Koralm train

Koralmbahn – Benefits from Austrian Projects

The construction of the Koralm Railway means:

  • Reduction of travel time from Graz to Klagenfurt from currently three hours to 60 minutes.
  • Currently, trains from Vienna either have to run directly to Klagenfurt or to Graz. The construction of the Koralm Railway will make it possible for trains to travel from Vienna to Klagenfurt via Graz.
  • Furthermore, the current Southern Railway Line and the Rudolf Railway Line from Vienna to Villach can only handle low train weights due to limitations of tonnage and train coupling hook load limits at Semmering and the Neumarkter Sattel, or else they require special operational measures, such as providing additional locomotives in the front, rear or in the middle. At Semmering, load dimension limitations are another handicap. After completion of the Koralm Railway and the Semmering Base Tunnel, heavy-goods trains of up to 2,000 tons will be able to be pulled by only one locomotive, similar to the Western Railway Line.
  • According to calculations by the Vienna Technical University, the economic benefits for the region add up to 167 million Euros per year.
  • The benefit in terms of tax income generated by the economic stimulus will be seven to eight times the amount invested (calculations by the IHS).
  • Stimulation of the job market during the construction period (more than 100,000 jobs) and during operation (about 40,000 jobs) due to the economic impulse provided by the Koralm Railway (according to estimates by the IHS).
  • The economic benefit for the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) is based on a long-term perspective, when the raised infrastructure utilisation fee (IBE) will have to be paid according to the Railway Infrastructure Financing Act (SCHIG). The benefits for the national economy are undisputed. The Koralm Railway has always had top ratings in all cost-benefit evaluations.
  • As a component of the "Baltic-Adriatic Corridor", the Koralm Railway in combination with the Semmering Base Tunnel forms an indispensible part of the European railway network. This has been documented in a study by the Karl-Franzens University Graz.
  • In a report to the EU Commission in July 2006 on the hesitant implementation of this corridor, the coordinator of the Pan-European Traffic Corridor V, Loyola de Palacio, suggested considering a junction of this corridor via Villach - Klagenfurt - Graz as Priority Project No. 6.