Austrian state railway ÖBB has awarded the contract for the installation of the slab track in the 27.3 km Semmering Base Tunnel to the joint venture of Rhomberg Sersa Rail and Porr. The contract is worth €76 million and includes the production and installation of the concrete track support slabs on which the tracks will be mounted. Construction in the tunnel is scheduled to start in April 2027, after the tunnel's inner shell and large parts of the technical tunnel equipment have been completed. The tunnel is expected to be completed by 2030. The Semmering Base Tunnel is part of the Südstrecke railway project, which involves modernising and expanding the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor. A total of 200 km of railway line will be modernised and 170 km newly constructed, including 80 km of new tunnels and 150 new bridges. After completion of the work, trains are to travel from Vienna to Klagenfurt in two hours and 40 minutes and from Graz to Klagenfurt in 45 minutes.
