Krumpendorf to renovate five railway crossings at high cost

Krumpendorf municipality in Carinthia will renovate five railway crossings from October to bring them into line with EU standards, ORF reported. The work will cost about EUR 2.5 million, with the municipality required to pay around half.

The crossings will receive acoustic warning signals when the barriers are closed. Increased rail traffic has already left the barriers closed for about nine hours a day, with traffic rising further since the Koralmbahn railway line opened.

The Austrian Federal Railways had proposed closing two of the crossings and replacing them with underpasses for pedestrians and cyclists. However, the proposal failed to win a majority in the municipal council.

“Unfortunately, no majority could be secured in the municipal bodies for either of the two underpass options,” ÖBB spokeswoman Rosanna Zernatto-Peschel said. The railway company must therefore carry out the modernisation work by the end of the year in accordance with the official decision.

Mayor Gernot Bürger said the municipality would have to find a way to finance around EUR 1.3 million. He said the underpasses would have reduced the number of crossings and lowered the municipality’s share of the costs.

Preparatory work will begin in about two weeks. From October until the end of the year, each of the five railway crossings will be closed for two weeks while construction takes place.