Update: All-clear

Linz main station evacuated due to bomb alert

Passengers had to leave Linz Central Station immediately.

Blue lights as far as the eye can see: the police evacuated the main train station in Linz with a large-scale operation at around 3pm on Tuesday afternoon. "A large area was cordoned off", the regional police confirmed to the "Krone" newspaper. Traffic chaos was the result. Two and a half hours later came the good news: the all-clear!

Linz Central Station is an absolute hotspot in the afternoon for working people, schoolchildren and students who want to make their way home. The excitement was correspondingly great: The building was evacuated by the police at around 3 pm on Tuesday. The reason was a bomb threat that had been received by the Upper Austrian Provincial Police Directorate by email.

The State Service Center (LDZ) next door was also evacuated, 1800 to 1900 people had to leave the building, most of them state officials who work in the LDZ. "Those who have taken all their belongings with them can go home. Buses are being organized for the rest of our colleagues," says State Office Director Thomas Schäffer.

State Office Director Thomas Schäffer in front of the cleared road at the State Service Center(Bild: Christoph Gantner)

Large-scale police cordon set up
A large-scale police cordon was set up around the train station in the provincial capital. The police directed the stranded passengers to the nearby Volksgarten.

Passengers who were initially still on the station premises were warned by the digital displays: "Alarm. Please leave the building immediately," was written on it.

Passengers at the station were warned on the displays.(Bild: Christoph Gantner)

Traffic chaos in Linz
The large-scale operation had serious consequences for the busy afternoon traffic, and Linzers had to prepare for considerable delays in the city center and especially around the train station.

Even on the railroad tracks, nothing could go over, to or through Linz: "Train services have been temporarily suspended", ÖBB announced on Tuesday afternoon. This also affected trains along the western route, which were scheduled to run between Salzburg and Vienna via Linz.

The police were searching for the threatened bomb late on Tuesday afternoon before the all-clear was given at 5.30 pm: No explosive device was found, train services were able to resume and the roads were also reopened. However, it is not yet possible to predict when the trains will run according to plan again. It was only on Monday that a bomb threat was received at Graz station.