Tunnel and the Perschling tunnel chain) that rejoins the route of the Old Western Railway at St. Pölten. Following the upgrade of the last section of the double-track Old Western Railway between Wels and Attnang-Puchheim, namely the Lambach–Breitenschützing section, it now has a high level of performance and since October 2012, trains are able to run on it at 230 km/h. The old line on the Lambach–Breitenschützing section is being rebuilt and is expected to return to service in July 2013. Speeds on other already upgraded sections, such as St. Valentin–Linz Kleinmünchen, were increased from 200 to 230 km/h in December 2012. As Vienna West station is a terminus, trains to Vienna and continuing to the east (for example, to Budapest) must currently change direction in the West station. After the start of operations through the Lainz Tunnel on 9 December 2012, which connects the New Western Railway route through Tullnerfeld directly to the mainline tracks of the new Vienna Hauptbahnhof (to open in 2014), long-distance trains will mostly run there. WESTbahn has however announced that its trains from Salzburg to Vienna will continue to run to the West station. Outlook The four-track Ybbs an der Donau–Amstetten section, which is designed for a maximum of 250 km/h came into operation in 2015. The reconstruction of the east end of Amstetten station to increase top speed from Ybbs to 230 km/h continued until 2016. In 2017, the St. Pölten freight bypass railway (Wagram junction–Rohr junction), which is designed for a maximum speed of 120 km/h, will be opened to traffic. The four-track upgrade from Linz Kleinmünchen to the eastern approach to Linz station is expected to be completed no earlier than 2018. It is expected that the whole Western Railway from Vienna to Wels will have four continuous tracks in 2021, but it will not consist of a four-track line, but it will rather be two double track lines that are operationally linked at several points. A further four track upgrade is planned for the 20 km section between Neumarkt-Köstendorf and Salzburg Kasern. Various possible routes have been examined. The upgrade is necessary because this section is used by additional services of line S2 of the Salzburg S-Bahn. On 10 January 2013 the fixed route selected for the Neumarkt-Köstendorf–Salzburg Kasern section was presented with a start expected in less than 20 years. The upgrade to four tracks is also currently being