ÖBB Rail Cargo Group announced that, as of November 1, 2025, it had transported over one million tons of freight on the Koralmbahn.
In practice, in the first 100 days, the operator put 1,050 freight trains with over 21,000 wagons into service, transporting over one million tons of freight.
Freight transport on the Koralmbahn benefits from significant improvements, as the new line ensures shorter travel times, increased efficiency, and additional capacity on the southern axis. The new flat route, with a maximum gradient of 10‰ compared to the previous 16‰, allows for the hauling of heavier loads. This saves energy and avoids up to 300,000 km of train traffic per year.
“The Koralmbahn is a milestone for efficient and climate-friendly mobility in Austria. The first 100 days of freight transport show how modern infrastructure enables the transfer of transport to rail, supports companies, and makes a significant contribution to climate protection,” said Mobility Minister Peter Hanke.
Benefits for insulated wagon transport
Insulated wagon transport benefits particularly from the elimination of detours via Knittelfeld, Leoben, and Frohnleiten. In the case of an insulated wagon train, the wagons come from different directions and different customers and are assembled in marshalling yards to form a train that runs on the Koralmbahn. The wagons are then separated again and distributed to their final destinations. Alpacem, a customer of ÖBB Rail Cargo Group, has been relying on rail transport for years. The single wagon system is mainly used to transport raw materials for cement production, such as clinker or granulated blast furnace slag, on behalf of Alpacem through Austria to Italy. “The Koralmbahn offers us even more reliable and efficient transport and encourages us to consistently focus our logistics on rail. At the same time, the new route allows us to achieve more sustainable transport in the spirit of the green transition. The close cooperation with ÖBB Rail Cargo Group demonstrates how efficient and climate-friendly rail freight transport can be today,” says Alpacem CEO Bernhard Auer.
Major boost for economic competitiveness
The new Koralmbahn, inaugurated in December 2025, represents a major boost for the Austrian economy. Together with the existing line over the Neumarkter Sattel, the southern axis now has four lines.
This means an increase in capacity of up to 30% on the southern corridor, which is a decisive factor in transferring even greater volumes of freight to rail transport.
“Thanks to the additional capacity, we can offer customers significantly faster connections in southern Austria and to the Adriatic ports. This will further strengthen Austria’s position as a logistics hub in the heart of Europe,” emphasized Christoph Grasl, member of the Management Board of ÖBB Rail Cargo Group.
The full impact of the Koralmbahn on freight transport will become apparent once other major infrastructure projects, in particular the Semmering Base Tunnel, are completed.
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