Vienna’s underground network continues to expand

Wiener Linien is Vienna’s leading transportation company. Approximately 2.2 million passengers travel the length and breadth of Austria’s capital with Wiener Linien’s 83 bus, 38 tram and five underground routes every day – this adds up to 812 million people annually. Passenger numbers have been rising for years, with the result that, in Vienna, more journeys are now completed by public transportation than by any other option, including car journeys and pedestrian routes.

The underground network forms the backbone of the public transportation system and takes corresponding priority when the route network is expanded. Since the first route section began operations in 1978, Vienna’s underground network has grown to today’s five lines with 95 stations along a route extending 75 kilometres – and the planning and con – struction continues. Barely a year goes by without a new route section being completed and put into operation.

Underground expansion in Vienna continues

On 2 October 2010, another 6km of underground railway with five new stations were added to these statistics. Underground line 2 has been extended across the Danube, from the city centre outwards, and now also provides access to Vienna’s 22nd district which, within a few years, has seen its population increase by one third. The underground extension will contribute to a clear decline in road traffic, because thousands of people will no longer complete their daily journey to work and home again by car – but instead by underground.

A further €1.85 billion will be invested in underground construction up to 2019. The main focus along the way will continue to be on underground line 2; for the first time, an underground railway will be built into a municipal development area, which itself is only being built in parallel with the underground construction, when from 2013 onwards, 20,000 people move into the newly created district – the so-called ‘Seestadt Aspern’ – they will already enjoy an outstanding public transportation link: these four new stations will also be completed as early as 2013.

Underground line 2 is also going to be extended to the south by another five stations and 5km. Here, too, the objective is to link the municipal development areas springing up along the route, with their countless thousands of inhabitants, to public transportation and thus guarantee optimum connections.

Additionally, underground line 1 is also going to get six extra stations. The planned route is currently served by just one tram line which, naturally, is not comparable with the underground in terms of its capacity. The daily crush and traffic chaos on this route will be things of the past from 2016, when the underground line 1 extension goes into operation.

In total, Vienna’s underground network will have 116 stations over a length of 90km once these extension plans are completed. The ongoing picture for underground construction after that is still unknown, but initial proposals for further expansions are already up for discussion.

40 years of underground construction in Vienna

The underground railway has been a focus of development in Vienna for more than 40 years now: a jubilee which, given the forceful impact of the underground construction on Vienna’s traffic development, was celebrated to the full in 2009.

After many years of discussion and many rejected plans, the building of the basic underground network was finally decided upon at a meeting of Vienna’s municipal council in January 1968; thus, the foundation stone for the underground’s success story was laid. The construction works commenced less than two years later – on 3 November 1969 on Karlsplatz in Vienna’s city centre. Vienna’s first regular underground railway operation was finally started on 8 May 1976 in Vienna’s west, on the Heiligenstadt–Friedensbrücke route. The basic underground network consisting of underground lines 1, 2 and 4, at around 30km-long, was then completed in autumn 1982.

A pivotal incident that prompted the speedy connection of the booming districts in Vienna’s north-east, cut off on the other side of the Danube, was an accident which, ultimately, was to have long-term benefits for the continued urban development. The collapse of the Reichsbrücke marked the loss of the most important bridge crossing over the Danube, whereupon the extension of underground line 1 was integrated with the new bridge straight away as part of the re-planning and construction. For two decades, this was to remain the only underground axis connecting that part of the city known as ‘Transdanubia’ with the rest of Vienna.

The start of the 1980s saw the decision to build two more underground lines – the completely new development, line 3, plus the conversion of the almost 100 year old so-called urban railway and its integration with the underground network as underground line 6. Often planned but so far unconstructed, is underground line 5 meaning that although Vienna now has five underground routes, these are numbered from 1 through 4 (5 is left out) and we continue with line 6.

Pioneering construction technology

Extremely complex tunnelling methods were sometimes used while Vienna’s underground railway lines were being built. Two major rivers flowing through Vienna – the Danube Canal and the Danube itself – had to be tunnelled under or built on church underpasses statically negotiated or fast-flowing groundwater currents taken into account. Many of the construction methods applied were developed in Austria and the know-how was subsequently exported throughout the world.

For example, the heading method in the city centre’s unconsolidated rock, according to the so-called ‘new Austrian tunnel construction method’, was applied for the first time in Vienna. White troughs – so tunnels without insulation, only with sealed concrete – were then subsequently used for the first time. Also for the first time, innovative mass spring systems were applied in the track superstructure, now making it possible to lay a train path under buildings that were historically significant, yet extremely fragile in terms of statics and structure. A particular challenge in the process at the start of the underground railway construction was the specifically built wall to protect St. Stephan’s Cathedral – probably Europe’s most famous building excavation at the time.

