Because of the tunnel project

Köstendorf residents alarmed: “This is too much for us”

Railjets are due to travel through the tunnel tubes from 2040.(Bild: Tröster Andreas)

The people of Köstendorf are sounding the alarm: in addition to the large loading station for the excavated material for the Flachgautunnel, the plant for tunnel segments could also come.

Tunnel segments are essential for the construction of the ÖBB Flachgautunnel. They form the shell of the tunnel tubes, so to speak. These could be produced and installed directly at the large portal in Köstendorf. This is how it was submitted in the current public EIA procedure. "That's actually too much for a small town," says Matthias Neumayr, head of the largest citizens' initiative in the municipality. This is because the elimination of the excavation landfill sites, including conveyor belts, means that a large loading station with eight tracks must now also be built in the village. The excavated material is to be transported from there. "In any case, we want to leave the decision open to us and the subsequent construction contractor to build a segment plant on site or to transport the segments," says Robert Mosser from ÖBB. In other words: the plant is possible, but not fixed. The segments could also be transported by rail.

Mayor Wolfgang Wagner focuses on information for Köstendorf residents and calls on them to join initiatives.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

Matthias Neumayr has launched a citizens' initiative. He has been campaigning for years and wants to keep the impact on the village as low as possible.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

Western route restricts the possibilities
However, this could lead to difficulties with the much-used western route. The plan is that the material will only be transported away from Köstendorf at night, when there are fewer trains. This is why the large loading station with eight tracks is necessary in order to be able to load the material during the day.

Due to the many major interventions in the village, the focus is also shifting to the limit values for dust and noise, for example. According to the residents, these should be set significantly lower.