Corridor

With 24 million tons of freight per year, the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor is among the most important cross-Alpine lines in Europe. This is almost the same amount as the Gotthard Line in Switzerland (26 million tons). This high-capacity railway connection from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic is therefore a necessary precondition for further economic development along the corridor. Transferring the flow of goods to the railways will also be an important contribution to achieving the climate protection goals set forth in international agreements.

Potential for the Development of Passenger and Goods Traffic

Numerous conurbations are located along the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor. A continuous, high-capacity railway connection means enormous potential for development of passenger traffic. In addition, the people living in areas with comparatively poor infrastructure will gain improved access to the railway system.
Fast connections from landlocked Central European countries to the Baltic Sea and the Adriatic ports will be ensured. After its completion, the corridor will represent an excellent opportunity to relieve the heavily frequented north-south connections from the ports in the North of Europe.

Links with Important Trans-European Corridors

The Baltic-Adriatic Corridor crosses numerous important traffic routes and therefore provides an efficient transport chain to other important economic regions in Europe. In total, it crosses seven of the ten pan-European corridors and six of the 30 priority TEN corridors. This close integration makes the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor a backbone of the Central European transport infrastructure.

At a glance:

• Elimination of the most problematic bottlenecks along the entire corridor
• An important contribution to creating a continuous trans-Alpine high-capacity connection between the Baltic Sea and the Adriatic
• Intermodal linking of traffic flows and connection to numerous European main corridors
• An important contribution to eliminate structural and geographical disadvantages for the Provinces in the south
• Vienna Main Station: Construction of the most important railway hub in Central Europe. Trains will no longer end in terminal stations, but may be connected to international railway lines
• Reduction of travel time from Vienna to Graz (currently about 2.5 hrs.) to two hours; Graz - Klagenfurt (currently approx. 3 hrs.) to one hour, and Klagenfurt - Vienna (currently approx. 4.5 hrs.) to three hours
• More freight can be shifted to the railways due to the concept of the track as a plane railway line with massively shortened travel times.
• Increasing the railways' competitiveness in comparison with trucks; improved modal split
• High market development potentials for passenger traffic