LNW-GW Joint
Veteran Member
I've been trying to follow progress on the construction of this new line in Austria, linking Graz and Klagenfurt (140km) via the Koralm Tunnel (33km).
It's supposed to open partially in 2023 and fully in 2026 as a 250km/h route, replacing the hilly and winding but also very pretty route via Leoben and St Veit.
Some of the new infrastructure looks nearly ready for use, but equally some looks a long way from completion.
It's impossible to know how tunnelling progress is going, but the open sections are visible on Google Maps.
It shows electrification masts up at both ends of the line, which is a good sign.
At the Klagenfurt end, the first 15km, which duals the existing single-track (diesel) Drava valley route as far as the first crossing of the river, looks complete.
It gets complicated further east, where the existing (1960s) Jauntalbrücke* single-track bridge over the Drava is being widened for HSL traffic.
ÖBB has some webcams on the route which shows how things are going, seemingly within the last year.
This one is just south of the Jauntalbrücke and shows a completed solum with lineside masts and the first wires in place (before tracklaying) - note the simple OHLE.
It's a special bridge which allows wildlife to cross the railway unimpeded.
Webcam Wildbrücke 01 - ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG (oebb.at)
Otherwise much of the route on the Koralm tunnel approaches looks distinctly unready, with basic construction work still in progress and no sign of railway equipment.
Further north, the new Semmering base tunnel is being built on roughly the same timescale, but is harder to track being underground.
This webcam shows the southern portal at Mürzzuschlag, where the new line diverges from the old.
The 27km 250km/h tunnel will replace the tortuous and slow (but highly scenic!) 41km mountain route from Gloggnitz.
Webcam Mürzzuschlag 01 - ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG (oebb.at)
* this bridge is apparently a favourite site in Carinthia for bungy jumping. Will it become the first HSL structure used for this activity?
It's supposed to open partially in 2023 and fully in 2026 as a 250km/h route, replacing the hilly and winding but also very pretty route via Leoben and St Veit.
Some of the new infrastructure looks nearly ready for use, but equally some looks a long way from completion.
It's impossible to know how tunnelling progress is going, but the open sections are visible on Google Maps.
It shows electrification masts up at both ends of the line, which is a good sign.
At the Klagenfurt end, the first 15km, which duals the existing single-track (diesel) Drava valley route as far as the first crossing of the river, looks complete.
It gets complicated further east, where the existing (1960s) Jauntalbrücke* single-track bridge over the Drava is being widened for HSL traffic.
ÖBB has some webcams on the route which shows how things are going, seemingly within the last year.
This one is just south of the Jauntalbrücke and shows a completed solum with lineside masts and the first wires in place (before tracklaying) - note the simple OHLE.
It's a special bridge which allows wildlife to cross the railway unimpeded.
Webcam Wildbrücke 01 - ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG (oebb.at)
Otherwise much of the route on the Koralm tunnel approaches looks distinctly unready, with basic construction work still in progress and no sign of railway equipment.
Further north, the new Semmering base tunnel is being built on roughly the same timescale, but is harder to track being underground.
This webcam shows the southern portal at Mürzzuschlag, where the new line diverges from the old.
The 27km 250km/h tunnel will replace the tortuous and slow (but highly scenic!) 41km mountain route from Gloggnitz.
Webcam Mürzzuschlag 01 - ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG (oebb.at)
* this bridge is apparently a favourite site in Carinthia for bungy jumping. Will it become the first HSL structure used for this activity?