Austria: Train services on the western line restricted until October 9

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The flooding will significantly impact train services between Vienna and St. Pölten over the next three weeks. Numerous tunnels on the new four-track western line, including the Lainzer Tunnel, are under water, as are the Tullnerfeld station and numerous technical facilities. They have to be cleared of water and mud, inspected, and repaired, ÖBB announced.

Train services will only be possible to a limited extent over the next three weeks, as the old western line via Pressbaum through the Vienna Woods has been damaged and can only be used on a single track. The embankments and slopes are completely soaked and the situation currently only allows limited train services. An ÖBB spokesperson confirmed information from STANDARD that full operations are expected to resume on October 9.

A kind of block handling
As a result, ÖBB and Westbahn express trains will be routed to and from Vienna in a kind of block service, with one train from one of the two companies in each direction every half hour. The timetable looks like this until further notice: From 4:55 a.m., an ÖBB Railjet will depart from Vienna Central Station every hour (until 8:55 p.m.), and from 5:38 a.m. (until 8:38 p.m.), a Westbahn train will depart from Vienna Westbahnhof every hour.

In the opposite direction from Salzburg to Vienna, there is an ÖBB Railjet train every hour from 5:11 am (until 9:11 pm) and a Westbahn train from 5:52 am (until 7:52 pm). In order to be able to cope with the volume of passengers, ÖBB runs its Railjets in double traction, i.e. two trains are harnessed together, doubling the number of seats per train.

Only partial rail replacement service
According to ÖBB, the feeder connections St. Pölten-Traisen-Hainfeld, Krems-Absdorf-Hippersdorf-Vienna, Krems-St. Pölten and Retz-Stockerau-Vienna, as well as the Gutenstein-Bahn between Oberpiesting and Wiener Neustadt, have been back in operation since Friday.

The Kamptalbahn (between Sigmundsherberg and Hadersdorf and Sigmundsherberg and Horn) and the Tullnerfeldbahn (between Tulln and St. Pölten) are closed until further notice. On Saturday or Sunday, the Erlauftalbahn (between Pöchlarn and Scheibbs), the Pannoniabahn (between Eisenstadt and Neusiedl in Burgenland) and the S80 rapid transit line (between Vienna Central Station and Vienna Hütteldorf) should resume operations.