Defective train set

Smoke alarm in the subway: two stations evacuated

(Bild: Leserreporter)

Major operation at Vienna's Praterstern: Due to smoke developing in a subway train set on the U1 line, the Praterstern station was evacuated on Thursday evening. The Vorgartenstraße station in the subway area also had to be evacuated as a precaution. As a result, the U1 line only ran to a limited extent.

A major operation by the Vienna Fire Brigade had been underway at Praterstern since 5.45 pm. According to the fire department, the operation has now ended and the firefighters were able to return at around 7.00 pm. There was "slight smoke development", said fire department spokesman Lukas Schauer about the operation.

Defective train on the U1 line
The cause of the smoke was a faulty train on the U1 line. When the subway train pulled into Praterstern station, the driver had already noticed a fault, according to Wiener Linien. Both the Praterstern station and the Vorgartenstraße station were closed and passengers had to leave both stations. Smoke then developed on a siding in the direction of Vorgartenstraße. The exact extent of the damage to the train and whether flames also had to be extinguished was still unclear. 

A defective train on Vienna's U1 subway line caused smoke and a major fire department operation on Thursday evening.(Bild: Leserreporter)

Line was partially closed
The U1 line was partially closed due to the ongoing operation. No trains were able to run between Stephansplatz and Donauinsel for around one and a half hours. In the meantime, guests were asked to switch to alternative lines via the WienMobil app. Since the end of the operation, the U1 has been running at different intervals.

The Vienna Professional Rescue Service and the fire department were on site with a large number of emergency services. No one was injured.(Bild: Leserreporter)

According to their spokesperson, Vienna's professional rescue service was initially on the scene at Praterstern with a "very large number" of emergency personnel. The police also supported the operation.

"Silperpfeil" caught fire the previous year
In November last year, a U1 train caught fire and stopped burning between Taubstummengasse and Südtiroler Platz/Hauptbahnhof. The driver and five Wiener Linien employees suffered minor smoke injuries. The professional fire department extinguished the fire after an hour. The cables and track bed were so badly damaged that the U1 service between Keplerplatz and Stephansplatz could only be resumed ten days later.