Rail expansion in Austria creates and safeguards around 200,000 job-years during the construction phase through to 2032

P R E S S   I N F O R M A T I O N
 
Rail expansion in Austria creates and safeguards around 200,000 job-years during the construction phase through to 2032 
Progress on the Semmering Base Tunnel: Technical tunnel fit-out in full swing; commissioning at the end of 2029 will generate major benefits for Austria and passengers
 
Mürzzuschlag, 30 September 2026 – Through its construction activity, ÖBB is an important and stabilising factor for Austria’s domestic construction industry. Around EUR 19.5 billion will be invested in the forthcoming framework plan period from 2027 to 2032 alone – in the railway of tomorrow. Franz Hammerschmid, Head of Business Unit at ÖBB: “As a driver of employment, we create valuable jobs and in doing so also support the domestic economy. More than two thirds of contracts are awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises. This enables ÖBB to strengthen Austria’s economic performance and competitiveness and to act as a central pillar of the country’s business location. After all, these investments have an impact far beyond railway construction.” As a result, around 200,000 job-years will be created or safeguarded in Austria from 2027 to 2032 during the construction phase alone. 
 
The Semmering Base Tunnel is a good example. For passengers, the new tunnel will cut journey times by 30 minutes and offer greater comfort on journeys to and from southern Austria, with speeds of up to 230 km/h from December 2029. Freight transport will also benefit from the project along the strategically important Baltic–Adriatic EU Corridor. Together with the Koralm Railway, it will create a low-gradient route on the Vienna–Villach Southern Line, meaning that heavy freight trains will no longer require two locomotives. 
 
Already during construction, the investment of around EUR 4.2 billion is generating considerable economic stimulus, particularly for the domestic economy. On average, 1,200 people are directly employed on the tunnel during the construction phase. Around 11,000 long-term jobs (Source: Overall economic assessment of the new Semmering Base Tunnel) will then be created during operation.
 
Gerhard Gobiet, ÖBB Project Manager for the Semmering Base Tunnel: “Together with our partners, we are approaching the historic milestone of commissioning the Semmering Base Tunnel. Work on the technical tunnel fit-out is progressing very well, and passengers will be able to use the new line from December 2029.”
 
The Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group and PORR joint venture was awarded the contracts for the technical tunnel fit-out of the Semmering Base Tunnel. The joint venture is equipping the tunnel with telecommunications, high-voltage installations, distribution boards, lighting and escape route signage, as well as mechanical systems for air conditioning, ventilation and firefighting water supply. The works also include 55 kilometres of slab track (the basis for the track system), connections to ballasted track, noise protection, substructure and steelwork, earthworks, concrete and ceiling works, and turnouts and ballasted track at the two portals in the west and east.
 
On the Styrian side, the Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group and PORR joint venture works with 19 local companies as suppliers, including for construction materials, vehicle accessories, transport and hire equipment, steelwork, concrete, vehicle and signalling technology, and food. 120 people – operatives and salaried staff – are currently accommodated on a long-term basis near the Mürzzuschlag portal, where they use inns, restaurants and leisure facilities, including during the low season. From mid-2027, the joint venture’s activities will increasingly shift to the Gloggnitz portal and therefore to the Lower Austrian side, when preparatory works begin there. At peak times, a total of around 400 employees will be working on both sides of the Semmering, around 10 to 15 per cent of whom come from the local project area – meaning the Semmering Base Tunnel is also creating jobs locally.

Gernot Gassner, Managing Director, Project Business at RSRG: “We are delighted to be contributing to the successful commissioning of this centrepiece of the railway infrastructure on the Baltic–Adriatic EU Corridor, thereby helping to strengthen the Austrian economy. The Semmering Base Tunnel will benefit people around both portals, as well as those in Lower Austria, Styria, Austria as a whole and across Europe.”

