Greens demand new rail route linking eastern Styria with Graz

The Greens called for better rail connections between eastern Styria, Graz and the Koralmbahn high-speed line at a state parliament session on Tuesday, ORF reported. The party said a new route between Graz and Gleisdorf was needed.

Greens transport spokesman Lambert Schönleitner said eastern Styria remained poorly connected. He noted that the train journey from Gleisdorf to Graz takes as long as the trip from Graz to Klagenfurt, blaming the route’s alignment. Electrifying the existing line would not be enough to make the connection fit for the future, he said.

Schönleitner said a replacement route had been fully planned years ago, and that initial talks about acquiring land had taken place. But the project never advanced to planning and implementation, he said.

He urged state governor Mario Kunasek and transport councillor Claudia Holzer, both of the Freedom Party, to press Infrastructure Minister Peter Hanke and the Austrian Federal Railways to move the project forward.

Holzer said the proposed route would serve as the basis for using the state’s spatial planning powers to protect the corridor from rezoning and construction.