Wiener Linien has been looking for personnel for months. Buses and trams in particular lack drivers. The staff shortage was so severe that the company recently wrote to retired drivers asking if they could help out on a case-by-case basis. As this measure also had little effect, the intervals for trams and buses are now being extended. Specifically, this means that the stretch interval is approximately 30 seconds.
The new timetable affects eleven of the 28 tram lines and nine of the 131 bus lines. There are currently no changes planned for the subways.
the wave of retirements is imminent
The reason for the measure is the tense labor market: “Like many other sectors, the generational change and the tense situation on the labor market associated with it, among other things, also poses great challenges for the staff for Wiener Linien. L ‘public transport company has been preparing for the wave of retirements for a long time and is taking a number of measures to make jobs more attractive, ”the company said.
