Austria has a new railway undertaking. From next year, FRACHTbahn will enter the railways in and around the country. The new company is a sister firm of Austria’s open-access passenger operator Westbahn, with which it plans to cooperate.

FRACHTbahn Traktion GmbH, as it is officially named, is an initiative of Reinhard Bamberger and Jan Klima, in cooperation with investor Hans Peter Haselsteiner. The new traction provider is currently in its start-up phase, but expects to be operative in 2020.

Operations

The company will provide locomotives and train drivers to those who own freight wagons, but require traction. The company will be based in Vienna, and will operate block trains in and around Austria focussing on the Danube corridor and Alpine crossings.

“We understand our customers and we are where they need us”, the new RU states. “The flexible, lean operational team knows the cargo industry in and out and from the customer perspective.” FRACHTBAHN expects that it will cooperate with Westbahn in particular when it comes to the availability of train drivers.