Underground line 2 (Vienna)

Seestadt ↔ Karlsplatz
U2 train at Donaumarina station
Route length:	17.2 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	750 V  =
Legend Parking facility Aspern Seaside town Aspern North Hausfeldstrasse At the old ski jumps (shell) Aspernstrasse Donauspital Hardeggasse Stadlau Danube city bridge Donaustadtbrücke , New Danube Danube Danube Marina Operating track 10: Erdberg depot Stadion Krieau Fair Prater Praterstern Taborstrasse Danube Canal Schottenring connection until 2008 Operating track 20/0: U1- Stephansplatz Schottentor Junction of the planned new south branch Planned diversion town hall Lerchenfelder Strasse (until 2003) Volkstheater 1) Museum Quarter 1) Karlsplatz 1) Neubaugasse 2) Pilgramgasse 2) Reinprechtsdorfer Strasse 2) Matzleinsdorfer Platz 2) Gussriegelstrasse 3) Wienerberg 3) 1) From the opening of the route to Matzleinsdorfer Platz only approached by. 2) Under construction, expected opening in 2027. 3) Intended for the 5th expansion stage .

The U2 underground line is part of the Vienna underground network and has had 20 stations over a length of 17.2 km since October 2013. This makes it the third longest underground line in Vienna.

The U2 originally goes back to a tram tunnel that went into operation in 1966 (see double line ), which was converted into an underground line by 1980 and extended by a few hundred meters. Initially only rarely frequented and used with short trains, the line was upgraded with the opening of the extension to the Ernst Happel Stadium in 2008. Since then, further line extensions have been implemented or are currently under construction or being planned.

Today, the U2 connects the city center from Karlsplatz in a spiral loop with the Seestadt Aspern , an urban expansion area on the left bank of the Danube. Due to the currently still low population density, every second train runs from / to Aspernstrasse during the day . The exception to this is the morning rush hour: here every train goes to Seestadt Aspern. This means that the U2 is one of two underground lines, along with the U1, whose trains regularly end at the end of the line. The average travel time between the two end stations is 30 minutes. The color code of the U2 is purple.

designation

The signal assignment took place during the general subway planning in the 1960s and 1970s. The line number refers to the so-called "Zweierlinien", tram lines that did not run on the ring road , but on parallel streets on which truck traffic was handled in order to keep the elegant promenade and boulevard free. Until 1980, tram lines with the subscript "2" signal (most recently E ₂ , G ₂ and H ₂ ) ran on this route .

course

True-to-scale representation of the course of the line U2

Eastern terminus of Seestadt

A train on the U2 line crosses the Danube

Station stadium

Taborstrasse station

Schottenring station: escalators between the U2 and U4 areas

Schottentor station

Platforms at the Museumsquartier station

The terminus of the U2 further away from the center is called Seestadt and is located in the 22nd district beyond the Aspern part of the district . A turning system as well as a storage and revision system are located next to the station . In an elevated position, the route runs briefly to the north, where, after a left turn, you reach the Aspern Nord station and then the Hausfeldstrasse station (both are on the Marchegger branch of the Eastern Railway towards Bratislava ). After another left turn towards the southwest, you will find the An den alten Schanzen station , which is currently only being built in the shell and will only be completed when required.

This is followed by the Aspernstraße station on the edge of the Aspern district in a southerly direction . The line continues to the former Donauspital, since 2020 Klinik Donaustadt with the station of the same name and the stations Hardeggasse and Stadlau , where a transfer junction with the S-Bahn as well as the Laaer Ostbahn and the Marchegger branch of the Ostbahn was created.

The U2 then reaches the Donaustadtbrücke station , crosses the New Danube and the Danube on the bridge of the same name and, after the Donaumarina station on the right bank of the Danube, in an arc to the northwest, reaches the Stadion underground station , which has two central platforms to cope with larger passenger flows Is provided.

From there, the U2 runs parallel to Vorgartenstraße to the Krieau station in an elevated position, before it swings slightly downwards to the west and plunges into a tunnel in front of the Messe-Prater underground station . The halls of Messe Wien , which opened in 2004, and the campus of Vienna University of Economics and Business, which opened in 2013, stretch a short distance between these two stations .

