During the early twenty-first century, the Austrian government authorised the four-tracking of the Westbahn, which was the nation's most important rail corridor.

Accordingly, the section between Vienna and St. Pölten saw the construction of two new tracks on an alignment free from challenging gradients and suitable for high speed operations, which deviated far to the North of the original line.

Its construction facilitate the movement of trains traversing the Westbahn to call at Wien Hauptbahnhof, the recently completed central station serving Vienna.

[8] The spoil generated by the excavation, estimated to be roughly 2 million m³ of material in all, was predominantly used as fill for an embankment running along a 10km section of the line.

[8] For structural strength, the walls were lined with reinforced concrete segments, which are considered to be impermeable to water, throughout the tunnel's length.

Secondary elements of the tunnel include 25 cross-passages, an emergency exit shaft, and a 490 m long muck heading.

[8][9] On 16 August 2007, breakthrough in the tunnel was announced, a major milestone in the construction; use of the TBMs was discontinued in the same year as a result.