An anonymous emailed Southern Railway bomb threat led to train cancellations and delays between Vienna and Mürzzuschlag on Monday morning, 28 September, while police increased their presence at stations.

Rebuilt platforms and railway tracks at Mürzzuschlag station in Austria
Platforms 2 and 3 at Mürzzuschlag station. Photo: Veleius / Wikimedia Commons / CC0 1.0.

Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) issued a travel warning for the Southern Railway section between Wien Meidling and Mürzzuschlag and for the Pottendorf line. It said a police operation could lead to a closure there from 10:00, with cancellations and delays possible.

Later in the morning, ÖBB said the operation had caused isolated delays and cancellations on the section. By then, the operator reported no serious effects on services, although some knock-on delays were still expected.

What the interior ministry said about the threat

A spokesperson for the Austrian interior ministry said an email mentioning a bomb threat against parts of the Southern Railway had reached several institutions overnight. The ministry described the threat as very unspecific and said such emails arrive almost daily.

As a precaution, police stepped up their presence at stations in Styria, Lower Austria and Vienna, with some patrols along the line. The Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service (DSN) was brought in because the Southern Railway counts as central critical infrastructure. According to the ministry, train operations were restricted only briefly and no lines were closed, while investigations continued in the background.

Southern Railway bomb threat: how ÖBB and the interior ministry reported it on 28 September 2026
Time (CEST) Organisation What it said
Overnight into 28 September Interior ministry An email mentioning a bomb threat against parts of the Southern Railway reached several institutions.
By 10:14 Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) Travel warning: a police operation could close the Southern Railway between Wien Meidling and Mürzzuschlag and the Pottendorf line from 10:00.
Late morning (published by 12:17) Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) The operation had caused isolated delays and cancellations. No serious effects on services remained, but some knock-on delays were expected.
By 12:17 Interior ministry The threat was very unspecific, no lines were closed, and the Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service (DSN) was involved. Such emails arrive almost daily.

The sequence shows the operator warning of a possible closure before the ministry later said no lines had been closed. Times show when the email arrived or the latest point by which each statement had been published; exact issue times were not disclosed. Sources: ÖBB route information as quoted by 5 Minuten, ÖBB statement as quoted by Heute, interior ministry statements to ORF Steiermark and APA.

Earlier emailed bomb threat campaigns in Austria

The ministry said Monday’s email followed the same pattern as emailed bomb threats against schools in recent years. In October 2024, it reported 27 anonymous emailed threats in all federal states since 30 September that year. Some of the police operations that followed led to evacuations of schools, railway stations and shopping centres, and a 20-year-old Swiss national was identified as a suspect.

In November 2025, the ministry said more than 300 emailed threats registered in Austria had been attributed to a group of four German nationals aged 15 to 23. It described the campaign as swatting, aimed at triggering large police operations and media attention. Deliberately false bomb threats are punishable in Austria by prison or fines, and offenders can be charged the cost of the operations they trigger.