New U5 colour chosen for Vienna’s underground

Shortly after drilling tests began as part of the construction activities for the new U-Bahn train tunnel in Austria's capital, Viennese voters have made their preference known for the colour they want to see on the subway map.

On Thursday voting was completed, and the result published – with a margin of 65 percent to 35 percent, Austrians prefer turquoise – a shade between blue and green – as the new colour scheme over rose-pink.

Commuters were able to vote every time they went to a ticket machine, leading some people to suggest electoral fraud might have played a part, with duplicate votes being cast.  Whatever the merits of the system, the electoral process counted 143,000 votes for the two colours, with no other choice available.

Work on the major construction is scheduled to begin in 2018.