ÖBB Record Number of Passengers

The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) transported over half a billion passengers for the first time in 2024. A total of 511.3 million people traveled with ÖBB trains and buses last year, the company announced on Friday. It was a challenging year. "The economic downturn took some of the wind out of our sails," said ÖBB CEO Andreas Matthä, "and the flooding inundated our tracks."

17.7 Million More ÖBB Passengers

The most important event for the ÖBB this year is likely to be the planned opening of the Koralmbahn line, which will connect Graz and Klagenfurt, among others. Freight traffic will be able to use the route from October, announced ÖBB CFO Manuela Waldner. Passenger traffic on the 130 kilometers of new tracks is expected to start in December. "There will be an increase in long-distance traffic of around thirty percent," Matthä expects.

In 2024, the ÖBB traveled 172.8 million train kilometers - 4.2 percent more than the previous year. The total number of passengers increased by 17.7 million or 3.6 percent. This is mainly due to a 9.8 percent increase to 254.3 million passengers in local rail transport. The increase is also attributed to the acquisition of the German railway company Arverio, which operates in local transport in Baden-Württemberg. "Here, an additional 41 million passengers were recorded," said the ÖBB CEO.

In long-distance rail transport, slightly fewer people were transported last year with 46 million than in 2023. International long-distance traffic increased, while national traffic slightly decreased, which Matthä explained with the flood-related closure of the western route. In postbus transport, there was a decrease in passengers by 2.1 percent to 211 million passengers. Here, strong competition is to blame.

Decrease in Cargo Division

In the cargo division, there was a negative result of 24.5 million euros. The transport volume increased by 1.7 percent to almost 80 million net tons. With an acquisition in 2024 in the Netherlands, it will be possible to "offer transport services from Holland to the Black Sea continuously with our own locomotives".

The outlook for ÖBB Rail Cargo until 2027 is "cautiously phrased, not entirely rosy," says Matthä. In addition to a downturn in the manufacturing industry, there are multi-month closures in the German network. Additionally, there is a persistent electricity-diesel price gap, which gives road transport an advantage, said Waldner. Due to the economic downturn, road transporters also have many free capacities, leading to an oversupply of trucks.

A record value was also recorded in the infrastructure division with 173 million train kilometers traveled. Currently, 72 railway companies are using the ÖBB network in Austria.

More Employees, Less Punctuality

The result before taxes (EBT) for the entire group increased slightly by 2 million to 113.6 million euros in 2024. The group's total revenues rose significantly by 15.3 percent to almost 9 billion euros. However, the group's expenses also climbed by 14.7 percent to almost 8.3 billion euros. The profit before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to 708 million euros - almost 22 percent more than the previous year.

The number of employees in the group then grew from around 45,000 to almost 47,500 people. Punctuality slightly decreased. It fell slightly from 95 percent in 2023 to 93.6 percent the previous year.

(APA/Red)

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