More passengers take trains as A2 traffic falls

More people in Carinthia are travelling by train instead of by car to Graz following the opening of the Koralmbahn railway line, ORF reported on Tuesday. Traffic on the A2 motorway section between Carinthia and Styria fell by 6.3 percent, according to measurements by motorway operator Asfinag.

Road traffic on motorways and expressways declined across Austria as the Iran war and sharply rising fuel prices affected travel. At measurement points nationwide, car traffic fell by 0.6 percent. The decline on the A2 section in the Koralmbahn corridor was ten times greater.

Christian Gratzer of the Austrian Traffic Club said the reduction was clearly linked to the opening of the Koralmbahn. He said train travel was cheaper than driving, particularly when fuel prices were high, while the shift also reduced congestion and traffic levels for people who depend on their cars.

The Austrian Traffic Club said the shift from road to rail was not unexpected. It described the figures as comparable to those recorded 15 years ago after the new western railway line opened.

Gratzer said the figures gave politicians a clear mandate to expand the rail network, particularly by ensuring that district capitals and regional centres were well connected to the railway system.