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Plans to expand lines 71 and 25 beyond the Vienna city limits are becoming more concrete, and there are positive voices from Lower Austria. A new study also gives them a tailwind: they could contribute up to a billion euros to Austria’s GDP.
The city of Vienna has announced some expansion plans for the tram network for the next decade, including connecting the Lower Austria region via three lines. The implementation of this now is more realistic: because both federal states said on Friday that the framework conditions would be examined by next spring.
Vienna’s public transport councilor, Ulli Sima (SPÖ), explained the planned routes at a press conference. For one thing, a new one should Line 72 from Simmering (from the height of the main workshop of Wiener Linien) to Schwechat. The 2.6-kilometer-long project, which would also connect the S7 station in Kaiserebersdorf, could be completed in 2023. The second cross-border route is the extension of the Line 25 planned for almost seven kilometers to Groß-Enzersdorf. The third proposal refers to the connection from the To train from Liesing to Kaltenleutbaren, based on the Badner Bahn model, for which the old rail routes could be used again. All three connections have a “high probability of completion,” Sima said. “We are now only a few hundred meters from the city limits.”
The Planning Community East (PGO) had been commissioned to carry out a corresponding review of the implementation. But it is also clear that Vienna will not bear the costs alone. That can only be done together with the federal government and Lower Austria.
Lower Austrian approval
Positive signals came quickly from Lower Austria on Friday. Mobility Councilor Ludwig Schleritzko (ÖVP) assured in a broadcast that he would be open to plans. Expect a PGO result in the spring. “We are united by the will to find the best solutions for travelers across national borders. We are talking about a vital space in which administrative borders should not play a role,” he replied to Sima.
The structural implementation of the three projects would cost around 400 million euros, Schleritzko referred to expert estimates. In addition, there would be annual order costs for the transport service of around € 40 million. “What costs can be financed here with the billion from the federal government in local transport, how to organize the order and many other questions now need to be answered,” said the Lower Austrian Provincial Council.
Chamber of Commerce study sees “high potential”
A new study by location attorney Alexander Biach, who is based at the Chamber of Commerce (WKO), could provide a tailwind for tram expansion in the Vienna area or the urban area itself. This calculation, presented today together with Sima, sees great potential for the economy and the labor market. “Trams are the ultimate whirlpool of wonders,” Biach said euphorically. They would stimulate the economy, create jobs, strengthen shopping streets, and be environmentally friendly. Biach and his team analyzed 13 Wiener Linien BIM projects, which are in various planning stages through the 2029 time horizon, for the study.
In addition to the expansion of D-wagons to the Sonnwendviertel and the extension of Or lines From Praterstern to Nordbahnhofviertel, there are also ideas like connections to Lower Austria. Based on investment costs of around 864 million euros, which, according to Wiener Linien, are necessary for the implementation of the 13 projects, the location attorney calculated effects of around 539 million euros on gross regional product of Vienna and more than a billion euros in Austria’s GDP. Only 400 million euros would go back to the public purse in taxes and duties. And in the federal capital, 5,277 full-time jobs would be created, 9581 would be nationwide.
Furthermore, the operation of the new Bim lines would also have a positive effect. It contributes to Austria 32.9 million euros in annual taxes and 86.8 million euros to GDP.
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