The route now follows the exhibition street to the Praterstern station , where the U2 passes under the U1 (low level) and the Vienna S-Bahn (high level). Then the U2 passes under the densely built-up area of Leopoldstadt and reaches the Taborstraße station near the Augarten . The next station, Schottenring , is located directly under the Danube Canal , with exits to the 2nd and 1st district, where the U2 passes under the U4 line . (Here, on the same level as the U4, was the northern terminus of the U2 until 2008; a connecting tunnel continues to exist for operational trips.)

The route then runs in the tunnel under Maria-Theresien-Strasse to the Schottentor traffic junction and then from Landesgerichtsstrasse to the Secession on the route of the former Unterpflaster tram, mostly southwards along the double line : the Schottentor station is followed by the Rathaus station after a sharp left turn . This is followed by the Lerchenfelder Strasse station, which was closed in 2003 because the station is too close . At the Volkstheater station, the U3 passes under the U2. The U2 reaches the Karlsplatz terminus via the Museumsquartier station (U1, U4). There are the tracks of the U2 (with a turning system) on the left, central bank of the vaulted Wien River , those of the U4 on the other bank; the U1 passes under both and the river.

history

prehistory

A proposal from the city planner and interior ministry engineer Ludwig Zettl dating from 1858 can be considered a distant forerunner of the U2 . In 1857, Emperor Franz-Joseph I gave the go-ahead for the construction of the Vienna Ringstrasse with the order to razed the Vienna city wall and to physically unite the city with the suburbs incorporated in 1850 within the line wall (today: Belt ) . Zettl suggested that the moat, which was part of these fortifications, should not be filled in, but that a vault should be built over it and that the space created should be used for a rail-based means of transport, a horse-drawn tram according to Zettl's ideas . The route would have started in the area of ​​today's Wien Mitte train station , crossed the Wien River and then, following roughly the course of the Ringstrasse , led to Neutorgasse, in the area of ​​today's stock exchange building .

In the 1950s, with the advent of mass motorization , trams in European cities were seen as an obstacle to car traffic. This should be remedied by switching to bus operation or, in larger cities, by building or expanding subway lines . The SPÖ- dominated Vienna city government resisted the construction of an underground railway in the first post-war decades. First of all, social housing should be given preference. Nevertheless, from the mid-1950s, serious thought was given to laying trams "under the pavement".

Since the term “U-Bahn” was politically undesirable, “ Unterpflaster-Straßenbahn ”, or “Ustraba” for short, was used. Around the same time, the term “ Stadtbahn ” became popular in western German cities . A total of three such sections were built in Vienna between 1963 and 1979: the two-way line, from which the U2 later emerged; the tunnel system along the Margaret Belt , the Wiedner Belt and the outer Wiedner Hauptstrasse , which still exists today in its original state; and the express tram line 64, preliminary construction work for the southern branch of the U6 .

From the tram tunnel to the U2

The construction of the tunnel under the Zweierlinie, the core of the later U2, began in 1963. When it was completed in 1966, this tunnel was 1.8 kilometers long and ran between the Vienna Secession building and Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz behind the town hall. The tunnel had four underground stations: Mariahilfer Strasse (1991–2000: Babenbergerstrasse , today: Museumsquartier ), Burggasse (today: Volkstheater ), Lerchenfelder Strasse (closed: September 27, 2003) and Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz (today: Town Hall ). The tram lines E ₂ (Praterstern – Herbeckstraße), G ₂ (Radetzkystraße – Hohe Warte) and H ₂ (Prater Hauptallee – Hernals) ran on this route .

On January 26th, 1968, the Vienna City Council decided to build the basic network of a full subway. It was planned to extend the existing underground tram tunnel at both ends and to include it in the future subway network. The tunnel was to be extended on the one hand to the new Karlsplatz station and on the other hand from Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz under Landesgerichtsstrasse and Universitätsstrasse to Schottentor and from there to the Danube Canal at the level of the Ringturm , where the U2 is at the same level as the former Viennese converted to the U4 Electric light rail should meet.

In the course of this renovation and expansion work, the U2 received a total of three new stations: Karlsplatz, Schottentor and Schottenring. In the network drafts of the 1960s and 1970s, either an extension of the U2 by means of a fork in the direction of Hernals or the (joint) operation of a (never built) U5 on this route was planned. In any case, this eventuality was taken into account during the construction of the U2 tunnel between the Rathaus and Schottentor stations by carrying out appropriate preliminary work for a branch towards the northwest at Garnisongasse.

