One week after Austrian far-right leader Joerg Haider died in a car accident, his funeral, expected to be a grand official ceremony, was due to be held Saturday in the town of Klagenfurt.

With at least 30,000 people expected to attend the event in the capital of Austria's southern province of Carinthia, the Austrian railway company was running additional trains to cope with the masses.

The memorial service was to be attended by President Heinz Fischer, Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and several ministers, but it was above all set up as an event for the public.

Although Haider's anti-foreigner stance and his revisionist statements divided the Austrian public, he was supported by a large part of the population in his home province.

In a ceremony that seems fit for a head of state rather than for the deceased governor of Carinthia, Haider's coffin will be paraded around the city centre.

In recent days, hundreds have lined up to pay their last respects in front of Haider's coffin.

On Saturday, video walls have been set up in Klagenfurt for those who were unable to secure a spot along the procession route.

Contrary to media reports, the regional authority has said that no European right-wingers such as Jean-Marie Le Pen from France and Alessandra Mussolini from Italy would attend the event.

Haider died October 11 at the age of 58 in Klagenfurt, when the car he was driving at a speed of 142 kilometres per hour veered of the road and flipped over several times. Haider was drunk at the time of the accident.