Comprehensive Modernization Of The Cable Car On The Rauchkofel Near Lienz
The Lienz / Rauchkofel transmitter station provides approximately 65,000 people in Tyrol and Carinthia with top-quality radio and TV signals. Since the site is only accessible via a cable car dating back to 1968, it has been extensively modernized in recent months to ensure smooth operation in the future.
The transmitter site on the Rauchkofel near Lienz is one of ORS's most important in the federal state of Tyrol / East Tyrol and supplies large parts of the East Tyrol region, the upper Drautal and the upper Mölltal with FM radio and digital television.
Broadcast radio stations include Ö1, Radio Tirol, Radio Kärnten, Ö3, and FM4. Digital terrestrial television via simpliTV is also broadcast via the Rauchkofel facility. Furthermore, the site serves as an important infrastructure for mobile radio and public safety radio.
Investment guarantees TV and radio reception
The transmitter is located at 1,910 meters above sea level on steep terrain in Lienz. The 60-meter-high transmitter mast is accessible exclusively via a cable car, which has been in operation since its construction in 1968.
Year-round availability for ORS technicians is essential for regular maintenance work, troubleshooting, and material transport.
The site is an important part of the region's "critical infrastructure." To ensure long-term use, the operating cable car has now been technically upgraded, thus guaranteeing rapid access to East Tyrol's most important transmission facility even in the event of a power outage.
Cable car renovation for the coming decades
The renovation work began in early April 2025. Frey Austria GmbH, a company commissioned by ORS, carried out the work. The cable car technology was upgraded and the operational reliability of the electric drive was guaranteed. The over 700-meter-long traction cable and the cable car control system were also replaced. The cable car's official commissioning will take place in July 2025.
"With the modernization of the Rauchkofel cable car, we, as the technology subsidiary of ORF, guarantee that the people of East Tyrol and western Carinthia will be reliably supplied with radio and TV – even in the event of a disaster," said ORS spokesperson Michael Weber.
