Off due to questioning

Auinger rejects the Messebahn

"The question no longer arises," says Salzburg's city boss about a train from the trade fair center to the city center. The city's alternative plan is express buses.

The stalemate remains. Following the rejection of the S-Link in the referendum, the city and province are still unable to agree on a joint approach to transport. Now Mayor Bernhard Auinger (SPÖ) has caused a stir by stating that the Messebahn, a branch of the S-Link, no longer has a future.

In fact, the railroad was also part of the referendum at the beginning of November. It asked for "a mobility solution that also provides for a Stiegl and a trade fair/airport railroad". That is why Auinger is now saying: "The question of the Messebahn therefore no longer arises, it was also rejected."

As a reminder: Coming from the trade fair center, the Messebahn was supposed to cross the Salzach in Itzling onto the Lokalbahn track and follow it. In the other direction, an extension along the highway towards the airport was planned. The cost of the section to the trade fair center: Around 50 million euros.

The people of Salzburg said "no" to the S-Link.(Bild: Tröster Andreas)

City demands support from the state for buses
Tourist buses in particular should stop at the trade fair to get them out of the city center. Auinger envisions express buses as a replacement solution for the trade fair streetcar, as for the entire S-Link. These would pick up tourists at the exhibition center and take them directly to the city center.

"We first have to get the infrastructure there," Auinger concedes. However, this would require support from the state. Since the S-Link was discontinued, the relationship between the state and the city has cooled further. Transport Minister Stefan Schnöll (ÖVP) is of the opinion that the city must now deliver a "Plan B". "I am prepared to spend money on commuters," says Auinger. "But we won't be able to do it alone."

The city wants to have Harald Frey, a transport researcher from the Vienna University of Technology, present the express bus system as early as mid-January. But even that will only be possible with the state.