Tyrol prepares European tender for new Zillertal Railway

Tyrol’s state government plans to launch a Europe-wide tender next week for the new Zillertal Railway, ORF reported. The decision was approved unanimously at Tuesday’s government meeting.

The narrow-gauge railway is scheduled to begin operating in 2030. Tyrol plans to issue the tender jointly with Salzburg and possibly Styria to reduce costs by bundling orders for the trains.

“I assume and hope that we can enter the tender together with Salzburg and possibly Styria,” Transport Councillor René Zumtobel of the Social Democratic Party said.

The project is intended to advance the decarbonisation of narrow-gauge railways while using as little taxpayer money as possible. The new battery-hybrid trains are scheduled to enter service in four years.

Zumtobel said he was confident the projects could be implemented as planned. The federal government has already significantly increased funding for the necessary infrastructure investments, supporting the switch to environmentally friendly trains and easing financing.

Officials had said in July that the tender could be issued in August. It is now expected to proceed next week.