Disruption to a popular route
The overnight connection has linked Stuttgart and Venice since late 2022. Schwarzwälder Bote reports strong demand for the service, which will be suspended for just over five months.
The train's suspension dates differ slightly from the tunnel closure itself. ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG says the tunnel will be completely closed from February 8 through July 9, 2027, for the second stage of renovation. Preparatory work starts in fall 2026 without affecting passengers.
Transport services during the closure
ÖBB plans to provide direct buses every hour between Bischofshofen and Spittal-Millstättersee during the tunnel closure. An hourly rail-replacement service will also connect Schwarzach-St. Veit and Bad Gastein, while long-distance trains between Mallnitz-Obervellach and Spittal-Millstättersee will run every two hours.
The Tauernbahn car shuttle is scheduled to resume service on July 10, 2027.
ÖBB says it chose the closure period to align with Deutsche Bahn construction between Rosenheim and Freilassing, allowing the projects to be coordinated and their freight impacts managed together. ASFINAG's renovation of the Katschberg and Tauern road tunnels on the A10 will not begin until fall 2027.
Other Italy routes and booking limits
The 2027 Nightjet timetable includes restrictions on several other Italy routes. ÖBB lists Munich–Rome as unavailable from February 7 to May 4/5. Afterward, that service will terminate in Bologna rather than continuing to Florence and Rome.
Vienna–Venice will not operate from May 24/25 through July 11, 2027. Vienna–Rome will run only as far as Bologna on May 5–6 and August 28–29.
ÖBB opened ticket sales for the 2027 Nightjet timetable about six weeks earlier than in previous years and extended advance booking to as much as 360 days. Both changes apply only to direct Nightjet services, not to EuroNight trains or feeder and connecting services.
A second stage of tunnel renovation
Work in 2027 will center on the approximately two-kilometer southern section of the Tauern tunnel near Mallnitz. ÖBB says crews will renovate the tunnel vault and replace its railway technical equipment.
Other projects will be carried out alongside the tunnel work: renovation of the Weitmoser and Hundsdorfer viaducts, replacement of the overhead electrical equipment in the Klamm tunnel, renewal of track facilities at several stations, and modernization of the Tauernbahn car shuttle.
According to ORF Salzburg, the tunnel is roughly 120 years old and more than eight kilometers long. It was fully closed for eight months in the previous year for the first renovation stage, which received more than 100 million euros in investment. The second stage involves additional work costing around 50 million euros.
