Austrian rail link with Hungary to reopen, operator says

VIENNA (Reuters) - Rail services between Austria and Hungary are resuming in both directions, Austrian rail company OeBB said on Thursday, after the link was cut for a week because of what it called a "massive overburdening" of the network by migrants heading west. The number of migrants crossing Austria's eastern border has collapsed since Hungary barricaded its frontier with Serbia against thousands of people trekking up through the Balkans. After initially announcing that the connection would reopen on Friday, OeBB said services to and from Hungary would resume on Thursday afternoon. "The logistical and technical work was implemented sooner than planned," OeBB said in a statement. Hungary finished building a razor-wire fence on its border with Serbia this week, prompting migrants to seek alternative routes into the European Union. Austria on Thursday introduced tighter border controls on its eastern flank, through which tens of thousands of migrants have passed on their way from Hungary to Germany. It soon said it was extending the checks to its southern border with Slovenia in anticipation of a new wave of arrivals from that country. (Reporting By Shadia Nasralla; editing by Francois Murphy)