Schienen-Control Newsletter Schienen-Control
Arbitration board with high earnings in 2024
The Aviation Department of the Agency for Passenger Rights ensures that passenger rights are enforced in cases of violations of the EU Air Passenger Rights Regulation if airlines fail to respond or respond inadequately to passenger claims. In 2025, more than 550 arbitration requests have already been received by the arbitration board, and the apf team has already closed nearly 160 cases this year. In these proceedings, a total of more than €100,000 has been recovered for travelers. This sum includes costs for ticket refunds, compensation, compensation payments, care services such as hotels or taxi rides, etc.
In 2024, airline passengers have already had to endure a lot – there have already been two strikes by Lufthansa employees and a staff meeting at Austrian Airlines. However, even with airlines that are less responsive to their passengers' demands, apf is usually able to reach agreements. If the year continues in this vein, apf is on track to achieve record earnings in the aviation sector.
Rail Schienen-Control two new employees
Robert Sappl supports the Schienen-Control team Schienen-Control area of network access. His many years of experience as a dispatcher and trainer in Austria, as well as his role in implementing various mobility projects abroad, make him the ideal candidate for the technical department. Sappl assumes an advisory role for technical aspects in the procedures of Schienen-Control .
Ms. Tatjana Zlatev is a business economist and certified public accountant. She supports the economic department and, in particular, the service facilities project in auditing financial data relevant to the procedures of Schienen-Control . Ms. Zlatev Schienen-Control experience from research as well as from auditing and tax consulting firms to Schienen-Control .
Market update March 2024
Performance data for ÖBB infrastructure for 2023
In total, almost 165.9 million train kilometers were traveled on the ÖBB infrastructure rail network in 2023. This marks a historic high, exceeding the previous record set in 2022 by one percent. Passenger transport in particular drove this growth, accounting for an additional 3.5 million train kilometers, which corresponds to an increase of three percent.
A year-on-year comparison with 2022 reveals the sharp decline that was already expected for freight transport: transport performance (gross tonne-kilometers) has shrunk by more than five percent and is thus also significantly below the level of previous years and only slightly above that of 2014 (!). Freight train kilometers also declined by almost four percent as a result of a significant drop in freight trains on the network. The second quarter proved to be the strongest and the fourth quarter the weakest for freight transport.
Rail Cargo Austria's transport performance fell by just under nine percent in 2023 compared to the previous year, causing its market share to drop by more than two percentage points to below 60 percent (58.1) for the first time at the end of the year. The largest companies (including Lokomotion, TX Logistik, WLC, CargoServ, LTE, and ecco-rail) recorded similar declines in market share. ČD Cargo, Metrans, and Raaberbahn Cargo, among others, recorded growth.
In terms of total freight transport, "traditional" block train transport and single wagon transport performed extremely poorly, with declines of around seven and eight percent respectively. The decline was relatively small for road transport, at just one percent. Block train transport accounted for almost 40 percent of the total, while single wagon transport and road transport accounted for 29 and 33 percent respectively.
Developments among energy suppliers in the Austrian market
On February 7, the province of Styria and the federal government signed a new transport service agreement with ÖBB-PV and GKB for the period 2024-2033. This includes almost two million additional kilometers of service from both rail transport companies. The opening of the Koralmbahn, the electrification of the Steierische Ostbahn and GKB, and the expansion of the Radkersburger Bahn will ensure many future increases in service frequency.
ÖBB wants to find a solution to the problems that have been ongoing for months in the eastern region at the beginning of March and bring about stabilization. The increased frequency between Vienna and Stockerau and to St. Andrä-Wördern will be discontinued, meaning that local transport on both routes will only run every half hour. Until the end of February 2024, there were too few operational trains in eastern Austria. Transport Minister Gewessler had previously written to ÖBB management requesting an improvement in the situation.
Freight transport from Friedberg via Oberwart to Rotenturm, which had been operated by Steiermärkische Landesbahn and Steiermarkbahn Transport & Logistik over the past ten years, was taken over again by RCA at the beginning of February.
WESTbahn has expressed interest in operating services on the southern route once the entire Koralmbahn line is expected to be completed at the end of 2025. As the Semmering route does not have a clearance profile suitable for double-decker trains, the leasing of suitable rolling stock is currently being considered, among other things. These services have not yet been registered with SCG. As a further step in its expansion, the connection to Vorarlberg is to be doubled and Munich trains extended to Stuttgart. In addition, efforts are being made to obtain a license in Hungary. The company will record its best operating result to date in 2023 and a new passenger record of around 8 million.
WLB achieved a new record in 2023 with a total of 15.8 million passengers. This was significantly more than in 2019 and also 26% more than in 2022. The reasons for the increase are the increased frequency at the end of 2020, the modernized fleet, and night service on weekends.
FRACHTbahn recently began operating an intermodal train between Ludwigshafen and Vienna, with one to two round trips per week, according to the company.
Rail network 2023: 86 kilometers of additional electrification
As of December 31, 2023, the Austrian rail network had a total length of 5,636 kilometers, which represents an increase of seven kilometers compared to 2022. This network is operated by several railway infrastructure companies, with ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG operating around 88 percent of the total network. Currently, five percent of the lines are narrow gauge, with Mariazellerbahn operating the longest single-track narrow-gauge railway in Austria at 83 kilometers.
