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Vienna plans metro and tram expansion

Vienna’s public transport network will be expanded over the next ten years, to meet demand from the city's growing population.

Published: 2 July 2014 12:28 CEST

Vienna plans metro and tram expansion

How Vienna's new metro map will look. Photo: Wien.gv.at

Vienna's population is forecast to reach two million inhabitants by 2030, and after much discussion and speculation the city council has committed to expanding the public transport network. The work is to be funded in part by recent price increases for public transport.

The construction of two U-Bahn extensions is expected to get under way in 2018, and open in 2023. The U2 line is to be split into two sections, with one becoming a new U5 line which will serve the north-west of the city.

U2 trains from Seestadt and Aspern in the east will be diverted at Rathaus and continue south to an interchange with the S-Bahn network at Matzleinsdorfer Platz.

The inner-city section of the U2 from Karlsplatz to Rathaus will become the first part of the new U5, which will initially continue to Frankhplatz, serving the university campus, and the old General Hospital (Altes AKH) in Spitalgasse.

The city council has started negotiations with the federal government for a further extension of the U5, running north to a new tram interchange hub at Arne Carlsson Park on Währinger Straße, where it would connect with routes 5, 33, 37, 38, 40, 41 and 42.

The metro would then turn west to meet the U6 at Michelbeuern-AKH and continue to Elterleinplatz in the Hernals district. This scheme would also see the U2 extended south from Matzleinsdorfer Platz to Gußriegelstraße and Wienerbergstraße.

The aim is that the busy U6 line will become less congested and travellers won’t need to change trains as often.

The construction of the U2 and U5 will go hand-in-hand with an expansion of the tram network. Vienna has the sixth largest tram network in the world.

Tram route O is to be extended from Praterstern in 2018 to serve urban development around the Nordwest freight terminal, which may also be served by extensions of routes 2 and 5.

Meanwhile, the city is negotiating with the ÖBB rail group for improvements to the S-Bahn railway network, seeking more frequent trains and additional stations.

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Are there 'young gangs' forming in Vienna?

Austrian tabloid media jumps on such stories: a group of teenage girls breaking into cars in Linz or vandalism and robberies committed by young people in Vienna. Particularly in the capital, it seems that there was a rise in crimes committed by groups of young people. But does that mean that Vienna has a gang problem?

According to the newspaper daily Der Standard, the Vienna Provincial Police Directorate (LPD) repeatedly states that the much-cited youth gangs do not exist but that there is “an increase in young people appearing in groups and committing offences”.

What does that mean, and what is the difference between “young people appearing in groups and committing offences” and gangs?

According to the police: “The term gang is commonly used in everyday language – without a precise definition in this context. In criminal law, however, the term is clearly defined. From a criminal law perspective, a gang is an organised, hierarchically structured group of people intent on committing offences on an ongoing basis.”

READ ALSO: Which crimes are on the rise in Austria?

According to the police, they are dealing with “groups that come together spontaneously” and are not “hierarchically organised.” These groups mostly commit “thefts or minor robberies” but are not criminal organisations.

So, technically, Vienna does not have a “youth gang” problem, but it does have an increase in young people in groups committing crimes – though the police didn’t share official numbers.

A recent Kurier report stated that the number of crimes committed by young people and children under the age of 14 has doubled in the last ten years.

At the same time, there has only been a slight increase among young people over the age of 14 and even a decrease among young adults. The main crimes committed by young people and adolescents are theft, damage to property, assault, burglary and dangerous threats.

Christian Holzhacker, Head of Education at the Association of Viennese Youth Centers, told Der Standard that it is important not to “stigmatise” an age group and that the word gang is often used in an “inflationary way”. He points out that in relation to the size of the Viennese population, the number of minors committing crimes is small, even if it is increasing.

He also highlighted that stigmatising regions or groups of young people who get together in public spaces is not the answer. “If you want to fight crime, you have to look at the realities of the lives of the people who have committed crimes,” he said.

READ ALSO: Is Vienna a safe city to visit?

What are the police doing about the crime?

Austria’s federal criminal police office has gathered a new special task force to combat youth crime (EJK). According to the Ministry of the Interior, the idea is to recognise the new phenomenon and combat youth gangs in Austria.

The task force is set to carry out checks in public spaces, particularly in urban areas and “potential hotspots”, Kurier reported.

The task force also set up a “panel of experts” to suggest how parents can be more responsible, how children’s use of social media and cell phones can be improved, and how the asylum system can better accommodate young migrants.

However, Dieter Csefan, head of the task force, told Die Presse that most young offenders were born in Austria.

“There are unaccompanied minors, but the young people we meet in the groups and gangs usually have parents. And the prolific offenders often come from a normal home. They can also be native Austrians. So it’s not always just Afghans or Syrians”, he said.

He also mentioned that “lowering the age of criminal responsibility is one suggestion” to fight crime. Currently, the age is set at 18, but there are discussions and proposals to lower it to twelve. However, “that alone is not necessarily enough”, he added.

READ NEXT: Which parts of Austria have the highest crime rates?

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