After what was said to be the flood of the century in central and eastern Europe, ÖBB Rail Cargo Group is well on the way to resuming full operations.

Although the once-in-a-century flood caused significant infrastructure damage, ÖBB Rail Cargo Group has made significant progress towards repairing the immediate damage and assessing the full extent of the destruction.

Despite many challenges, ÖBB Rail Cargo Group has maintained operations.

Since last Tuesday, 15th October, it has been running at least 85% of its normal services, and up to 100% of its night-time services.

From Monday, 4th November, there will be additional capacity on the route from Meidling to Tullnerfeld, which will enable the company to operate nearly all of its regular services.

The devastating flood happened in mid-September after exceptional rainfall and caused massive damage to rail infrastructure throughout Eastern Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and Italy.

Significant disruption was caused to rail freight transport in the region, and with import and export flows to Austrian companies also affected, Rail Cargo Group was forced to reduce its services temporarily.

To maintain services, freight in Austria was rerouted through Semmering and Pyhrn and via alternative routes in neighbouring countries, including:

• Household appliances from Turkey to Germany travelling via Slovenia and Croatia instead of Hungary.
• Raw materials from Poland rerouted through Slovakia instead of travelling through the Czech Republic.
• Single wagon traffic from Vienna to Tyrol was rerouted via Villach.
• Sugar beet traffic on the Western route was partially rerouted via Krems by using two diesel locomotives.

It is not only Europe where rail services have been affected by flooding, as just a few days ago the line between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury was closed after heavy overnight rain and in Northern Ireland, the Downpatrick & County Down Railway has only just resumed operations after it was devastated by flood damage during storms last November.

“We would like to sincerely thank our customers for their patience and trust, as well as for the excellent cooperation, especially during this challenging time for all of us. The flood of the century brought entire supply chains to a halt overnight. Despite this, we managed to ensure supply security for the industry. This shows us once again that we can handle crises together and proves the systemic relevance of rail freight transport.”

Clemens Först, spokesperson for the Rail Cargo Group management board.