ÖBB boss Andreas Matthä tunes his customers to slightly rising rates. “At the end of the year, we will raise passenger transport prices very moderately, well below inflation. With all the pain we will have here.”
In freight transport, the railways are confronted with huge increases in electricity prices, especially abroad, sometimes by double digits. ÖBB will relay some of these raises here.
‘The developments will be felt next year’
Deutsche Bahn produces a third of the traction current itself, 20 percent is generated in partner power stations. “We buy the rest through long-term contracts. This year we will not have a huge price increase, but next year the developments will become more and more noticeable,” the ÖBB CEO told the “Kleine Zeitung”.
Railway plants: one billion by 2030
By 2030, one billion euros must be invested in the power stations of the railway. “In Obervellach we are in a modernization phase, in Pinzgau a pumped storage plant is under construction,” says Matthä.
Koralmbahn: Delivery should take place at the end of 2025
As for the planned start of the Koralmbahn in December 2025, he said he would be “extremely disappointed” if it could not be put into operation by the end of 2025. “At many construction sites, we keep having delivery problems with different parts,” he explains.
With regard to the consequences of the corona pandemic, Matthä notes that the number of passengers was significantly lower this year. “We are still ten percent below the level of 2019 in local transport. In long-haul traffic we are 15 percent above the level of 2019,” he calculated.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