On August 30, 1980, the U2 between Karlsplatz and Schottenring was opened. About a year later, the Vienna public transport company tried to create an underground ring around the city center with the completed lines U2 and U4 ( line U2 / U4 ). These trains should run from the Karlsplatz station over the Schottenring and the U4 line back to Karlsplatz and to the Hietzing station of the U4. Due to operational problems that led to massive delays, including on the U4, test operations were discontinued after a short time. The travel time between the U2 and the Schwedenplatz station has been increased significantly due to this “transfer gap”. Between 1980 and 2008, the U2 remained by far the least busy line in the Vienna network. An upgrade took place after the opening of the first section of the U3 line in 1991 between Erdberg and Volkstheater or after the opening of the U3 section to the Westbahnhof , especially in the section between Schottentor and Volkstheater.

Extension to the Ernst Happel Stadium

In the various network drafts for the subway in the 1960s and 1970s, such as "Design M", extensive subway connections were repeatedly planned for the 2nd district or the U2 was supposed to reach the Prater Stadium in different variants . In the south, an extension from Karlsplatz to the central train station planned in the 1970s was planned. Until the late 1990s, however, the construction of the U3 line and the north and south branches of the U6 had priority.

In 1998 the decision was taken to extend the U2 from the Schottenring terminus to Aspern . MA 18, the municipal department for urban planning, began with extensive variant investigations.

Before the extension of the U2 could begin, preparatory work on the existing route was necessary. Because it was decided to no longer operate the U2 with short trains, but with long trains as on the other lines, the turning system had to be enlarged after the Karlsplatz station in the direction of Schwarzenbergplatz and all platforms had to be adapted for long train operation. The decision was made to give up the Lerchenfelder Straße station due to the short distance to the Volkstheater station after the end of the adaptation work.

From 2005 to 2008, the U2 only ran a single track between Schottentor and Schottenring, the second track in the Schottenring station was removed and replaced by a widened platform. It was possible to get in and out on both sides ( Spanish solution ).

The groundbreaking for the actual U2 extension took place on June 12, 2003. After the Schottentor station, a completely new, deeper tunnel had to be dug under Maria-Theresien-Strasse from Liechtensteinstrasse in view of the underpassing of the Danube Canal. The bid for the European Football Championship 2008 put additional strain on the schedule, which was already very tense due to legal problems with homeowners and water ingress into the construction site. Nevertheless, the section between the Schottenring and the stadium was opened on May 10, 2008, about a month before the start of the European Championship.

Extension to Aspernstrasse and Seestadt

On September 28, 2006, the stadium – Aspernstrasse section was tackled and opened on October 2, 2010. This makes the U2, after the U1 (1982) and U6 (1996), the third Vienna underground line to reach the northern bank of the Danube. The Danube is crossed over the Donaustadtbrücke, which was built in 1996 and 1997 . With the opening of the second section of the extension to Aspern, the U2 comprised a total of 17 stations and a route length of around 12.5 km.

Starting in 2010, the extension of the U2 from Aspernstrasse to Seestadt Aspern was built as part of the 4th expansion stage of the Vienna subway . With the opening of three additional stations on October 5, 2013, the urban expansion area at the former Aspern Airport was connected to the subway network. The station at the old ski jumps was only built as a shell and should be completed by 2024 . Due to the initially low number of passengers on this section of the route, only every second train ran here during the day; Since September 2017, all trains have been running to the Seestadt terminus on weekday mornings.

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  Construction work for the station at An den alten Schanzen

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  Special stickers for trains 3865 + 3866 on the occasion of the U2 extension in autumn 2013

New branch to Matzleinsdorfer Platz

Originally, an extension of the U2 from Karlsplatz to Gudrunstraße was planned in the expansion plan decided in 2007. However, this project was rejected.

Instead, the U2 / U5 line intersection will be built. The U2 coming from the Seestadt will get a new route from the Schottentor station and will be led through a new tunnel tube to Matzleinsdorfer Platz . Intermediate stops of the south branch will be the existing stations Rathaus , Neubaugasse (U3) and Pilgramgasse (U4) as well as a new station Reinprechtsdorfer Straße . The line to Wienerberg is to be extended later. The new line branch will run completely underground. At the Neubaugasse station, the new route will pass under the two tubes of the U3 and, at 37 m below street level, will represent the deepest point in the network in future.

