Silver Arrow burnt down

The many unanswered questions surrounding the subway inferno

The Silver Arrow is burnt out.

(Bild: zVg)

A Silver Arrow goes up in flames in the U1 tunnel during rush hour. Six people are injured. Even for the professionals of the professional fire department, the operation was extraordinary. Now it's the turn of the fire investigators. Many questions remain unanswered. 

Extreme smoke, flames, enormous heat, all crammed into a subway train set. This nightmare almost became reality on Tuesday in evening traffic. In a 30-year-old Silver Arrow on the U1 line between the stations Taubstummengasse and Südtiroler Platz. Fortunately, it was "only" a special train without passengers - we reported.

The train was used as a replacement for canceled trains. If it had been full, who knows how busy the hospitals would have been. The pictures of the burnt-out carriages speak volumes.

Six Wiener Linien employees were slightly injured in the incident. They inhaled smoke. Five of them have since been discharged to home care. The subway driver is still under medical supervision. The burnt-out Silver Arrow was towed away on Wednesday.

Fire and rescue services were deployed on a large scale.

(Bild: Leserreporter)

Repairing the damage and the associated restrictions on the red line will take even longer. "The exact extent of the damage must first be determined," explained a spokesperson for Wiener Linien on Wednesday. The partial closure of the line is likely to remain in place for days.

Several questions are currently unanswered. The most important ones:

• What caused the fire?

• Can this also happen in other vehicles of this or a similar design?

• How extensive is the damage to the tunnel, track and electronics?
• When will the U1 be usable again?

The fire investigators are now starting their investigation. A spokeswoman for the transport company is not yet able to estimate when the results will be available.

Professional fire department arrived with 28 vehicles
It is also thanks to Vienna's professional fire department that nothing more happened. They arrived with 28 vehicles. 80 firefighters extinguished the flames in the tunnel with water and foam and brought waiting passengers to safety at the stops.

Such scenes are, of course, practiced, but on site such an operation is of course particularly challenging, explains fire department spokesman Christian Feiler to the "Krone". The biggest problems with tunnel fires are heavy smoke and enormous heat. The tunnels have smoke detectors and smoke extractors, but no sprinkler systems.

These would not be useful in many cases, says Feiler. After just one hour, surprisingly quickly, the fire department was able to report "fire out". When asked what passengers should do if the subway train is on fire, the expert replies: "Leave the danger zone quickly." Get outside is the motto.