Tauern tunnel is closed: no trains between Salzburg and Carinthia
The Tauern Tunnel is to be closed from November 2024 to July 2025. Commuters between Salzburg and Carinthia will need two hours instead of eleven minutes.
The Tauern Tunnel will be closed from November 18, 2024 to July 13, 2025, reports the “courier“For eight months, there should be no freight or passenger traffic on the train connection between Carinthia and Salzburg.
“We confirm that the Tauern tunnel will be modernized and that a total closure is necessary,” the “Kurier” quoted an ÖBB spokeswoman as saying. According to “Kurier”, people currently commute eleven minutes. The alternative route from Carinthia to Salzburg would be by car via the A10. That’s a two hour drive. Theoretically, it still considers the route over the Felbertauern and the Großglockner. However, the latter is closed in winter.
Hourly connection between Salzburg and Villach
The Tauern tunnel is now 113 years old – according to the mayor of Bad Gastein, Gerhard Steinbauer (ÖVP), there is “a massive water ingress from the side of the Höhkar stream” in the tunnel, as he told the “Kurier”. You need “heavy equipment” to repair the damage. Therefore, single-track operation is not possible. In addition, the mayor of Mallnitz, Günter Novak (SPÖ), not only the tunnel, but “the entire railway line from Spittal to Schwarzach St. Veit renovated”. After that there should be an hourly train connection between Salzburg and Villach.