several branch projects have received the Mascherl “Neu”: for example on the Hausruckbahn between Attnang-Puchheim and Schärding, on the entire Almtalbahn from Wels to Grünau (twelve kilometers from Wels to Sattledt will be electrified) and also on the Mühlkreisbahn to Aigen- Schlägl. It involves investments in new platforms, security systems, track renovations. Klaus and Windischgarsten train stations are being modernized.
Matthä also mentioned the electrification of the Mattig Valley railway from Steindorf to Braunau (38 kilometers). The train station in the city of La Posada will be rebuilt. Electrification is planned at Innkreis (58 kilometers) and Donauuferbahn (40 kilometers).
The bottom line is that Upper Austria accounts for € 2.1 billion of investments, or twelve percent, of volume. For comparison: 17 percent of the Austrian population lives in Upper Austria.
Six billion (more than a third) of the railway projects are implemented in the eastern region, that is, in the Vienna metropolitan area. On the so-called main route, the 13-kilometer S-Bahn through Vienna, the goal is a 2.5-minute cycle, says Matthä. (brother)
Corona balance
As a result of the corona pandemic, the number of passengers in ÖBB dropped by 37 percent from January to September, and freight traffic fell by 10 to 15 percent.
Currently, development is stagnant or increasing slightly. The travel advisories would have once again dampened long-distance traffic.
There are growth forecasts for the post-Corona era.
ÖBB boss Matthä expects 290 million passengers on the rails in 2026. For comparison: in 2019 there were 266.7 million train passengers.
