Even before in December 2025 the first passenger trains on the Koralm Railway run, the first freight trains on the new route are already operating as of early November. ÖBB announced this to the press on 4 November.
Since the beginning of November 2025, ÖBB Rail Cargo Group has been using the new connection between Carinthia and Styria—and from now on transports goods along the 130-kilometre-long new route. ÖBB Rail Cargo Group board spokesperson Clemens Först welcomed the opening of the new route for freight trains: “With the start of freight traffic on the Koralm Railway, a new chapter for rail freight transport in Austria begins. Thanks to the new Koralm Railway we
can offer our customers shorter transport times and more capacity for climate-friendly logistics.”
According to ÖBB, the Koralm Railway is a milestone for freight traffic in Austria and Europe. Trains between Villach Süd and Graz will no longer have to detour via Knittelfeld, Leoben and Frohnleiten and will reach their destination faster. This is especially important for single-wagon traffic, where wagons carrying goods from different customers are bundled together. The new flat route enables trains with higher loads of an additional 250 to 280 tonnes per train to be transported. As a result, shorter running times and more efficient turnarounds can save up to 300,000 train-kilometres per year. The lower gradients on the
Koralm Railway line (10 per mille instead of 16 per mille) are also, according to the information, in the interest of efficiency, because less energy is consumed for the journeys.
As one of the first freight trains, on Tuesday, 4 November, a single-wagon train of ÖBB Rail Cargo Group was sent onto the new route. In a single-wagon train, the wagons come from different directions to the large transshipment yard in Villach Süd and are assembled into a train. Then they travel on the new route toward Graz, where they are separated again at the transshipment yard and distributed to their destinations.
Omya uses the new Koralm Railway
ÖBB Rail Cargo Group customer
Omya has relied for years on environmentally friendly rail transport. The use of the new Koralm Railway is, according to the announcement, another step to make the company’s logistics processes more efficient and climate-friendly. Mineral fillers for paper production will increasingly be transported by rail within Austria in the future. “The new route enables us to carry out transports even more sustainably and resource-efficiently. This makes another contribution to reducing CO2 emissions and to strengthening rail freight transport,” Omya said.₂-Emissionen und zur Stärkung des Schienengüterverkehrs“, hieß es seitens Omya.
Die Südachse wird mit der Koralmbahn Teil des Ostsee-Adriatisches Meer-Korridors, der Europa von Nord nach Süd verbindet und eine der wichtigsten Güterverkehrsrouten Europas darstellt.
