The construction works for the main section of the Koralm tunnel were initiated last Monday in a groundbreaking ceremony. The 30 km long tunnel is the centerpiece of the Koralmbahn, a high-speed rail project which will provide the first direct rail link between the provincial capitals of Klagenfurt (Carinthia) and Graz (Styria). The tunnel is expected to be operational by 2022. The provincial governors of Styria, Franz Voves, and Carinthia, Gerhard Dörfler, as well as the Austria Infrastructure Minister Doris Bures expressed their pleasure during the ceremony. They also took the event as an opportunity to highlight the significance of the project at a European level. Responsible persons fromthe Austrian Federal Railways (German: Österreichische Bundesbahnen, ÖBB) and the construction group STRABAG SE took also part.