Twenty Years Without a Drill: Austrian Rail Union Pushes for Mandatory Yearly Evacuation Training
Published on 10/30/2026 at 20:31 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Austria's rail workers' union vida is demanding that every railway company in the country adopt binding, uniform minimum standards — both for how many staff are on board and for how those staff are trained to clear and evacuate a train in an emergency.
At the centre of the push is a simple argument: anyone who may one day be responsible for hundreds of passengers needs to know exactly what to do. Gerhard Tauchner of vida made that point directly, calling for regular, realistic exercises for train crews in emergency situations.
The campaign follows safety debates sparked by an incident in the Wienerwaldtunnel. On that front, the union has criticised the Oberste Eisenbahnbehörde, Austria's supreme railway authority, for failing to complete its official investigation of the incident — which involved an ICE train — after 15 months.
Works council adds its voice
Running alongside the union's demands, the Ă–BB works council raised its own alarm. In a letter to Ă–BB management, the staff representation stated that training was either not offered at all or at least not to a sufficient extent.
Standard evacuation drills, according to the works council, often take place only during basic training. For long-serving employees, some of that instruction dates back more than 20 years. Basic training also lacks route- and tunnel-specific content, the letter noted.
Accounts attributed to Ă–BB staff suggest that announced practical training sessions have so far not been held to a sufficient degree. In an emergency, crew members often still have to fall back on their own experience and improvisation rather than established routines. The stakes are considerable: at high capacity, Ă–BB trains carry up to 1000 passengers, which underlines what an evacuation in a danger zone actually demands.
Management commits to annual drills
The company's leadership responded to the criticism. The ÖBB board gave a written undertaking that practical training will in future be held annually as a fixed part of service instruction. In a television interview, ÖBB chief Andreas Matthä pointed out that refresher courses had already taken place.
Oversight of how the training measures are implemented rests with the Oberste Eisenbahnbehörde, while the transport ministry is examining the specific design of the programme. An interim report from the supervisory authority on the earlier tunnel evacuation had already identified communication problems, technical failures and shortcomings in training.
Staffing levels and rest periods
Beyond the technical instruction, vida sees a structural gap on staffing and working hours. The union draws a comparison with aviation: while a fixed minimum number of cabin crew per seat is legally required in the air, trains carrying up to 500 travellers in regional and local rail traffic may run entirely without a train attendant.
vida is also calling for adequately measured rest periods between individual shifts, to prevent fatigue and safeguard safety on the rails. The issue is likewise a central point of dispute in the ongoing collective agreement negotiations for the sector.
