Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) is back in the black after ending a controversial speculative deal with Germanys Deutsche Bahn (DB).ÖBB said today (Mon) its operating profit had been 121 million Euros in 2009 after it had had 970 million Euros in losses in the previous year.The company however lost 300 million Euros in a speculative […]
Austria lost out on around six million Euros of traffic fines as new high-tech speed traps turned out to be unusable.Motorway administration authority Asfinag set up three high-end radar traps worth 450,000 Euros on the A21 motorway and the S1 main road near Vienna last autumn. The new devices catch drivers from the front in […]
Niki Lauda has appealed to passengers stranded at European airports because of the eruption of an Icelandic volcano to remain patient.The three-time Formula One champion who now runs his own budget carrier FlyNiki said in a TV interview last night (Thurs): “Volcano ashes can ground a plane. The situation is extremely dangerous, and cancelling flights […]
A traffic jam of several kilometres was caused when a lorry crashed into the walls of Viennas Schönbrunn Palace Gardens this morning (Thurs).Police said the driver got away with minor injuries after he came off the road and ploughed into a wall near Kennedy Bridge on the road towards the city centre shortly before 9am.Firemen […]
Almost 1,500 traffic accidents happened over the Easter weekend in Lower Austria.Officials however said today (Mon) the holidays had been “relatively quiet” as far as the number of car crashes was concerned.Stefan Spielbichler, a spokesman for rescue officials in Austrias biggest province, said no one had died on Lower Austrian roads since Good Friday.The Federal […]
Austrians would be well advised to avoid skating on natural ice after a thaw, the Committee for Traffic Safety (KfV) said today (Fri).It warned the essential thing was to determine the thickness of natural ice before venturing onto it and it was sometimes possible to learn that by consulting local government offices.KfV advised people to […]
By Lisa ChapmanThe Austrian Traffic Club (VCÖ) has criticised this year’s boom in registrations of gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles (SUVs).VCÖ said today (Weds) the number of registrations of SUVs had increased year on year by 22.5 per cent in 2009. There was an increase of only 8.0 per cent for all cars.It said the biggest […]
By Lisa ChapmanPoliticians have hit out after Vienna’s Ringstraße was shut down yesterday (Tues) to mark an EU-wide car free day.They blasted the move organised by the Greens and environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which saw the Ring between Operngasse and Bellariastraße shut and covered with artificial grass for people to picnic on during […]