ÖBB Under Pressure: Westbahn Expands Rail Network Significantly

The Westbahn is expanding and intensifying its network. The private railway operator wants to demonstrate from March 2026 that the southern route can also be operated profitably. However, the Westbahn managing directors Thomas Posch and Marco Ramsbacher heavily criticize the public service contracts, which are expected to bring the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) around 1.5 billion euros this year, as reported by several daily newspapers on Wednesday.
Westbahn on the Southern Route from Spring
The Westbahn sees itself on track with the planned expansion of its rail services: From March 1, the private railway operator will service the southern route. With three high-speed trains from the Swiss manufacturer Stadler, which can reach up to 250 km/h, the route from Vienna to Klagenfurt is to be covered in 3 hours and 15 minutes. And 24 minutes later, the train is expected to reach Villach.
The costs for the trains were estimated by the Westbahn managing directors in the "Kleine Zeitung" at 120 million euros. The Westbahn also aims to be profitable on this route without subsidies. And by the end of next year, the train connection is to be extended to Lienz in East Tyrol. Then Bolzano and Venice are planned as the next destinations.
Westbahn Managing Director Criticizes ÖBB
"We are currently looking for around 100 additional employees, including 50 stewards and up to 30 train drivers," said Westbahn managing director Thomas Posch according to the daily newspaper "Kurier". "We want to show that it is possible to offer decent quality on the southern route and to operate economically there without subsidies."
Indirectly, Posch criticizes the public service contracts, which - according to Posch - are expected to bring the ÖBB around 1.5 billion euros this year. These contracts subsidize routes ordered by the federal government, such as the Graz-Linz route or branch lines. While there is a tender for every other procurement, the billions in taxpayer money are awarded without a tender, criticized Posch. His colleague Marco Ramsbacher is also not generally against subsidies - certain routes and local transport could not be operated otherwise. However, a tender could save 10 to 20 percent - at least without loss of quality, said Ramsbacher in the Ö1 morning journal.
Ramsbacher does not want to specify a timeline for when the southern route should become profitable. It took six years for the western route to reach profitability. The route to Stuttgart is already profitable after ten months, Posch added in an interview with the daily newspaper "Die Presse". The train connection is 2.5 times over budget, Posch added in the "Kurier" interview.
ÖBB counters: "deliberate distortion"
"When the Republic of Austria spends 1.5 billion euros on transport service contracts, it is payment for a clearly ordered service - namely ensuring mobility in rural areas, servicing branch lines, or guaranteeing early and late services, which would not be feasible on a commercial basis," countered ÖBB works council chairman Roman Hebenstreit in a statement. "To call an order a subsidy is a deliberate distortion that completely ignores the effort and obligation to provide services."
Further expansion planned
In 2028/2029, the Vienna-Stuttgart connection is to be extended to Frankfurt. After that, the Westbahn is also to head east. Budapest is suggested as the first target station, noted the two Westbahn managing directors in the free newspaper "Heute".
On the "classic" western route, the service is to be increased to a half-hourly schedule. Four double-decker vehicles from the Chinese manufacturer CRRC are to be used for this. The railway operator expects approval in November.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.
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