Government agreement

Is the city leaving the back door open for a mini-subway?

The members of the government: Andrea Brandner, Kay-Michael Dankl, Bernhard Auinger, Florian Kreibich, Anna Schiester.

(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

The consultation on the S-Link should be binding for the city council, but the municipal council will decide on the project.

Almost all areas of the new city government's working agreement have now been negotiated. Next week, the big issue of housing is still on the agenda. On May 8, the new municipal council will be constituted and the government formed according to the proportional representation system. In the meantime, it is also clear what the future holds for traffic in the provincial capital. The underground extension of the local railroad, the S-Link, will be subject to a binding public consultation. However, the wording leaves room for speculation. This is because it states that the consultation is binding for the city council.

City wants to run trolleybuses every ten minutes all year round
 And that's just the mayor and the four city councillors. This means that the municipal council factions could approve the construction even if the five members of the government were against it. A back door in case the vote is narrowly against the mini-subway? "I haven't thought for a second that that would be a back door. I already assume that this applies to everyone. For us, the consultation applies to the entire parliamentary group," says city councillor and Citizens' List leader Anna Schiester, who will be responsible for transport over the next five years.

The new city government has also already defined other key points apart from the S-Link. For example, the ten-minute trolleybus service is to return not only during the year. In future, there will also be a ten-minute interval during the summer vacations. At present, however, only a few lines are running at "normal intervals" again. Salzburg Linien is still desperately looking for new bus drivers. To this end, ticket sales on the buses are to be abolished. In return, there will be ticket machines at all bus stops.

There is currently no real replacement plan if the S-Link is not implemented. However, parking space management is to be extended to the entire city area. The city will continue to focus on cyclists in the future. The budget for cycle paths is to be doubled once again.