Getting up to speed: Vienna-Bratislava connecting Europe

A two-day general meeting of the Magistrale for Europe initiative in January 2009 concluded with the signing of the Vienna-Bratislava twin-city declaration. The declaration relates to the construction of the largest and most modern high-speed railway to date through the heart of Europe from Paris to Budapest with Vienna and Bratislava as an East-West hub.

The general meeting of the Magistrale for Europe initiative commenced in Bratislava on 21 January and was concluded in Vienna the next day. The purpose of the meeting was to ensure realization of the super railway project known as Magistrale for Europe by the year 2015. Rudi Schicker, Vienna’s Executive City Councillor for Urban Planning, signed a joint declaration to this effect together with Andrej Ďurkovský, Mayor of Bratislava, and Heinz Fenrich, chairman of the initiative and mayor of the German city of Karlsruhe. The motto of the declaration was: Overcoming borders! Péter Balázs, Hungarian EU coordinator of the project was also present.

Railways: driving force of integration and prosperity

The initiative itself is a community interests of 33 cities, leading regions and business associations along the European railway axis from Paris via Munich to Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest. The Magistrale for Europe is a railway corridor that lies geographically in the middle of Europe between the North Sea and the Mediterranean, and represents a central West-East axis across Europe with Vienna as a major hub. Some 10 per cent of the population of the European Union – 35 million people and 16 million employees – live within commuting distance in France, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. The Magistrale line will be 1,500 km in length, and the total cost has yet to be calculated. However, the EU will contribute a total of 438 million euros by the year 2013 alone for the improvement of cross-border sections. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2015. The purpose of the project is to promote the unity and prosperity of Europe, and to give an additional boost to cities and regions. Travelling times will be cut by up to 50 per cent and freight traffic increasingly shifted from the roads to the railways. It should be possible to save 120 million euros due to reduced staffing hours, and CO2 emissions will be cut by 5,500 tonnes.

Bratislava: railway tunnel under River Danube

The Slovakian capital joined the project in the year 2005. By 2015 there are plans to build a 6.43 kilometre railway tunnel under the River Danube. The tunnel will link up the stations Bratislava-Petržalka and Bratislava-Predmestie (suburb). Only passenger trains will run on the line. The tunnel will also be a key element in the city's integrated public transport network, and Bratislava’s international airport will also get a railway link.

According to Ivan Fedor of the management of the Slovakian railway company ŽSR, construction work is expected to begin in the year 2010. Partial financing in the amount of some EUR 130 million for the period till the year 2013 will be available from the EU Fund’s Operational Programme for Transport. Fedor also announced the extensive modernization of Slovakian railways' outdated rolling stock and technical infrastructure. The city of Bratislava, the Ministry of Transport and the railways agreed to adopt a coordinated approach.

Schicker: Vienna a hub in all directions

The general meeting came to a close in "Studio 44" on Rennweg in Vienna. In his closing speech, Rudi Schicker, Vienna’s Executive City Councillor for Urban Planning, spoke of a successful start. The twin-city of Vienna-Bratislava was already a reality today, and the "Centrope" region at the heart of Europe with 4 to 6 million inhabitants was experiencing a cross-border upswing. Vienna had the function of a hub in all directions of the compass, particularly with respect to the construction of an ultramodern, efficient railway network, and in shifting freight from the roads to the railways. In the process Vienna was also increasingly assuming functions for Western Europe. Linking in Vienna’s Schwechat Airport to the "Magistrale for Europe" would generate a new impetus for both air and rail traffic. Vienna’s major main railway station project optimally complemented the “Magistrale”, a consideration of tremendous significance particularly in difficult economic times, concluded Schicker.

Railway connections in every direction

On balance the general meeting left the impression of a completely new development. At the heart of it was the twin-city hub of Vienna-Bratislava, from which it will be possible to build ultramodern railway connections in virtually every direction in the future: to the North and East via the Czech Republic to Poland, Russia and Ukraine, to the East via Budapest to the Balkans, and to the South via Croatia, Slovenia and Italy to the Mediterranean. Special emphasis was made of the fact that in future Vienna will also have an attractive railway link via Paris to the port of Le Havre, which will significantly improve business opportunities compared to the traditional links via Germany and Hamburg. To the East, the Romanian Danube port of Constanţa was described as a major transhipment centre that will open up transport routes for Vienna as far as Asia.