U-railway fire in Vienna: traffic disorders and detours for commuters

U-railway fire in Vienna: traffic disorders and detours for commuters

In the night of last Tuesday, there was a fire on a train of the U1 subway line in Vienna, which resulted in massive disorders in public transport on Wednesday morning. Due to the incident, the U1 could not drive between Keplerplatz and Stephasplatz for the time being, which meant that only individual sections of the route could be operated, specifically between Oberlaa and Reumannplatz as well as Schwedenplatz and Leopoldau. The Viennese lines were forced to react to this incident and to inform the passengers about the current changes.

at the main train station and in the stations concerned, the passengers awaited an unpleasant surprise: the crowd was "bullied" there, as an eyewitness reported. This led to long waiting times, as the overcrowded trams could hardly record the waiting passengers. The journey to the city center lasted twice as long as usual. The subway stations South Tyrolean Platz and Taubigengasse had to be evacuated due to the strong smoke development.

cause of fire and measures by the fire brigade

The origin of the fire is still unclear, but it was found that the fire occurred in a special train without passengers. The driver of the affected train suffered flue gas poisoning. The Viennese professional fire brigade was in action when combating the flames and also supported the removal of the damaged train. Brand investigators of the State Criminal Police Office try to clarify what has led to this incident, with no evidence of external fault.

Although the Viennese lines do everything they can to resume the operation as quickly as possible, the fact must be expected that the U1 may only be able to drive partial operations over several days. A detailed overview of the current traffic situation and further information can be called up on the Wiener Linien website: www.wienerlinien.at .