ÖBB Annual Report 2025

Group Management Report 164 Österreichische Bundesbahnen-Holding Aktiengesellschaft Consolidated Financial Statements | Group Management Report 121 No. Policies 1) Description 2) S3-K-1 Environmental Noise Action Plan 2024 ( table continued ) The Environmental Noise Action Plan 2024 is a strategic instrument of the Republic of Austria, represented by the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure (BMIMI), with the European Commission, and serves as a basis for further planning. Although the partial action plans, such as those for railway lines, do not establish any direct subjective public rights, ÖBB- Infrastruktur AG supports the actions outlined in the action plans for protection against environmental noise from railways, within the scope of its capabilities. Processes to involve affected communities with respect to impacts, to remediate negative impacts, and to provide channels for affected communities to raise concerns Municipalities are involved in existing noise remediation projects as events dictate via a number of committees: An annual conference, noise protection steering committees, and project-specific working groups. Interested municipalities share their concerns with the respective federal province, the BMIMI, or the ÖBB Infrastruktur sub-group. This is followed by defining the study territory, planning contract, and technical noise study that will ultimately produce a rough cost estimate and a contract for implementing noise protection actions. The involvement of municipalities in noise protection actions as part of construction and upgrade projects is managed within the respective project. Many of the actions included in the existing noise remediation program in the affected municipalities have already been put in place. No remediation is required in a few municipalities as noise protection actions have already been established through large-scale projects or the municipalities themselves are not interested in having any noise protection actions taken. A number of remediation projects are also currently in the planning or implementation phase. Corresponding contracts have already been signed in some municipalities, while in others they are currently being coordinated. Details on the governance structure can be found in Chapter E.1, “General Information,” under the section titled “Governance.” Within the ÖBB Infrastruktur sub- group, the topic of “noise” is assigned to two organizational units, Asset Management and Strategic Planning in strategic terms and Route Management and Facilities Development in operational terms. As a result, the Board of Management Member for Network Expansion and Infrastructure Provision is the highest-ranking official responsible for supporting the implementation of the Railway Environmental Noise Action Plan and ensuring the involvement of affected communities. Noise reduction on the trains themselves, through the use of low-noise brake blocks, has been transparently communicated since 2018 in the ÖBB Group’s annual non-financial statement. No regular reporting or involvement of affected communities is planned beyond this; instead, it is arranged as events dictate. ESRS S3-2.21.a, b, c, d; ESRS S3-3.27.a The ÖBB Infrastruktur sub-group has established a central customer service center through which residents (as well as customers, passengers, and station visitors) can receive information and raise inquiries or complaints. Furthermore, the ÖBB Group relies on transparent and timely communication, especially regarding activities that may have an impact on various stakeholders, who are kept informed through mailshots to residents, brochures, exhibitions, events, or online information resources. Roundtables and dialog forums supplement the communication strategy. Contact options (e-mail, contact form) are clearly indicated in all communication channels. ESRS S3-3.27.b, c Inquiries are recorded in a digital management system and forwarded to the responsible parties. This makes it possible to monitor the response time and any mitigation action required to eliminate the negative impacts. Response time benchmarks ensure that inquiries are answered promptly. ESRS S3-3.27.a, d The high number of daily inquiries from all regions indicates that the contact channels are well communicated and easily accessible. Direct responses to events or mailshots confirm that the feedback channels communicated in this way are being acknowledged and utilized. Moreover, ÖBB is not aware (whether through media coverage, verbal feedback, or other means) of any instances in which residents, customers, or others have had difficulty locating or using these feedback channels to make contact. ESRS S3-3.28 Targets and actions related to managing material negative impacts, advancing positive impacts, and managing material risks and opportunities In order to reduce noise emissions along the ÖBB route network and to comply with the Environmental Noise Action Plan 2024 as well as various legal requirements, the ÖBB Infrastruktur sub-group has set the target explained below. The target contributes to the implementation of national and European efforts to reduce the negative impacts of noise. These are described in detail in the subchapter “Policies related to affected communities.” ESRS 2.MDR-T.80.f | MR121 E.  Non-financial statement E.1. General information E.2. Environmental inform ation E.3. Social information E.4. Governance information E.5. ESRS index