The Neue Weststrecke in Austria, between Vienna and St.Polten, and the German Riedbahn, between Frankfurt/Main and Mannheim, will both reopen on Sunday 15 December. The former was damaged by floods in September, the latter has been closed since August for upgrade works. Both reopenings are expected to bring some relief to the rail freight industry in the areas.
The line in Austria, known as New Western Line, was one of the most damaged infrastructure in the country due to what has been described as the flood of the century. The older section of this line was also badly hit by the extreme weather, but by 10 October traffic was fully reinstated.
Concerning the Riedbahn, Deutsche Bahn (DB) said that construction works for its general renovation were completed, and the final steps are being taken before the commissioning. “The first train to run on the tracks as scheduled on the night of December 15 will be a freight train”, DB specified, adding that the full rail freight capacity will only be available from 23 December.
However, this project was not free from criticism, as the implementation of ETCS along the line will not be ready for the reopening date, 15 December, but rather for the first quarter of next year. The renovation of the Riedbahn was also used as the first trial of a live-tracking system implemented by sector association Die Güterbahnen to keep the industry up to date on the progress.