Austria’s national rail operator ÖBB says it expects to restart normal traffic on the country’s busiest long-distance corridor, the Weststrecke between St. Valentin and Linz, at the start of business on Monday, 20 July. A short-circuit in the overhead line on 16 July triggered a fire that destroyed parts of the local signal box, forcing the railway to impose an emergency timetable. For three days only Railjet-Express, ICE services to Germany and overnight Nightjet trains could run through the affected section; InterCity trains were turned back in Linz and St. Valentin, while regional passengers were bussed around the break. The Weststrecke is the backbone of Austria’s passenger and freight network, carrying up to 450 long-distance and regional services a day as well as the privately-owned WESTbahn and open-access freight flows toward Germany, Switzerland and Italy. The outage therefore had knock-on effects on international business travel, supply-chain timings and the summer holiday market. ÖBB says teams have worked around the clock to re-cable damaged interlockings, replace 600 m of overhead line and re-programme signalling logic so that the route can return to its normal 160-km/h line speed. While the operator promises a “largely normal” timetable from Monday, it is warning that residual speed restrictions and the re-routing of empty stock may still cause minor delays during the week. Corporate travel managers are being advised to check itineraries and seat reservations, especially on morning peak Railjet and ICE services between Vienna, Linz, Salzburg and Munich. Freight forwarders using rail for just-in-time consignments must re-confirm departure slots and connection windows. The incident has also reignited the debate about redundancy on the core TEN-T Rhine–Danube corridor. The Chamber of Commerce (WKO) is urging the government to accelerate the planned four-tracking of the Abschnitt Linz–Wels and the digital ERTMS roll-out to make the corridor more resilient. ÖBB counters that investment is already running at over €3 bn a year and notes that no passengers were injured during the disruption. From a traveller-care perspective, tickets for disrupted stretches have been made fully refundable; ÖBB and WESTbahn honoured each other’s tickets between Linz, Wels and St. Valentin, a rare display of cooperation that observers say could set a precedent for future contingencies.
Source: ÖBB press release
