To increase the attraction of train travel, Austria is starting a massive rail network development project that will include many new routes and connections by 2040. As reported by Euronews, the proposed network upgrade may cut the four hours it currently takes to travel between Vienna and Munich by 1.5 hours.

The government and rail operator OBB are working together to create the 2024 network plan, which is now in the planning phases and expected to be completed later this year. With 67 projects spread across 25 regions, the plan includes construction of a new double-track line in Upper Austria and Bavaria, which should greatly reduce travel time between Vienna and Munich.

The plan calls for passenger trains to travel 255 million kilometers annually over the next 16 years, which is 1.5 times the existing distance. The suggested actions are expected to cost about €26 billion.

One of the main projects in the 2040 network is the New Innkreisbahn (NIB) route that passes through Bavaria and Upper Austria. The goal of this route, which is coordinated with Germany, is to reduce the four hours it takes to travel from Vienna to Munich to two and a half hours. This might help travelers get to farther-off places like Paris.

There are plans to provide more local transportation options in Vienna, such as a new line that will link Vienna Praterkai and Heiligenstadt. Furthermore, it is expected that railway line extensions in the Bregenz region will greatly improve local transportation throughout the entire Rhine Valley.

Austria has previously implemented measures to enhance travel, such as the introduction of the ‘Klimaticket,’ a highly regarded, reasonably priced ticket that covers all forms of public transportation, three years ago. A new generation of night trains to Germany was inaugurated last year as a second try, and young people were the object of a marketing that offered tattoo-based ticket offers.

At last year’s Frequency Festival in St Pölten, Green MP and Austria’s Minister for Climate Change, Leonore Gewesseler, advocated the ‘climate ticket’ offer. Those who got their “climate ticket” tattooed could earn an annual pass that would cost only €3 per day and allow them to travel throughout Austria. Young people, the elderly, and persons with disabilities could also receive discounts on the pass.