Clearing work begins

Freight station is now becoming a new district

From left to right: Brigittenau district leader Christine Dubravac-Widholm (SPÖ), Transport Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens), ÖBB Infrastructure Director Silvia Angelo with Transport Councillor Ulli Sima (SPÖ). The latter tried her hand at the jackhammer.(Bild: Martin A. Jöchl)

The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) are starting to clear the Nordwestbahnhof in Brigittenau for a new neighborhood.

It is the last large inner-city reserve area in the city - the huge site of the former Nordwestbahnhof, 44 hectares in size. Around 6500 apartments for around 16,000 people are to be built here, in an area that many Viennese were previously unaware of. The 10-hectare "Green Center" will form the heart of the new district in future. Construction work is due to start in 2026.

By 2035, a lively district is to be created on the former railroad station site in Brigittenau.(Bild: ÖBB/Redl Janousekhavlicek)

Things got serious early on Monday morning when ÖBB cleared the first area of the site. A total of around 45 buildings - including warehouses and buildings - will be demolished along the existing track axes. In addition, around 160,000 square meters of paved areas will be removed. The work will be carried out in two phases, starting on the eastern side in the area of Rebhanngasse and continuing in the second phase to the west in the area of Nordwestbahnstraße. According to ÖBB, the clearance will take a total of four years.

The ground-breaking ceremony on Monday was attended by Transport Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens), ÖBB Infra board member Silvia Angelo and district leader Christine Dubravac-Widholm (SPÖ) and City Councillor for Transport Ulli Sima (SPÖ), who tried her hand at the jackhammer. The approximately 1.5 kilometer long and 400 meter wide barrier between Augarten and Dresdner Strasse, which currently divides the 20th district into two parts, is also to be removed with the new city quarter.