The private ÖBB competitor Westbahn is successful again after the Corona years and achieved its best operating result to date in 2023. The group’s turnover increased from 90 million euros in 2022 to more than 120 million euros and profit increased from four to ten million euros. Only in 2019 was there a higher profit due to train sales. About eight million passengers traveled on Westbahn trains last year, 35 percent more than in 2022 and 20 percent more than in 2019.
“Westbahn has matured and has reached where we actually wanted to be a few years ago,” says Florian Kazalek, who, together with Thomas Posch, has been the management duo of Westbahn parent company Rail Holding AG for almost two years. However, the pandemic derailed the plans of the railway company, which launched in 2011.
The connection to Vorarlberg must be expanded
The board sees customer response as a basis for further expansion steps. The company wants to expand the connection to Vorarlberg, where the Westbahn stops in eleven cities, and extend the trains from Munich to Stuttgart, stopping en route in Augsburg, Ulm and, because of Legoland, in Günzburg. There are also plans to go east. Westbahn is trying to get a permit in Hungary.
About half of the eight million passengers in 2023 were climate card holders. They contributed about a third of Westbahn’s revenue, as Posch explained. Even though the Westbahn realizes more turnover from its own ticket sales, it is still actively trying to attract climate card holders, including with its own train class.
Initial losses not yet compensated
Despite the recent profits, the initial losses from the first years of operation have not yet been fully compensated. Whether dividends will be paid out for the first time in 2023 is a matter for the supervisory board and the general meeting and has not yet been determined, according to the two board members.
Westbahn is 49.9 percent owned by the Haselstein family’s private foundation, 32.7 percent by entrepreneur Erhard Grossnigg’s Swiss Augusta Holding and 17.4 percent by French state railway SNCF.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
