Vienna's public transport fleet 80% air-conditioned

Vienna's public transport is offering a cooler ride for commuters during the current heatwave, with 80 percent of its fleet now air-conditioned. This marks a substantial improvement from just a decade ago when only 40 percent of trams and subways were equipped with cooling systems.

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The topic would 'move the people'.

Currently, all buses and the entire U6 subway line feature air conditioning. The Wiener Linien, the city's public transport operator, has been acquiring only air-conditioned vehicles since 2001, steadily increasing the proportion of cooled rail vehicles to 64 percent, a figure that continues to rise with each new acquisition.

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This was a customer request that was brought to us.

Responding to passenger demand, the Wiener Linien will begin indicating air-conditioned trains on the WienMobil app from early July. A special symbol will highlight the coolest available trains, while air-conditioned subways can also be identified by a specific display on station platforms.

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They heat, cool or ventilate depending on the temperature.

The air conditioning systems, known as HKL (heating, cooling, ventilation), operate year-round and are not manually controlled by drivers. They aim to reduce the interior temperature by approximately five degrees Celsius compared to the outside. Cooling activates above 25 degrees Celsius, ventilation between 18 and 25 degrees, and heating below 18 degrees. The system faces challenges due to the constant influx of passengers and varying tunnel and surface conditions.

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The goal is to cool the temperature in the passenger compartment by about five degrees compared to the outside temperature.