The golden nail has been set: which means that the last piece of track on the Koralmbahn, the project of the century in Carinthia, was laid yesterday, Friday. This is done manually in the vicinity of the Jauntal Bridge, one of the highest bridges in Europe, over which the S-Bahn trains will roll in December. After almost 25 years, another milestone was set in the construction of the Koralmbahn. However, work on completion of the Koralm Tunnel will continue at full speed until 2025.
ÖBB representatives celebrated a historic day on Friday at the Koralmbahn construction site: the last gap was closed on the 130 kilometers that connect Carinthia and Styria. The last switch was laid in the area of the Jauntal Bridge – and the last piece of rail was welded into the track of the high-speed line in front of the Granitztal Tunnel. “We symbolically call this the golden nail. It represents the completion of the track work,” says ÖBB board member Judith Engel. In the future, the trains will run on high-performance rails from the voestalpine subsidiary Railway Systems. Board member Franz Kainersdorfer: “For us, the Bundesbahn is an important partner in the development of rail infrastructure systems.” A total of 290 kilometers of tracks were laid between Klagenfurt and Graz and 235 switches were set. “As the world’s leading provider of complete railway infrastructure systems, we are particularly pleased to be making such an important contribution to one of the largest domestic infrastructure projects with our high-tech products for the new ÖBB southern route,” says Kainersdorfer, also head of the Metal Engineering Division. The Voestalpine AG Board of Directors traveled specifically for this historic day. 6.1 billion euros are being invested along the Koralmbahn, which also connects two federal states. The rails in front of the ten kilometer long Granitztal tunnel, which runs through in front of the St. Paul im Lavanttal train station, were welded by the experts. All of these welds along the 160 kilometers of railway line between Carinthia and Styria are placed by hand. One of the highest bridges in Europe Work is still going on at full speed on the Jauntal Bridge, over which the first regional trains will roll in December. ÖBB project manager Gerald Zwittnig: “That was a logistical challenge because the building materials were delivered by train.” Testing, practicing and training The railway between Klagenfurt and the Lavanttal will go into operation in just a few weeks. However, there is still a lot to do until then. In Eis near Ruden, near the 120 meter long Jauntal Bridge, test trains are already running, among other things to apply the railway gravel. Load tests will also be carried out on the bridge, which will initially be opened as a single lane. Three meter high noise barriers have been erected on the bridge. Sufficient noise protection was also provided for the subsequent heaped dams towards Lavanttal. There are currently around 400 men on large-scale operations along the Koralm railway line. “There is still a lot to do before the maiden voyage, but our schedule holds,” says Zwittnig. The entire high-performance route will be operational by the end of 2025. The trains will race from Klagenfurt at 230 kmh, through the 33 kilometer long Koralm Tunnel and be in Graz in just 45 minutes. The Koralm Railway at a glance The 130 kilometer long route includes around 50 kilometers of tunnels and leads over 100 bridges. There are also 23 modern train stations and stops. The railway construction project is one of the most important infrastructure projects in all of Europe. Zwittnig: “Our heart is of course the 33 kilometer long Koralm Tunnel.”
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