Johannes Fürst, PORR Head of Rail and Civil Engineering: “Following the successful and on-schedule completion of our work on the Koralm Tunnel, we are very pleased to be making another contribution to the development of the Southern Railway with the interior fit-out of the Semmering Base Tunnel. Involving regional companies is particularly important to us: their expertise makes a significant contribution to delivering the works.”
 
Siemens Austria is another important partner of ÖBB, including in the construction of the Semmering Base Tunnel.
 
Alexander Schäffer, Project Manager at Siemens Austria: “The SICAM A8000 control-system cabinets control and ‘think’ for the tunnel. The control system integrates, among other things, the power supply, lighting for the running tunnels and cross-passages, and escape-route guidance lights. A particular strength is their ability to provide both centralised and decentralised control via an on-site operator panel.” 
 
Siemens is supplying the comprehensive control and telecontrol systems, automation and protection technology for the Semmering Base Tunnel. 69 SICAM A8000 control-system cabinets form the tunnel’s central nervous system, automating 56 cross-passages and integrating around 25,000 hardware signals. With centralised and decentralised control, the control system ensures maximum efficiency and safety for all integrated systems, such as power supply and ventilation. The installed 24 kV blueGIS switchgear, the first F-gas-free switchgear in an Austrian tunnel, provides environmentally responsible medium-voltage power distribution. Together with SIPROTEC 5 protection relays and supervisory computers, this allows complex technical systems to be monitored transparently, enabling faults to be detected at an early stage and processes to be controlled efficiently.
 
Semmering Base Tunnel project – overview and outlook
Following the historic milestone at the end of 2024 – the final breakthrough and completion of all tunnel drives – current work in the tunnel is focused primarily on the technical tunnel fit-out, along with the final works on the inner concrete lining in the Gloggnitz section and the final works around the shafts at the emergency station in Fröschnitzgraben.
 
Since summer 2025, the work has focused entirely on the technical fit-out of the two tunnel tubes. They are being equipped with all technical systems required for rail operations, including the track system, cables and other technical installations. Given the enormous scale of the tunnel, this will take more than three years, after which trains will be able to run through the tunnel from the end of 2029. Nearly half of the railway systems installations (excluding the track system and conductor rail) have already been completed. 
 

Technical tunnel fit-out – key figures (total)

• Approx. 1,000 km of cables will be installed in the tunnel – equivalent to the distance from Vienna to Paris

• More than 3,200 lights will be installed

• 55 km of illuminated handrail 

• Approx. 13,500 signs will be installed

• Approx. 10,600 track support slabs (each 5 m long)

 
About PORR 
Innovation for excellence – this is what PORR has stood for for more than 155 years. With 21,000 employees and production output of around EUR 6.8 billion (financial year 2025), it is one of Austria’s largest construction companies and one of Europe’s leading players. As a full-service provider, PORR offers a comprehensive range of services in building construction, civil engineering and infrastructure construction across the entire value chain. Its focus is on its home markets of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania, as well as selected project markets. PORR shares are listed in the prime market segment of the Vienna Stock Exchange. As one of the oldest continuously traded securities, the share is also included in Austria’s benchmark ATX index, making PORR one of the 20 most liquid companies on the Austrian capital market (ISIN: AT0000609607).
 
Further information at www.porr-group.com.
 
About the Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group
The Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group was formed in 2012 through the merger of the Swiss Sersa Group and Austria’s Rhomberg Bahntechnik. Since then, the railway engineering company has developed into an international full-service provider offering an almost complete range of services in railway construction, equipment and service. Its customers include local and long-distance passenger railways, freight lines and private infrastructure. 
 
The Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group’s vision is to establish rail as the leading mobility solution of the future. To achieve this, it harnesses the opportunities offered by technological developments and digitalisation, as well as partnerships. 
 
The company employs approximately 3,100 people. In the 2025/26 financial year, the Group generated operating output of around EUR 898 million across nine countries on three continents (Europe, Australia and North America).
 
Further information: www.rhomberg-sersa.com.