AUSTRIAN Federal Railways’ (ÖBB) project to quadruple the main line from Vienna Meidling to the southwestern town of Mödling took a step forward on December 12 as the plans were submitted for environmental review.
The line is one of the busiest in Austria with around 400 trains per day, and traffic is growing. Mödling is also home to Shopping City Süd, one of the largest shopping centres in Europe. The objective is to separate faster REX regional trains from local S-Bahn trains, thereby providing more capacity for both services, enabling the S-Bahn to run every 10 minutes and allowing trains to stop at two new stations.
Plans to upgrade the line have been drawn up over the last three years by ÖBB and the local authorities involved and have now been submitted to the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) for the mandatory assessment of their environmental impact. BMK is expected to grant its approval by the end of 2025, so that construction can start in 2026.
The project, which includes construction of two new stations and upgrading four existing stations, is part of a larger infrastructure package for Vienna, which will see total investments of €2.4bn by 2034 and revolve around boosting capacity for the main north - south S-Bahn trunk line running through the city to allow trains to operate at 2.5- minute headways.
Completion of the Vienna Meidling - Liesing section is targeted for 2032 and in 2034 for the Liesing - Mödling section.
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