Delay U2xU5 in Vienna: What is wrong with the subway construction, City Councilor Hanke?

MeinBezirk gets a deep insight into Vienna’s underground. Vienna’s public transport councillor Peter Hanke (SPÖ) comments on the delays in the construction of the subway on site.

VIENNA. 25 meters below Frankhplatz, MeinBezirk met with Öffi City Councilor Peter Hanke (SPÖ) for a discussion. There are currently delays in the construction of the new U2xU5 network.

But what are the challenges on Europe’s largest subway construction site? How are the additional costs being dealt with? And how are those companies that are suffering financial losses due to the construction sites being helped?

Doors as a U2 problem

In April 2023, Wiener Linien had to announce that the partial closure of the U2 would be delayed by a year, i.e. until September 2024. Now it will not be finished by this planned date either. Why is that?
PETER HANKE: In the future, there will be fully automatic doors on the U2 main line, which will provide additional safety for passengers. Some of these doors, which come from a French manufacturer, were damaged by earth movements and had to be replaced. This means that it is taking longer than we had expected. However, we will be able to reopen this section of the line in the autumn, but unfortunately not when school starts.

The U2xU5 line intersection is the largest subway construction site in Europe. How many people work here?
On average, there are currently more than 800 people working on the subway construction sites around the clock every day. With the entire project, we are creating around 30,000 jobs. The workers cover incredible distances on foot every day as they transport the construction materials in and out with small carts. These are superlative construction sites that also represent superlatives for climate protection. After completion, we will save up to 75,000 tons of CO₂ per year and be able to transport 300 million additional passengers.

Unexpected challenges

The remaining subway expansion for the U5 was also delayed by another two years. Why?
Geology is always a mystery, especially in densely built-up inner-city areas. It is simply not possible to predict exactly what challenges await you everywhere. Hundreds of boreholes were drilled in advance to depths of up to 60 meters to find out what the soil looks like at these points. But surprises can always happen – the soil does not always stick to the plans. And there were some unexpected challenges, even though we started the project with the best planning and preparation.

Which ones were they?
In the specific case of the Rathaus station, for example, there were unforeseen water ingresses, which of course had to be channeled and drained using wells. This also concerns the safety of those working on the construction site. Everything possible was done in advance to plan as safely as possible, but the element of surprise is simply unpredictable. Although this was always mastered, it cost us time.

Additional costs will be clarified

What about the additional costs?
We have never had such high inflation in the past 30 years. Fortunately, there is a clause in our contracts. The 15a agreement between the federal government and the city of Vienna states the following: If the inflation rate is higher than 2.5 percent in three consecutive years, there must be talks between the contracting parties to ensure that the additional costs are clarified. The fact is that the annual inflation rates are unfortunately above eight percent. This has consequences that affect us in our core areas, namely primarily in terms of building materials and wages. This is in addition to the water ingress that delays construction and the technical difficulties, for example with the new platform screen doors.

We are sitting here in the middle of the U5 tunnel under Frankhplatz. Is this construction site on schedule?
Frankhplatz will be completed on time in 2026. Many other areas such as Matzleinsdorfer Platz, which are being managed under extremely difficult conditions, are also developing well. The tunnel boring machine will be started here next.

The districts of Neubau and Josefstadt, which are currently suffering massively from the construction of the subway, are demanding support for the local entrepreneurs who are affected. Will the City of Vienna take additional measures?
As City Councillor for Economic Affairs, it is important to me that we support small retail companies even in this difficult phase. Together with the Vienna Business Agency, we have created a subway support program that any affected company can turn to. The Vienna Chamber of Commerce is also a partner in this regard that you can turn to for advice on subway construction.

You might also be interested in:

Construction work takes longer and is 300 million euros more expensive

Wiener Linien is looking for suitable names for subway tunnel boring machines