Trouble in Hönigsberg

Train station closed, but the fight continues

Trains have not stopped in Höngisberg for three years.

(Bild: zVg)

Although it has been closed for years, residents of Hönigsberg continue to fight for their train stop - and for noise barriers. They feel that they have not been listened to enough by politicians and the Federal Railways. Now there are 1900 new signatures.

"We feel we are being sent around in circles, the whole thing is Kafkaesque. We feel very much left alone, both by politicians and by ÖBB," say Monika Schöner, Josef Budl and Franz Rosenblattl as representatives of the Hönigsberg initiative. Firstly, they want a station for rail traffic again and secondly, they finally want a noise barrier.

The background: a petition for the preservation of the station was submitted back in 2021, after the plans to close it had become known. However, there was a formal error when it was submitted, as the petition with 2027 signatures was not addressed to the provincial parliament, but to Federal Minister Leonore Gewessler and Transport Minister Anton Lang.

The current petition, which was correctly submitted to the state parliament, has also fallen on deaf ears so far: The request was "not general enough", and so efforts to arrange a meeting with Lang have so far remained unfulfilled, according to spokesperson and first signatory Monika Schöner. 

Spokesperson Monika Schöner with Josef Budl (left) and Franz Rosenblattl.

(Bild: Peter Bernthaler)

Despite the climate crisis: public transport services have deteriorated!
Hönigsberg has 1600 inhabitants, many schoolchildren and adult commuters rely on public transport. It is also home to numerous large companies such as Böhler, Innoweld and BHDT.

In 2022, the train stop was finally closed and the dust settled. For over two years, people from Hönigsberg (many by car) have had to travel to Mürzzuschlag to reach suitable train connections. According to the initiative, there are no bus connections, especially at off-peak times and at weekends, and connections are often unreliable. Overall, the closure of the Hönigsberg train stop has significantly worsened public transport services. 

Stop was "the least frequented"
ÖBB argues that the reason for the removal of the Hönigsberg stop was "so-called route conflicts that can only be resolved by removing a stop". This means: "Regional and long-distance traffic have to share the route, so the number of stops is strictly limited. In this specific case, the journey time of the S-Bahn would be too long to fit between the train paths (time slots) of the long-distance trains. As the Hönigsberg stop was the least frequented stop in the Mürztal valley, the decision to resolve the train path conflict was made in favor of this stop."

In addition, the catchment area would now be better covered by the existing bus stops: "Specifically, the three bus stops within a radius of 500 meters cover the entire settlement area, whereas the Hönigsberg stop only covered 50 percent," according to ÖBB's statement in response to an inquiry from "Krone".

Noise protection required for 800 people
The initiative's second request is a noise barrier: an estimated 800 people who live around 50 meters away from the railroad line as the crow flies would benefit significantly from this. However, this costs money - and according to Franz Rosenblattl, this would have to be shared between the federal government, the state and the municipality. As a result, there are no concrete plans on the table yet.

A meeting with Anton Lang to personally hand over the petition with over 1900 original signatures (submitted digitally to the state parliament at the end of October) is the initiative's current wish. Monika Schöner comments: "It's a David versus Goliath situation. But for now, we just want a dialog to find good solutions."