The line is part of the Baltic - Adriatic Corridor and is used by freight traffic from the Slovenian port of Koper to central Europe.
Due for completion by December 2021, the €253.7m project will increase capacity on the Maribor - Šentilj line from 67 to 84 trains per day, accommodating projected growth on the corridor, while also increasing line speeds and enhancing safety.
The upgrade will reduce the journey time for passenger trains between Maribor and Graz from 1h 10min to around 45 minutes.
In a second phase, the Slovenian government plans to complete track-doubling on the route by 2026.
Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) has already completed upgrading of the line between Graz and the border station of Spielfeld-Strass.
