In Salzburg, the construction of an underground extension of the electric regional railway line from Ostermieting and Lamprechtshausen to the city centre and from there southwards largely on surface to Hallein has been under discussion for many years.
This so-called S-LINK, which will be 15 km long when completed, should significantly improve the traffic situation in Salzburg and relieve the congested city centre of car traffic caused by commuters. Until now, the local railway line, which was close to being shut down in the 1970s and 80s, ends at Salzburg Central Station in an underground station, which was built in 1992-96 with a view to the planned extension of the city centre. It replaced the previously overground terminus at the nearby Lokalbahnhof. Until 1953, there had already been a city centre crossing and continuation of the local railway to Parsch and St. Leonhard (until 1938 even further to Berchtesgaden in Bavaria), albeit on surface.
Plans to build an underground extension have been on the table for almost three decades, but failed not least due to a lack of funding for this major project in Salzburg, a city of 150,000 inhabitants. However, the nationwide efforts to expand local public transport gave the project new impetus a few years ago, even if the discussion about costs and benefits repeatedly flared up at a political level.
The concession for the construction and operation of the local railway between Salzburg and Hallein was legally awarded to Salzburger Regionalstadtbahn Projektgesellschaft m.b.H. by the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) in April 2024 which also confirmed the economic framwork of the project. All environmental permits have also been granted for the first, approximately 900 metre-long section from the main railway station to Mirabellplatz. The federal government has also agreed to contribute 50% of the costs of the overall project.
The infrastructure on the existing line has already been undergoing upgrading and modernisation for several years, and more is yet to come, including the tracks and the creation of additional double-track sections, the safety technology and the design of various stations. To renew the current fleet, Stadler “VDV-TramTrain” trains are on order and, the first are expected to be delivered in 2026.
In addition, the planning documents for the environmental impact assessment were applied for as the first step of a planned branch line to the trade fair centre. This “trade fair line” (Messebahn) is also to use the Citytunnel as the S12: Together with the 15-minute frequency of the S1/S11 from northern Flachgau, the service offering on the core section within the Salzburg city area to Salzburg-Süd would be much improved to a 7.5-minute frequency during the course of the day.
The project still has to overcome further hurdles
However, it is still unclear whether the S-LINK will actually be built. Salzburg’s new mayor Bernhard Auinger had consistently spoken out against the S-LINK during the election campaign after the first negative referendum. However, he has made a clear commitment to respect the result of a new public consultation, this time in the region (Bundesland) of Salzburg, on the realisation of the project and to implement it accordingly. Last November 2023, 58.3% of those who took part voted against the project, albeit with a low voter turnout (less than 1/4 of those eligible to vote in the city of Salzburg).
In contrast, things look more favourable in Linz, Upper Austria, where the financing for the construction of the future, largely underground connection from Urfahr to the main railway station has been finalised: the federal government will cover half of the total costs of EUR 940 million. The state Oberösterreich (Upper Austria) will contribute 42.5 per cent and the city 7.5 per cent, although its share of the costs is capped at EUR 50 million.
Perhaps this positive development in Linz will help to change the minds of the people of Salzburg and convince them of the benefits of improving the general transport conditions and thus the quality of life in their beautiful city.
