ÖBB Annual Report 2023

131 Group Management Report Österreichische Bundesbahnen-Holding Aktiengesellschaft Consolidated Financial Statements | Group Management Report 86 Water GRI 303-1, 303-5 A key component in preventing resource waste and excessive water consumption is improving the efficiency of water use in all sectors. Most of the water (drinking and process water) used by the ÖBB-Group comes from municipal supplies. Österreichische Postbus Aktiengesellschaft and ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG also have springs that are located on railway land and are used on the basis of existing water rights. In general, ÖBB does not operate water treatment plants for municipal waste water, but discharges it into the central, public sewer system. In 2023, there was a reduction in water consumption of approx. 18 % compared to the previous year; water consumption in the ÖBB Group in Austria and abroad amounted to approx. 1.8 million m³ in 2023 (py: approx. 2.2 million m³). The deviation from the previous year is partly due to process optimisation and improvements in data quality. A central point for the guarantee of a long-term safe and stable track system is the sustainable track drainage of the track of railways. This is precipitation water from the direct track area and water flowing in from embankments. Regular railway operations in principle produce no contamination that exceeds legal limits. However, it is essential to ensure that water bodies are not negatively affected not only during operation, but also during the construction phase. This is achieved by conducting project-specific chemical analyses of the rainwater discharged during the individual construction phases. Water is discharged into receiving waters such as streams, rivers and groundwater in accordance with the provisions of the Water Act and only in compliance with the relevant water law authorisations (e.g. purification of water using humus filters in infiltration basins). The water is collected separately in the event of possible incidents (e.g. in the tunnel). The discharges are always equipped with gates that are closed immediately in the event of a malfunction. This prevents the discharge of contaminated water into the water courses. Land area and soil The construction length 59 of the ÖBB railway network in 2023 is approx. 4,935 km (py: approx. 4,935 km), the land area approx. 188.7 km² (py: approx. 189.4 km²). This means that the area of land has decreased minimally compared to the previous year and the length of the route has remained constant. The railway’s performance is all the more remarkable given that it requires less space year after year to handle traffic, which, on the other hand, is increasing every year. A study by VCÖ has shown that roads including parking spaces require 18 times more area than rail infrastructure. Rail only needs a third to a sixth of land area compared to road for the same transport performance. In 2020, the Pro-Rail Alliance calculated that 100 square meters of land area per person transported should be assumed for private motorised transport. Rail requires only seven square metres per person. Rail travel is therefore not only more climate-friendly, but also has a much lower land requirement than road transport. In recent years, the road network has grown by several hectares per day, while the rail network has in turn shrunk. This is partly due to the reclassification of land cover (e. g. forest located on railway land used to be attributed to transport infrastructure), but it is also due to transport policy decisions. As a result, certain branch lines were abandoned and inner-city logistics areas were given up for urban development. A project of ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG had the task of better assessing the land cover and utilisation potential of all railway land owned by the sub-group. The project “Potential area analysis” was conducted with the Institute for Landscape Development, Recreation and Nature Conservation Planning, Department of Space, Landscape, Infrastructure at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences and completed in 2021. Various satellite data and publicly available databases were used to create an accurate picture of the ground cover on railway land. Nearly 24,000 properties on over 18,800 hectares throughout Austria were analysed. 59 Operational length changed to construction length due to more accurate calculation methods (operational length 2022: 4,843 km). MR86 |