ÖBB Launches St Pölten-Herzogenburg 8 km Double-Tracking EIA

ST. PÖLTEN, Austria – ÖBB has begun the environmental impact assessment (EIA) preparation phase for an 8 km double-tracking project on the St. Pölten–Herzogenburg railway, part of the Tullnerfelder Bahn network in Lower Austria. The upgrade will add a second track, electrify the corridor, remove level crossings, and modernise three stations, enabling maximum speeds to rise from 120 km/h to 160 km/h. Full service entry is scheduled for the end of 2036, with early works planned from 2028.

What Is the Full Scope of This Project?

The project is a complete corridor rebuild of an 8 km single-track section that ÖBB says has reached the limit of its operational capacity. Scope elements include second-track construction, electrification, removal of level crossings, new underpasses for road, pedestrian and cycle traffic, station modernisation at Unterradlberg, Viehofen and St. Pölten Traisenpark, and a dedicated pedestrian-cyclist link in the Gorbachgasse area.

ÖBB did not disclose total investment value for the 8 km programme, nor the cost breakdown among track, electrification, flood protection, and station works. The timetable is staged: first-phase works begin around 2028, underpasses open to road traffic in mid-2029, and main double-track construction starts no earlier than 2031 following completion of authorisation procedures.

Key Project Data

How Does This Compare to Similar Projects?

Austrian rail investment in the same period has operated at dramatically larger scale: the Koralm Railway, opened on December 14, 2025, connects Graz and Klagenfurt along a roughly 130 km alignment and supports a daily high-speed service linking Vienna and Trieste that cut journey time by three hours. (Source: European Newsroom, 2025)

Internationally, the 22-mile South Shore Line Double Track Project completed in 2025 from Michigan City, Indiana to Gary, Indiana is a direct analogue: like St. Pölten–Herzogenburg, it attacks a single-track choke point on an existing passenger corridor rather than building a new alignment. (Source: Railway Track & Structures, 2025) CN’s Glen Valley Double Track on the Yale Subdivision near Abbotsford, western Canada, is another example of capacity release through incremental track duplication on a live corridor. (Source: Railway Supply, 2025)

A planned future high-speed link between Klagenfurt and Vienna is projected for completion between 2040 and 2050, implying the 8 km Tullnerfelder upgrade will serve as a feeder to, rather than part of, Austria’s emerging high-speed core. (Source: evrimagaci.org, 2025)

Editor’s Analysis

The St. Pölten–Herzogenburg project signals a strategic correction in Austrian rail policy: after the Koralm opening shifted the national focus to long-distance speed, the next bottleneck is the regional network that feeds it. An 8 km double track with 160 km/h running converts a capacity-strained branch into a functional segment of the Vienna–St. Pölten–west corridor, particularly as European rail tourism demand shifts toward high-speed and regional-intercity connections. (Source: Future Market Insights, 2025) The absence of a disclosed budget suggests ÖBB is still testing cost assumptions inside the EIA process, so the 2036 entry date carries execution risk.

FAQ

Q: Why is only an 8 km section being double-tracked when the whole line is single track?
A: ÖBB states this section has reached its operational capacity limits, making it the critical blocking point on the corridor. The project is designed to remove that constraint and enable more flexible traffic management across the wider Tullnerfelder Bahn network.

Q: What happens to level crossings on the route?
A: Level crossings will be removed and replaced with separated underpasses for road traffic, pedestrians and cyclists. The first underpasses are scheduled to open to road traffic in mid-2029.

Q: Will the upgrade allow faster journeys between Vienna, St. Pölten and the west?
A: Yes, the 160 km/h maximum speed and double-track operation will reduce journey times and improve timetable reliability for both regional and long-distance trains, although ÖBB has not published specific end-to-end journey time savings. The line is distinct from the future Klagenfurt–Vienna high-speed link, which is slated for 2040–2050 completion. (Source: evrimagaci.org, 2025)