ÖBB electrifies the Köflach branch of the Graz-Köflach railway

The Graz-Köflach railway (GKB) is being electrified in two stages: the Wettmannstätten–Wies-Eibiswald section went into electric operation in summer 2025 (S-Bahn line S6), while the so-called Köflach branch (Graz–Lieboch–Köflach) is due to follow by 2028. At 2019 price levels, electrification costs around EUR 140 million, of which the State of Styria contributes EUR 61 million; over the coming decades this is expected to save around 500,000 tonnes of CO2. The first overhead-line mast was erected in Deutschlandsberg in July 2022; some sources (e.g. German Wikipedia, as of 2025/26) cite 2029 for the final construction stage, while accompanying measures such as removing all level crossings in the city of Graz are, according to ÖBB-Infrastruktur, only due to be completed by 2033. Update (26 Jan 2026): According to ÖBB, the full 91 km of the Graz–Köflach and Lieboch–Wies-Eibiswald lines are to be electrified and modernised by 2033; the first section, Graz–Wettmannstätten–Wies-Eibiswald, is already complete. On Lieboch–Köflach (widening of the Kremser tunnel, modernisation of eight stations, three new bridges) completion is expected by the end of 2028; on Graz–Lieboch, still in planning (four underpasses with local-transport hubs, a passing loop near Wetzelsdorf), by 2033. Full closures of Lieboch–Köflach are scheduled for 11 July to 10 October 2026 and, provisionally, 7 January to 19 September 2027. The new date of 31 December 2033 is a placeholder because only the year is given (LOK Report, 26 Jan 2026).