Excavations in the final stages

Semmering Tunnel: Now only 200 meters are missing

1300 people are still working on the tunnel construction site(Bild: ÖBB/Ebner)

The end of the excavations in Semmering is in sight, only 200 meters are still missing in one tube! The first trains are due to run at the end of 2029. How things are progressing on the construction site.

Perhaps Gerhard Gobiet can celebrate a particularly relaxed Christmas this year. Maybe. Because if all goes well, the workers will make the final breakthrough in one of the two Semmering Tunnel tubes before the end of the year. A good 200 meters are still missing here on the Lower Austrian side. There are around 300 meters to go in the second tube. Excavation is due to end there in the first quarter of 2025.

"99 percent of the excavations have been completed," says Gobiet, who is managing the mega project for ÖBB, in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper. On the Styrian side, the final breakthrough was celebrated last summer.

A battle with the mountain
However, the last few meters are often the most difficult, as is the case here. The Grasberg area is home to perhaps the most difficult geological conditions in the Eastern Alps. Nevertheless, the miners have already mastered the trickiest part with the so-called Grasberg northern edge fault, but the remaining "Schlaglstörung" fault is also challenging.

On the Styrian side, work has long since progressed: here, the inner shell of the tunnel is being constructed at full speed. 35 of a total of 55 kilometers have been completed.

35 kilometers of inner shell have already been laid(Bild: ÖBB/Ebner)

176 million euro contract awarded
A milestone was announced last week: The 176 million euro contract for the railroad engineering equipment was awarded to the two companies Rhomberg and Porr. They now have until September 2025 to prepare everything so that installation can then begin - starting from the portal in Mürzzuschlag to Gloggnitz (Lower Austria). This includes the cabling, the complete technical equipment and all safety installations.

The slab track with rails will then be laid from March 2027 to 2028. The contract will be awarded at the end of this year in an EU-wide tendering process - the manufacturers will then need two years' lead time. Finally, the overhead lines and lighting will follow.

"From today's perspective, we will be able to commission the Semmering Base Tunnel with the timetable change in December 2029," says Gobiet confidently - the project is even a few months ahead of schedule. The costs have risen several times over the course of the project and have amounted to around 4.2 billion euros since last year.