The old branch from the Rathaus station to Karlsplatz will be transferred to the new U5 line. The U5 will also take over the existing platforms in the Rathaus station, and new platforms will be created for the U2. The previous route of the U2 from Schottentor to the existing platforms in the Rathaus station will be retained as an operating route that connects the U2 with the U5.

The groundbreaking at Matzleinsdorfer Platz took place on October 8, 2018. From there, the tunnel boring machine "Mole" will be used in the direction of Neubaugasse. The drilling is expected to begin at the end of 2020, as the shell of the stations must first be completed. From 2021, the U2 line will only run between Aspern and Schottentor for around two years. During this time, the existing U2 line between Schottentor and Karlsplatz will be adapted for the future U5; Among other things, platform screen doors will be installed and the foundations of the Rathaus station expanded.

This section of the route will be served jointly by the U2 and U5 lines from 2025 to 2027, and then only by the U5 line. The U2 will then run from Schottentor on the new route to Matzleinsdorfer Platz. At the end of 2018 it was announced that the construction contracts for the route from the town hall to the future U5 station Frankhplatz and for those from Matzleinsdorfer Platz to Neubaugasse would be re-tendered, which means that the original schedule will probably be postponed by one year.

architecture

Even before the results of the U-Bahn (AGU) architectural group , Kurt Schlauss was commissioned to convert the Ustraba on the two-way line into the U2. After appropriate preparatory work, this could be done within two summer months. The line was extended at its ends in the south and north, the platforms were raised. The architecture of the Rathaus, Volkstheater and Museumsquartier tram stations was largely retained. The lilac-colored (gray in the Rathaus station) Bisazza mosaic is characteristic of them. Schlauss designed the new Schottentor and Karlsplatz stations for the existing building. All of them are large-volume halls in which the construction remained visible throughout; in many places this was also highlighted in orange. Only the terminus at Schottenring (on the same level as the U4) received the classic AGU design from the first stage. In view of the use of long trains, the platforms in the former tram stops were extended in the years 2000–2002 and other renovation work was carried out in the course of this.

Since the first U2 stations were not designed by AGU, Wiener Linien decided that the extension line (in the Schottenring - Seestadt section) should also have its own line design. For this, the second architecture competition in the history of the Vienna subway was announced, which in 2000 again produced two winners. The architect Paul Katzberger designed the high stations, Gerhard Moßburger the low stations and the terminus Seestadt. What is striking about her designs are the intensive integration of daylight (also underground) and the use of robust materials such as steel, glass, granite and natural stones. New approaches were also taken in the dimensioning of the structures with regard to the platform widths and the positioning of the entrances and exits.

In line with the desire for a continuous line design, the stations of the new U2 south branch to be built in the course of the fourth expansion stage in the years 2018 to 2027 (from the Rathaus station) will also be executed in this style. They are equipped with platform screen doors from the start. Since the stations of the previous south branch will be transferred to the U5 after the new south branch has been completed, the U2 will then - with the exception of the Schottentor station - present itself with a uniform line design.

criticism

Silent protest against the discontinuation of tram line 21 in favor of the U2

The extension of the U2 to the Prater Stadium in 2008 led to significant interference with surface traffic. Tram line 21, to the course of which the U2 is largely parallel, has been discontinued. This decision was strongly criticized by neighbors, especially in the densely populated part of the 2nd district around Taborstrasse. A further thinning in local public transport was expected. Those sections of the 21er, which after the closure could not be covered directly or only insufficiently by the stations of the U2 or by other traffic lines (in particular the areas Heinestrasse - Praterstern, Stuwerviertel and Stadion - Stadlauer Brücke), were newly developed with several bus lines. Until 2012 there were several line changes, new openings and also more frequent lines. There have also been improvements in this area in night traffic since 2010.

In all U2 extensions from 2008 onwards, critics repeatedly argued that the line “leads nowhere”, i.e. through currently sparsely populated suburban areas. In doing so, however, it is often not taken into account that various urban development and expansion projects are being driven along the U2, which in some cases lead to massive building densification along the route. For example, several office and residential construction projects were created in the immediate vicinity of the Krieau , Stadion , Donaumarina , Stadlau and Aspernstraße stations . A new park-and-ride facility has also been opened at the Donaustadtbrücke station , which is located directly on the Südosttangente and the Donauufer motorway . The entire U2 extension can also be seen as part of the project for the Seestadt Aspern urban expansion area , which will create apartments for up to 20,000 people and 20,000 jobs.

