Status under construction Line length 27.3 km (17.0 mi) Terminis Mürzzuschlag, Gloggnitz | Website [1] (in German) Operating speed | |
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Type High-speed rail
Commuter rail
Freight rail Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ⁄2 in) Locale Austria (Lower Austria, Styria) | ||
The Semmering Base Tunnel is a railway tunnel under construction between Gloggnitz and Mürzzuschlag in Austria underneath the Semmering Pass. The existing route is 41 km in length and the Semmering Base Tunnel will be 27.3 km in length. The new route will offer time savings of up to 0h30m, partly on account of the shorter route and partly on account of the higher speed limit (maximum 250 km/h).
Construction began on the 25th of April 2012 and the link is expected to enter service in 2026.
The main benefit of the line will be increased ease of use for freight traffic. Currently, the route gradients require the use of two locomotives; the reduced gradient of the new link will enable the transit of freight traffic using just one locomotive. The Semmering Base Tunnel and the Koralm Railway in combination will enable freight transit across the whole southern line with just one locomotive.
Currently, the fastest Vienna-Graz and Vienna-Klagenfurt journeys on the Railjet services are 2h35m and 3h55m, respectively. If the Koralmbahn enables Graz-Klagenfurt journeys of 1h00m, it will bring Vienna-Klagenfurt journeys down to 3h35m, a saving of 0h20m. The Semmering Base Tunnel is projected to enable time savings of 0h35m, which will enable journeys from Vienna to Graz and Klagenfurt of two and three hours respectively.
