A defective train on Vienna’s U1 subway line caused smoke development and a major fire brigade operation on Thursday evening. No injuries were reported. The defect was noticed as the train entered Praterstern station, a spokeswoman for Wiener Linien told APA. Passengers were asked to disembark. Smoke later developed on a siding in the direction of Vorgartenstraße. According to the fire brigade, the operation has since ended.
There were no passengers on board the defective train after it left Praterstern, Wiener Linien spokeswoman Klara Trautner confirmed. The stations Praterstern and Vorgartenstraße were evacuated, with passengers escorted out. No trains ran temporarily between Stephansplatz and Donauinsel. According to Trautner, no Wiener Linien employees were injured. Vienna’s professional rescue service deployed a “very large number” of emergency personnel at Praterstern, and police also assisted.
“There was light smoke development,” said fire brigade spokesman Lukas Schauer. The exact extent of the damage to the train is still unclear. The fire brigade had withdrawn by around 7:00 p.m. The U1 resumed full service shortly afterward, Trautner said. The power rail was checked before operations restarted. The cause of the smoke is still under investigation, she added.
U1 Fire Last Year
In November of last year, a train on Vienna’s U1 caught fire and came to a halt between the Taubstummengasse and Südtiroler Platz/Hauptbahnhof stations. The driver and five Wiener Linien station employees suffered minor smoke inhalation injuries. The fire brigade extinguished the blaze after an hour. Cables and track ballast in the affected section were so badly damaged that U1 service between Keplerplatz and Stephansplatz could not resume until ten days later, after repairs.
