Austria’s state railway system could be facing a multi-million pound bill if Italian officials are correct and that many of its goods wagons have got faulty wheels thanks to outsourcing in eastern Europe. According to a report on the Austrian state broadcaster the ORF, a Slovakian subsidiary firm of the rail company is responsible for […]
Tag: railway
Sold: Company where 155 died
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Electricity provider Verbund has sold its share in the Gletscherbahn Kaprun that was responsible for the worst winter sports tragedy in Austrian history when 155 people died. The Gletscherbahn Kaprun disaster was a fire that occurred in an ascending railway car in the tunnel of the Gletscherbahn 2 railway on 11 November 2000. The disaster […]
For sale: Company where 155 died
Categories
Electricity provider Verbund is selling its share in the Gletscherbahn Kaprun that was responsible for the worst winter sports tragedy in Austrian history when 155 people died. The Gletscherbahn Kaprun disaster was a fire that occurred in an ascending railway car in the tunnel of the Gletscherbahn 2 railway on 11 November 2000. The disaster […]
Maier demands rail tunnel referendums
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Outgoing People’s Party (ÖVP) parliament member (MP) Ferdinand Maier has suggested to let Austrians decide about the future of the various Austrian railway tunnel projects. The Social Democrats (SPÖ) of Chancellor Werner Faymann and Vice Chancellor Michael Spindelegger’s ÖVP decided to spend more than three billion Euros on the Semmering tunnel. Only last week, the […]
ÖBB ticket prices could climb
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Federal Railways (ÖBB) tickets could be more expensive later this year. ÖBB CEO Christian Kern refused to rule out price hikes yesterday (Thurs). Kern pointed out that ÖBB did not up passenger tickets in the past four years. “We are not a charity organisation,” he said. Kern underlined that a further improvement of services was […]
Flaming Idiot
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Fare dodger Andreas F burst into flames when he stepped on a high voltage railway electricity cable trying to take a short cut out of a station in Breitensee, Austria, from a bridge onto a platform roof. Police say a 39-year-old man is in a “critical” condition in hospital with severe burns.
Naked railway protest
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Austrian women have taken their clothes off in protest against the building of a railway tunnel south of Vienna. Countryside protection organisation “Alliance for Nature” has bought out a scantily clad calendar in efforts to prevent the building of the Semmering base tunnel. The historical Semmering mountain railway was built in 1854 and since 1998 […]
Westbahn wants Graz – Salzburg subsidies
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A private competitor of Federal Railways (ÖBB) has claimed it would operate between Graz and Salzburg given that it gets as much financial support as the state-owned rail firm. Westbahn said yesterday (Sun) ÖBB received five million Euros in public funds to offer a connection between the Styrian capital and Salzburg. According to Westbahn, ÖBB […]
The head of a railway company which plans to challenge Federal Railways (ÖBB) from December has said that his firms trains will have facilities for smokers.Stefan Wehinger, chief of Westbahn which will operate 13 times a day between Vienna and Salzburg, said today (Fri) that wagons will be equipped with “smoker cabins.”Speaking to the Kurier […]
ÖBB punctuality improves
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The number of trains arriving on time in Austria is on the rise, it has been announced.Federal Railways (ÖBB) said today (Thurs) 94.2 per cent of all of its services were less than five minutes late last year, up from 90.5 per cent in 2009. The company added 97.6 per cent of its trains went […]