Rosenheim – An important train connection through Austria runs through Germany. In other words: From Kufstein to Salzburg you cannot avoid Rosenheim. This traffic connection through the “Great German Corner” connects the federal states of Tyrol and Vorarlberg with eastern Austria. About 30 trains a day make this route one of the designated corridor routes for Austria.

Plants die in the spring Deutsche Bahn now work on the rail network, which leads to failures in the ÖBB trains. The resentment about this is great across the border.

Construction work requires track closures

As a reason, a spokeswoman for the railway told the OVB that the infrastructure of the railway is being expanded. “We are installing two additional switches and a so-called transfer point between Rosenheim and Bad Endorf. Trains can transfer to another track on the same route there.” In addition, additional signals are to be set up in the Bad Endorf and Prien stations, and the overhead lines between Prien and Traunstein will be renewed. On the one hand, all these measures are intended to minimize the negative effects in the event of a fault. On the other hand, “we increase the punctuality of the trains.” Which should make commuters happy.

The punctuality of the connection has been far from optimal, especially recently. With reference to the online portal zugfinder.net, Der Spiegel and die Bild newspaperthat on the route from Salzburg to Munich – and thus on the larger part of the route Salzburg-Kufstein – 93.6 percent of all trains were delayed.

It’s about these days

The construction work has consequences. The railway distinguishes between three closures, which have different effects. With the single-track closure from Bad Endorf to Rosenheim, the departure times for long-distance traffic in the direction of Austria from Munich will change. The trains in the corridor from Kufstein to Salzburg can only run every two hours.

For the Austrians, the single-track closures from Rosenheim to Bad Endorf have a greater impact: on these days, corridor traffic will be diverted via Zell am See. Trains to and from Munich run at different times.

During both closures, local transport runs every two hours, and there are rail replacement services for the canceled trains.

Fear of traffic chaos

Massive traffic obstructions are now expected in Austria. If a route is closed in Germany, domestic Austrian train traffic must be diverted via Zell am See. For passengers, this means a journey time that is up to 90 minutes longer. The fear is now that on the days of the closure, many travelers who would actually take the train will switch to the car. And that traffic on the roads could increase significantly as a result.

On the days affected, 70 percent of the trains from Tyrol to Munich were also canceled. The Tyrolean State Councilor for Transport, Environment and Nature Conservation, René Zumtobel, criticized Deutsche Bahn’s approach. He said to the ORFthat DB ignores the needs of Austrian and international long-distance passengers. “There is no other explanation for the fact that traffic on the corridor route is completely stopped on the busiest travel weekends of the year,” he said.

Austrian politics calls for replanning

Rene Zumtobel and also his counterpart from the state of Vorarlberg, Daniel Zadra, call for adjustments to the planned closures. The probability is about the same as that of a spontaneous waiver of block handling. When asked, a spokeswoman for the railway said that the construction work had already been announced to colleagues at ÖBB in 2021. In principle, the top priority is to plan the construction measures in such a way that the effects on passengers are kept to a minimum. Now, shortly before construction work begins, “it would no longer be possible to change the construction process.”

In the long term, accelerated cases could occur on the route. The railway said that “we would like to completely renovate this route”. During a general refurbishment, the entire corridor will be renewed and all necessary construction work that will be due in the coming years will be bundled. For this, however, it is necessary to completely block the route for several months.

The railway promises that after the work the route can be operated for years, if not decades, without new major construction work. In addition, the passengers should be able to adjust to it longer.