Electrification is advancing in Carinthia
In 2023, progress was made in the electrification of the rail network. Additional sections of the ÖBB infrastructure were put into operation along the newly constructed Koralm line in Carinthia. This includes the line between Grafenstein and St. Paul im Lavanttal (76 km) and the Mittlern - Bleiburg - Wiederndorf-Ach section (10 km). The electrification of the Styrian section of the Koralm Railway is still pending. At the same time, the access routes to Bleiburg and Wolfsberg were successfully converted to electric operation. Carinthia thus remains in fourth place (91%) in a comparison of federal states in terms of railway network electrification, just behind Vorarlberg (100%), Vienna (98%) and Tyrol (93%). The total share of electrified lines of all infrastructure operators amounted to around 75 percent in 2023. The Styrian rail network brings up the rear with a degree of electrification of 58 percent.
Successes in multi-track expansion in Upper and Lower Austria
The year 2023 was marked by further expansion projects in the high-performance network, including the Semmering Base Tunnel, the Koralm Railway, and the Westbahn line between Linz and Wels. With the commissioning of the Koralm Railway, the section between Klagenfurt and Wiederndorf-Aich can now be traveled on double tracks. Further successes were achieved with the double-track expansion of the Marchegg branch line and the completion of the double track on the Pottendorf line from Vienna Meidling to Wampersdorf.
Schienen-Control new EU initiative on capacity utilization
In July 2023, the European Commission presented its proposal for a regulation to reorganize the use of track capacity as part of the "Greening Freight Package." Maria-Theresia Röhsler, Managing Director of Schienen-Control the initiative and emphasizesthat"non-discriminatory access to rail infrastructure is crucial to creating a successful single European railway area."
The regulation currently being negotiated by the European Parliament and the European Council affects both domestic and cross-border transport. It aims to bring about a paradigm shift, moving the focus away from exclusively demand-driven train path allocation towards capacity management that also includes elements of planning.
The aim is to make more efficient use of existing capacity. Passenger transport should order train paths even earlier and be allocated them on a fixed basis so that tickets can be sold earlier – similar to the system used by airlines. On the other hand, attractive train paths should also be available to freight transport at a relatively late stage.
For Schienen-Control , the proposed reform, which is essentially based on the Timetable Redesign for Smart Capacity Management (TTR) project, Schienen-Control a sensible initiative to increase efficiency in rail transport. The planned introduction of infrastructure capacity allocation and distribution based on socioeconomic and environmental criteria also underscores the desire to make rail transport even more sustainable.
"A number of details still need to be revised," says Maria-Theresia Röhsler, identifying necessary improvements before the regulation can come into force. Together with IRG-Rail, the association of European regulatory authorities, Schienen-Control is involved Schienen-Control the legislative process at European level to ensure non-discriminatory access to rail infrastructure throughout Europe. Specifically, Schienen-Control is Schienen-Control approaching the EU Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Council to ensure the participation of railway companies in all phases of capacity planning, which is crucial for non-discrimination and transparency.
Schienen-Control its 25th anniversary – unfortunately without a symposium
On August 26, 1999, Schienen-Control was established as an independent regulatory body on the basis of Article 30 of Directive 2001/14/EC. This stipulates that the regulatory authority must be independent of infrastructure operators, allocation bodies, charging bodies, and applicants in terms of its organization, legal status, and decision-making. Finally, on March 6, 2000, the constituent meeting of the Schienen-Control (SCK) took place.
Since then, companies have been Schienen-Control if they believe they have been treated unfairly, discriminated against, or had their rights violated in any other way by the infrastructure operator, particularly with regard to regulations and criteria in the rail network usage conditions, train path allocation, charging regulations, the amount of track access charges, or safety certification.
Increasing complexity in procedures
The first SCK procedure concerned the approval of the general terms and conditions of the railway companies. These included ÖBB (not yet ÖBB-PV at that time), Innsbrucker Verkehrsbetriebe, and Salzburger Lokalbahn.
Since then, more than 200 SCK meetings have been held, bringing about groundbreaking changes in the Austrian rail transport market. The number and complexity of proceedings increased steadily in the following years as the railway market continued to liberalize. This led to the steady growth of the authority. Compared to the other regulatory authorities in Austria (E-Control and RTR) Schienen-Control very lean structures and a low number of staff. Currently, the procedures and administration are handled by 23 people, which is the highest number ever.
The high complexity of the procedures requires additional resources from the authority. Over the years, in addition to experts in railway law, railway engineers, people with a background in economics or energy management, and experts in cost auditing have been needed to successfully advance the procedures. In addition, there have been a large number of externally prepared expert reports that formed the basis for some of the SCK's groundbreaking decisions.
Financing for Schienen-Control – Symposium provisionally canceled
The increased audit workload resulting from case law and the previous expansion Schienen-Control also Schienen-Control in higher costs. However, Schienen-Control on the basis of track access charges paid by railway undertakings (RUs). Currently, these charges amount to 7.5‰ of the total amount paid by RUs for the use of rail infrastructure in a calendar year. However, according to Schienen-Control , this amount is not indexed, which leads to an erosion of real financing options in years with high inflation. The increase in fees for the use of railways in Austria is significantly below inflation each year. In addition, there were pandemic-related waivers of usage fees, which significantly reduced the assessment basis.
The main concern of Schienen-Control is to continue necessary procedures as quickly and professionally as possible. This means that financial savings must be made elsewhere. This affects the annual Schienen-Control symposium, which over the years has served as a networking event for the rail transport sector and provided an important forum for exchange between companies and authorities. With specialist presentations on regulatory issues, international developments, and the industry, the Schienen-Control is a fixture in the calendar of rail events in Austria.
The cancellation of the 2024 symposium does not mean the end of the event series, but is intended to emphasize that performing tasks in the rail sector comes at a price—and that sufficient financial resources and indexation or a change in the financial assessment basis to train kilometers are crucial for the success of independent regulation.