What the Court of Auditors revealed about costs and control – Diepresse.com

The Court of Auditors took a close look at one of the longest construction sites in the country: the examiners have checked the « project Koralmahn » essentially between 2012 and 2023 and found a few defects. Despite the much longer construction period, the cost increase was relatively low, the report summary on Friday was said.

The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) predicted the total costs of the project with 6.139 billion euros (as of the end of 2023): « The cost increase compared to 2012 – taking into account the later integration of the airport – with five percent (282.4 million euros). »

Difficulties in the propulsion of the Koralm Tunnel meant that the costs of the Coral tunnel Kat 2, which was tested by the accounting center, rose by around 31 months. Geological conditions had led to numerous problems – for example, to increased still stands, a reduced tunneling speed and increased machine wear. The examination of the Court of Auditors showed that ÖBB remedied standstings in the case of tunneling. In the case of contractual billing, savings of 7.52 to 9.23 million euros would have been possible.

Possibly to strengthen your own know-how

There was criticism from the examiner of the construction supervision awarded to external. The ÖBB itself perceived « only the overarching project management with its own staff ». « For the essential services of project processing-construction management, local construction supervision-they commissioned external consules. However, this poses the risk of a loss of know-how, in particular for the handling of large construction projects and the dependence on external expertise. It said. It should be checked whether ÖBB does not have to strengthen its own know-how.

It has now been fixed that the Koralbahn will start operating in December 2025. In January 2024, however, the examiners still recognized « significant risks » to keep the appointment: « This included delivery bottlenecks, which in their view, in their opinion, included under time frames for operating permit 2025 as well as any requirements from the appeal procedure for the contested decision » Operating recording 2023 ‘on the’ Carinthian page ‘. (APA)