The ÖBB Rail Cargo Group (RCG) is taking the final steps on the way back to full operation. Since October 15, the ÖBB freight transport subsidiary has been operating at least 85% of its regular volume from Tuesday to Friday. On Mondays, Saturdays and Sundays, as well as during night operations from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., it is already up to 100%.
From November 4, thanks to additional capacity on the “new” western route from Meidling to Tullnerfeld, the RCG will reach almost 100% of its regular volume. The same route will then go into unrestricted full operation from December 15. In this way, the RCG is ensuring its customers the usual level of flexibility and planning security.
“Many thanks for the patience and trust of our customers and the good cooperation, especially in these challenging times for all of us. The flood of the century brought entire supply chains to a standstill from one day to the next. Nevertheless, we have managed to ensure security of supply for industry. This shows us once again that we can deal with crises together and proves the systemic relevance of rail freight transport,” says Clemens Först, CEO of RCG.
Flood of the century with damage of the century
The devastating flood disaster in mid-September hit all rail freight transport in Austria and internationally hard. The extreme weather event caused massive damage to the rail infrastructure and major disruptions in international supply chains not only in eastern Austria, but also in the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Italy. The import and export flows of Austrian companies were and are also affected by this. RCG was forced to temporarily reduce its offer.
RCG employees have done everything in recent weeks to maintain the supply of freight transport to industrial companies. This was made possible, among other things, by diversions via Semmering and Pyhrn and over a large area via neighboring countries and their alternative routes.
Examples of diversions:
- Household appliances from Turkey to Germany were routed via Slovenia/Croatia instead of Hungary.
- Raw materials from Poland went via Slovakia instead of the Czech Republic.
- Single wagon traffic from Vienna to Tyrol was routed via Villach.
- Sugar beet transports on the western route were partly carried out via Krems with two diesel locomotives.
The flood of the century has caused damage to the infrastructure of the century. Nevertheless, the ÖBB team has already made great progress in dealing with the acute flood damage and taking inventory of the damage. This makes the RCG board confident that it will be able to return to normality in big steps.
ÖBB Rail Cargo Group Network resilience
For years, the ÖBB Rail Cargo Group has been advocating that a train must be able to travel through Europe just as easily as a truck. Cross-border planning, international crisis management and highly flexible diversions are already helping with this. It was therefore possible to divert some goods via other countries and this strengthens the RCG in its efforts.
But in order to get more goods onto the rails in the long term, more is needed: a resilient, digital and well-developed infrastructure, fair competitive conditions and equal opportunities thanks to measures that bring the different modes of transport on an equal footing. Ultimately, railway companies are also required to do their homework in order to be able to offer customers a good service.
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