Tauern railway to close for five months for tunnel repairs

The Tauern railway will close between Schwarzach-St. Veit and Mallnitz-Obervellach from February 8 to July 9 for tunnel repairs, ORF reported. The closure will interrupt the rail link between Salzburg and Carinthia for a second time in recent years.

The ÖBB announced the replacement timetable on Tuesday. The work is the second phase of a major renovation of the more than eight-kilometre-long Tauerntunnel, which is about 120 years old. The tunnel’s northern entrance is at Böckstein, a district of Bad Gastein.

The first phase involved an eight-month closure that lasted until last year and cost more than 100 million euros. The next phase is expected to cost about 50 million euros. It will include further upgrades to the rolling stock and facilities used for the car shuttle through the tunnel.

During the five-month closure, hourly direct buses will run between Bischofshofen and Spittal an der Drau, alongside replacement buses between Schwarzach-St. Veit and Bad Gastein. Additional direct buses will connect Bischofshofen with Villach, and a commuter shuttle will run between Bad Gastein and Mallnitz.

Timetable changes will also affect other rail lines, particularly in Carinthia. Night trains and freight trains will take longer detours, and the Stuttgart-Venice service will be suspended for the duration of the closure. Regular train services are due to resume fully on July 10.