Westbahn wants to go to Innsbruck
The Westbahn application to expand its route network could be too late for the implementation of the timetable change. The ÖBB applied for an economic balance test.
The Rail Control Commission is currently examining the application from the mostly private Westbahn, which wants to run five times a day from Vienna to Innsbruck and back from the timetable change in December. The Westbahn submitted the application for the new route to the local railway regulator in April. The ÖBB then applied for an examination of the economic equilibrium. However, documents from both parties are still missing, and comments have already been requested.
The rail control managing director Maria-Theresia Röhsler said on Wednesday the APA. The regulatory body then has six weeks after receipt of all relevant information to make a decision.
The Westbahn reported its project “a lot too late,” said Röhsler. In doing so, she had “taken the risk that the decision could not be made as expected before the timetable change,” explained the managing director. The application should have been submitted in June 2021. Because the intention to operate a new rail passenger transport service must be reported to the rail control at least 18 months before the working timetable comes into force, to which the ordering of track capacity is to refer. The ÖBB then requested an examination of whether the new rail passenger service would jeopardize the economic equilibrium of its public service mandate.
In the notification of the new rail passenger service, Westbahn stated that it would run five times a day between Vienna and Innsbruck, each with 506 seats. Departure times at Vienna Westbahnhof are at 6.12, 8.12, 10.12, 12.12 and 17.12, journey time four hours and 17 minutes. Departure times in Innsbruck are given as 6.31 a.m., 11.31 a.m., 1.31 p.m., 3.31 p.m. and 5.31 p.m., the travel time should also be four hours and 17 minutes. According to the registration, the trains should stop in Vienna Hütteldorf, St. Pölten, Amstetten, Linz, Wels, Attnang-Puchheim, Vöcklabruck, Salzburg, Kufstein, Wörgl and Innsbruck.
(APA)