In particular, tunnelling under the rivers was a major technological challenge. During the process, the soil under the riverbed was frozen prior to the construction works. Tunnel heading was then performed in the dry and firm soil material. Multiple times, the groundwater also had to be lowered beneath the tunnel bottom, so that the tunnel pipes could be driven in the dry.

Combined with circumspect planning and customer-friendly development, plus the corresponding statutory principles for underground railway operation, these technological achievements led to the success story of Vienna’s underground railway.

Many reasons for this success

The reasons for the now enormous passenger statistics of the Vienna underground and other means of public transportation among the city’s population are obvious:

» Intervals between underground trains during peak times are just 2-4 minutes. Even during less high-performing periods, passengers have to wait 7-8 minutes at the most.

» The underground fleet is modernised and expanded constantly. Of the approximately 100 trains on underground lines 1 through 4, 35 ultra-modern and continuous air-conditioned ‘V-carriages’, produced by a consortium based around the company Siemens, are now running. Even on line 6, where different sets are used, only new lowfloor carriages are running now.

» The tram and bus fleet undergoes con – tinuous renewal as well. Barrier-free access is the priority during procurements and has also been put into practice across almost the entire tram and bus routes.

» Fares in Vienna are very good value when compared internationally. A single trip costs just €1.80 and an annual ticket for all lines is only €449. For customers who are not quite so able to pay – pensioners, students, schoolchildren etc – there are also considerable concessions.

» The underground railway network as a whole – all station facilities and trains – can be used barrier-free, which means without any form of restriction for persons with handicaps. At least one elevator is installed at every station, platform edges and train exits are on a level and in the trains themselves, appropriate spaces are provided especially for wheelchair users.

The range of services is constantly expanded in addition. Weekend night-time underground operation was launched after 6 months preparation in September 2010. This means that, on the nights before Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, all five underground lines in Vienna run throughout the night at 15 minute intervals. This makes Vienna one of the very few cities in Europe to offer a service of this kind. Added to this is a sophisticated night bus system, via which peripheral areas and locations can be reached from the underground stations even at night.

Although passengers’ usage behaviour will probably only change in the long-term and as event times and location opening hours evolve, a very clear trend is already visible after just a few weeks: the night underground railway is seeing very considerable usage. On the first night, underground usage alone saw 100,000 passengers.

The tram network is also being expanded

As its public transportation develops further, Vienna is also focusing on another means of transportation which enjoys a long tradition in the Danube metropolis and has also, in contrast to many other cities, been retained over the past decades – the tram. Millions have already been invested in modernising the tram fleet during recent years. The low-floor trams developed by Siemens offer passengers comfort and barrierfree access. Almost one in every two of the approximately 500 trams running in Vienna is now a low-floor vehicle of this type.

The rebuilding of tram routes is also being continued. A total of three lines will be extended in the coming years and operated in part as a rapid tram line. The focus of these activities will lie once again on the other side of the Danube in the booming urban areas in the 22nd district and around the international hub, Vienna’s new central railway station, to be completed by 2013.

Bus improvements

Innovations are also imminent in bus operations. The present bus fleet in Vienna consists of liquid gas-operated vehicles from MAN. Now that this technology is no longer state-of-the-art, a new call for bids in this area will be issued within the coming year to ensure that hybrid or diesel buses will be running in Vienna as early as 2014 onwards. At the forefront of this process, in particular, will be the new vehicles’ passenger comfort, environ – mental friendliness and fuel efficiency.

Public transportation as an economic factor

Overall, public transportation means are also a significant economic factor in Vienna. In the past 40 years, a total of €8 billion has been invested in underground construction alone – only this year, just less than €500 million. Other investments, however, are also going to keep Vienna’s economic engine ticking over – a total of €600 million will have been invested in renovation and modernisation of the fleet (underground, tram and bus) by 2017. €160 million will be deployed to bring Wiener Linien’s central depot up to the very latest technological and energy-optimising status.

This also of course makes Wiener Linien a highly significant factor of Vienna’s business and economy. As a result of the investments by Wiener Linien, besides the 8,200 jobs at the company itself, 7,000 jobs are secured in addition every year. Precisely during eco – nomically difficult times, this is an effect which is also being consciously promoted and advanced by the proprietor of Wiener Linien, the City of Vienna.

About the Authors

Günter Steinbauer

Mr. Günter Steinbauer is the CEO of Wiener Linien. He studied at the Technical University of Vienna and started to work for the Wiener Linien in 1982. After being responsible for the construction of several parts of the Vienna underground system, he became Executive Director for the Technical Division of the company in 2001 and has now been CEO for nearly seven years.

Answer Lang

Mr. Answer Lang is the Head of Communications of Wiener Linien. He studied communications, PR and history in Vienna and Berlin, worked as a journalist as well as a PR consultant and as a government speaker in Austria. He currently also gives lectures in PR at the University of Vienna.