Ceremonial Start of the Koralmtunnel KAT2
Monday, March 28, 2011
On Monday 28th March 2011 was the start of the main contract section of the Koralmtunnel with a large ceremony in Leibenfeld near Deutschlandsberg. This is a historic date for the new runway, the Koralmbahn Graz - Klagenfurt, and set the central part of the Baltic-Adriatic Axis. It is a milestone for the establishment of Koralmbahn and a Lot of enormous importance to Austria and the EU. Accordingly, participants of the groundbreaking ceremony were high-ranking personalities, like Infrastructure Minister Doris Bures, the provincial governors of Carinthia and Styria, Gerhard Dörfler and Franz Voves, further Desirée Oen from the office of EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas and ÖBB-CEO Christian Kern and Strabag CEO Hans-Peter Haselsteiner. As another supporter of this European transport corridor the President of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Renzo Tondo, was presented as well.
All speakers stressed the importance of this traffic, economic and environmental project for Austria and Europe. Dörfler welcomed Tondo and former Infrastructure Minister Hubert Gorbach. He called it a historic day of the opening. The tunnel will be a success for the South and an important connection to Europe.
The southrunway had to be modernized. To speak of environmental issues and climate change is not enough; the importance is the creation of green mobility. At peak days there will be up to 500 people working at the KAT 2-site, according to the Minister. Voves also spoke of the historical significance of this building, which endows the enormous business location incentives. In accordance with Oen, the rail axis corresponds to the intentions of the new EU White Paper, which pretend a huge CO2 reduction. Austriathus makes a major contribution to the integration and competitiveness, said the representative of the Transport Commissioner.
The heart ofthe Koralm railway is the 32.9 km long Koralmtunnel (KAT). It is divided into three lots. The result of the Koralmbahn is an entirely new, 130 kilometers two rack high speed railway between Graz and Klagenfurt. Jointly with the train station in Vienna and the Semmering base tunnel, the Koralm railway is an essential key project for the new southern runway as a central axis. As part of the Baltic-Adriatic Axis these rail projects create excellent conditions for an efficient and promising passenger and freight transport by environmentally friendly rail.
Carinthia is located at the intersection of two major European corridors, Corridor X from Salzburg to Thessaloniki and the Baltic-Adriatic Axis. But also for Europe, this axis is of the utmost importance. So the ports of the Adriatic are connected with the hinterland in Central Europe, whereby environmentally friendly goods from Asia will be transported faster to the target markets. The same applies to the ports of the Baltic Sea.
Roadsare also affluent Saxony. Per billion € invested in the development of railway infrastructure 17,000 jobs are created. According to a recent study, the value by building the Koralmbahn is about 210 million euros per year.
Theblessing of the work site was performed by Diocesan Bishop Egon Kapellari. It is a standing order for people to deal responsibly with the resources. The project may also be a contribution to a more intensive cooperation
