Students’ rally will close Vienna’s University Ring

A student rally against planned university funding will close part of Vienna’s University Ring on Tuesday, with police expecting about 6,000 participants, ORF reports. Three tram lines will also be diverted.

The protest comes as the government negotiates its budget. Government leaders are due to meet at the end of the week to discuss university funding. The amount is expected to fall short of the 18 billion euros universities have requested for the three-year period from 2028 to 2030.

Organisers are due to begin setting up at 1 p.m. The rally is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. and finish at about 6 p.m. The University Ring will be closed between the University of Vienna’s main building and the Burgtheater.

Drivers can expect congestion on the Ring and roads leading into the city centre, as well as on alternative routes such as the Zweierlinie. Vienna’s traffic information service advises motorists to avoid the city centre by taking a wide route around it via the Gürtel.

Vienna’s public transport operator will divert tram lines D, 1 and 71 between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Line D will run in both directions between Absberggasse and Börse, from Quartier Belvedere via the route used by line O, Wien Mitte, Julius-Raab-Platz, Schwedenplatz and Schottenring.

Line 1 towards Prater Hauptallee will be diverted between Karlsplatz and Julius-Raab-Platz via Schwarzenbergplatz and Stubentor. In the opposite direction, trams will run to Börse, turn around and continue via Schottenring, Schwedenplatz, Stubentor and Schwarzenbergplatz to Karlsplatz.

Line 71 will run only between Kaiserebersdorf, Zinnergasse and St. Marx, then be diverted via line 18’s route to Schlachthausgasse. The operator recommends using underground lines U2, U3 and U4 instead.