300 million € more

Dispute now erupts over additional costs for U2xU5

The next public transport hammer at Wiener Linien: The new U2 will not be running until two years later. In addition, construction costs are exploding due to enormous increases in construction prices and high inflation. The U2 closure will also last even longer.(Bild: Reinhard Holl)

Unforeseen ground conditions are causing huge turbulence for the U2xU5 public transport centenary project. But what happens now with the financing? The additional 300 million euros in extra costs have to be raised somehow.

The office of Public Transport City Councillor Peter Hanke (SPÖ) says: "As the federal government is just as interested in important climate protection projects as the City of Vienna, we assume that we will reach a positive agreement here."

Hanke increased the pressure once again, underlined the importance of the subway project very clearly and called on the management to take all possible steps to get the U2 between Karlsplatz and Schottentor back into operation as quickly as possible. Of course, the delay on the U2 line from Karlsplatz to Schottentor is a challenge for the public transport use of many Viennese. However, safety is the top priority for both passengers and Wiener Linien staff. The fully automatic platform screen doors, which are being used for the first time in Vienna's public transport network, have to be extensively tested. 

Two of three Wiener Linien managing directors, Petra Hums and Gudrun Senk, delivered the bad news in the Matzleinsdorfer Platz tunnel.(Bild: Reinhard Holl)

The federal government reacted rather sniffily to the bad news. The additional delay of more than two years in the construction of the subway is extremely unpleasant - for the climate and for everyone in Vienna, according to the Ministry of Climate Protection. The decision-makers of the City of Vienna must take responsibility here. Steps must now be taken to ensure that the construction work can be completed quickly and without further delays - something that the Viennese also expect.

The response from the Ministry of Finance was also cool: "The Ministry of Finance is currently in negotiations with the department of City Councillor Hanke on how to deal with the increased costs associated with the construction of the subway in Vienna."