In 2025, the Koralmbahn from Klagenfurt via Graz to Vienna is scheduled to go into operation. It leads right past Graz Airport. A station is not planned, at least not for the time being. The potential would be considerable.

At Graz Airport one breathes a sigh of relief: the number of passengers is slowly increasing (2022: 561.000), and the million seems within reach again. The connections to the European hubs are getting going again, and the annoying construction pit of the Koralmbahn right in front of the terminal is finally closed.

But it's not just the passengers who are missing for perfect happiness: the Railjets between Carinthia and Vienna will (probably) roar past the airport in the tunnel from 2025. A station was intended in the original plans, but will not be realized. Jürgen Loeschnig, Managing Director of Graz Airport, speaks of a "missed opportunity". There are currently half-hourly regional connections on the old southern railway (approx. 300 m from the terminal), but only between Graz and Spielfeld.

If the Koralmbahn stopped at the airport, the catchment area would suddenly increase by at least 200.000 people. Bruck, Kapfenberg, Villach would be connected to the Styrian airport in less than an hour, from Klagenfurt it would only be 39 minutes.

A larger catchment area ("catch area") would increase the flight offer ex Graz and the modal split (= choice of means of transport) on arrival clearly in favor of public transport. There is still room for improvement in Graz when it comes to an environmentally friendly journey. At present, only around 10% of arriving and departing passengers use the train or bus. For comparison: In Zurich, with excellent regional and national rail connections, it was around 55% (2017) - in Frankfurt, on the other hand, with just as good rail connections, it was only 26,3% (2022) with a lot of room for improvement.

And this is where the catch lies: the quick and uncomplicated arrival from Carinthia would certainly cost passengers the slow-moving Klagenfurt Airport. In 2022 there were only 82.500 travelers there, but this year there will be a few Ryanair flights and some Germany flights from a newly founded airline. The owners in Carinthia are therefore only moderately enthusiastic about an airport station near Graz.

Too few passengers?

And what does ÖBB say about this? There, reference is made to the existing regional train connection to Graz Airport and the expected passenger frequency is considered too low for a high-quality express train stop, which would also be difficult to integrate into the tight interval timetable.

At least you leave a door open. "However, a new stop at a lower level was taken into account as best as possible during the planning and currently during construction," says ÖBB. Exact details are not revealed, but at least – there is hope.

Airports with high-quality national train connections have a significantly higher proportion of passengers using public transport for arrival and departure. This means less traffic pollution for the area, less CO2 emissions, at least on arrival and departure, less need for parking spaces and thus less soil sealing.

At Vienna Airport, the modal split – Value has changed to an impressive 43,4% since the extension of the Railjets to the airport (2017, arrival at the airport of departing passengers by rail). 

Certainly, even with the one million passengers targeted, Graz would still be too small to justify the construction of a high-quality airport railway. But if such a train happens to pass right in front of the front door, a station would be tempting...

This post was written by: Wolfgang Ludwig