With the renewed extension of the U2, which began in 2018, this subway line is to be given a completely new status in Vienna's public transport system. The south branch of the U2 with the new interchange Matzleinsdorfer Platz will accommodate commuters coming into the city from the west and the south and relieve the previous interchange at Meidling station and the core stretch of the U6 along the western belt, which has reached its capacity limits. However, a renewed reconstruction of the old branch between Karlsplatz and Rathaus / Schottentor is necessary.

Operating times and cycle

time	Mon-Fri (school)	Mon-Fri (holidays)	Saturday	Sunday and holiday
12:00 AM to 4:30 AM	No operation		15 minutes
4:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.	3-5 minutes	4-5 minutes	7 minutes
7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.			5 minutes
8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.	8 minutes

The entire line from Karlsplatz to Seestadt is served by all trains during rush hour traffic and on the Nightline ; during the remaining operating times, every second train ends at Aspernstraße station due to lower capacity utilization on the end section .

literature

• Johann Hödl (ed.): The U2 line. History, technology, future. Vienna 2008.

Web links

Commons : U-Bahn-Linie U2 (Vienna)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Information in the city traffic wiki
• Line 2 (Vienna, 1907–1967) - detailed information about the tram predecessor of today's U2
• Official information about the planning
• History of the U2
• Historical images (Hungarian)
• Infocenter for the extension of the U2 to Wienerberg and the construction of the U5 line in the Volkstheater underground station

Individual evidence

1. ^ U1 extension of the Oberlaa extension. (PDF) Wiener Linien, February 2014, accessed on August 12, 2017 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} The checkered history of the U2. Wiener Linien, accessed on January 19, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Interview: That comes in 2019 in the Danube city. Retrieved April 30, 2019 . 
4. ^ Rudolf Till: U-Bahn, Kreisbahn and Zentralbahnhof in Vienna. A plan from the year 1858. In: Wiener Geschichtsblätter, No. 22, 1967, page 129 ff.
5. ↑ Line U2 Schottenring – Karlsplatz. Horst Prillinger, accessed on January 19, 2020 . 
6. ↑ ^{a b} Station and track diagram based on the subway network variant M (1970). Retrieved February 2, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Holes in the cityscape, wrong ways in the subway network. The press, accessed February 4, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Information on the U2 extension Schottentor – Aspern. Ed .: Urban Planning Vienna, September 1999.
9. ↑ Groundbreaking ceremony for the U2 extension. Wiener Linien (OTS), May 12, 2003, accessed on February 2, 2020 . 
10. ^ U2 north extension from Stadion to Aspernstrasse. City of Vienna, accessed on January 25, 2020 . 
11. ↑ The underground ghost station is completed. ORF Vienna, January 8, 2020, accessed on July 22, 2020 . 
12. ↑ Lots of new things in Vienna's public transport network from September. City of Vienna, accessed on January 26, 2018 . 
13. ↑ Lichtexpress in natural colors. Wiener Zeitung, November 30, 2010, accessed on January 19, 2019 . 
14. ↑ Line cross U2 / U5 - architecture. Wiener Linien, accessed on May 19, 2016 . 
15. ↑ ^{a b} "Mole" builds new U2 and U5. ORF Vienna, October 8, 2018, accessed on October 8, 2018 . 
16. ↑ Part of the U2 route will be closed for two years. Accessed today, December 24, 2019, on July 5, 2020 . 
17. ↑ U5 will only run through Vienna from 2024, from 2019 two-year partial U2 closure. derstandard.at, November 30, 2017, accessed October 30, 2018 . 
18. ↑ Subway construction delayed by up to twelve months. ORF Vienna, November 9, 2018, accessed on November 9, 2018 . 
19. ↑ The platform pioneer. April 28, 1999, accessed January 19, 2020 . 
20. ↑ U2 architectural competition ends with two winners. APA, November 9, 2000, accessed January 22, 2020 . 
21. ^ Seestadt Wien: Work has started. ORF Vienna, July 3, 2009, accessed on January 25, 2020 .