No Sale of ÖBB-Power Plants

Politics ♦ Published: March 23, 2011; 09:00 ♦ (Vindobona)

The proposal that the Austrian Federal Railways sell its assets rather than increase its capital meets with vehement rejection.

No Sale of ÖBB-Power Plants / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Josef Saurwein [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)]

The demand by the Austrian Federal Railways for a capital increase of € 400m has so far met mainly with criticism from the ÖVP. The ruling party proposed that the ÖBB sell its power plants and non-operating real estate and thus increase its own potential, rather than "be a burden to the taxpayers."

For ÖBB this demand is out of place. "For us it is economically sensible,…