After the start of the Koralm Railway

Schools change lesson times due to public transport timetable

New bus timetables are now also in place for schoolchildren - in line with the Koralmbahn.(Bild: Kärnten Bus)

Commuters, business and tourism are delighted - but pupils and parents in Carinthia are not in the mood to rejoice. On the contrary: timetable changes due to the opening of the Koralmbahn are causing chaos and annoyance in some cases - and for specially adapted school lesson times. 

Countless parents have been expressing their displeasure to the "Kärntner Krone" newspaper since Monday! The cause of the uproar: the changed timetables due to the opening of the Koralm Railway. Some examples: Many pupils from Villach now have to get up 20 minutes earlier to catch the bus to Landskron secondary school - but they have to wait 15 minutes at the main station for their connecting bus. If they take the later bus, they arrive at the bus stop two minutes before the bell rings.

"I contacted the children's parents and my father - that's how we all got home in full cars. One of the children didn't even have a cell phone and was completely terrified - what would she have done if she'd been standing there alone with no adult around?" The same problem on Tuesday. "We have now set up a WhatsApp parent group to coordinate our efforts."

Around 25 children were supposed to wait an hour for their bus to Griffen in the middle of nowhere in Framrach.(Bild: zVg, Krone KREATIV)

School lessons according to the bus timetable 
In Radenthein, on the other hand, secondary school starts five minutes earlier due to the new timetable. So that the children can still catch their bus home on time in the afternoon.

"Actually affects several schools"
"Such an adjustment to lesson times, which is legally possible and has been offered in advance, actually affects several schools. Some have already implemented this in advance, while others wanted to wait and see how it actually develops. But what I cannot accept is special permission for pupils to come late or leave early," Carinthia's Education Director Isabella Penz told the "Krone" newspaper.

Still some "construction sites"
Kärnten Linien also emphasized that it had communicated with the schools in advance and asked for feedback. "However, we are aware that there are some problem situations that we need to resolve together with the transport operators."

"I would therefore ask all those affected to send us their concerns by email to [e-mail]. However, I also ask for your understanding and patience that changes will not take place until the semester break," says Roland Fercher from Kärntner Linien.