Vienna extends tram line 18 to Ernst Happel Stadium

Vienna’s tram line 18 will run to a new terminus at Ernst Happel Stadium from September 5, ORF reports. The extension through the Prater includes seven new stops, new cycle paths and additional greenery.

The extension is intended to make line 18 a major east-west connection. Passengers travelling between the Burggasse-Stadthalle and Ernst Happel Stadium termini will be able to transfer to five underground lines, eight S-Bahn lines, local and long-distance services, and the future long-distance bus terminal.

Further test runs and technical checks, including work on switches and overhead wires, will take place before the new route opens.

Tram operations will restrict car traffic in the Prater. The connection via Stadionallee and Meiereistraße between Lusthausstraße and Stadionbad will be closed to general motor traffic on all days of the week. Access to residential areas, sports facilities and car parks will remain possible, as will passage for emergency vehicles.

Two kilometres of new cycle paths have been built along the tram route. They include a two-way cycle path on Meiereistraße, which forms part of a continuous route of more than four kilometres from Landstraßer Gürtel through St. Marx, across the Danube Canal and through the green Prater to the Danube at Handelskai, according to Ulli Sima, the city councillor responsible for public transport.

About 200 trees have also been planted, while a 70-metre green track has been installed near Ernst Happel Stadium.

In Vienna’s third district, a new two-way cycle path between Markhofgasse and Erdbergstraße will connect the Gürtel via the Danube Canal to the Prater and continue along Meiereistraße and Dr.-Natterer-Gasse to the Danube. New cycle paths have also been built on Rennweg and Viehmarktgasse.

Bus services in the Prater, at Schlachthausgasse and in Neu Marx will change on September 5. Line 18 will take over the former route of bus line 77A to the U2 Stadion station. The 77A will then run from Rennweg via Schlachthausgasse to Neu Marx, taking over the former route of bus line 80A from Schlachthausgasse. The Rennweg to Neu Marx service will operate seven days a week from about 5 a.m. to 12.30 a.m. A new bus line, 78A, will run between Lusthaus and Stadion.

The extended tram line 18 is also intended to provide an alternative when the main S-Bahn line is closed. Passengers will be able to travel from the main railway station or St. Marx via the U3 station Schlachthausgasse directly to the U2 Stadion station. The changes will also improve connections between eastern Vienna and the S7 at St. Marx.