The New Year’s trail in the city center is about one and a half kilometers long. A program was offered from 2 p.m. on six stages on Freyung, Hof, Graben, Stephansplatz, Kärntner Straße and Neuer Markt. There’s a waltz orchestra, dance lessons, and old men. According to the organizers, 250,000 people had been counted by around 5pm. Experience has shown that there will be many more. New Year’s Eve can still be celebrated in the city center until 2am.
The town hall square will not be used this year, according to the organizers, this is not organizationally possible between the Christmas market and the ice dream. According to Paul Weis, managing director of marketing of the city of Vienna, there will be no big fireworks “for the good of the environment, of the many animals of the city and also of the people”.
“It can also intervene with the traffic light system”
Around 800,000 people visited the New Year’s Trail before the coronavirus pandemic. The number of visitors at the turn of the year this year is difficult to estimate. “We use our video surveillance system to monitor what is happening along the route. We have a very good overview of the visitor flow,” Michael Domkar, project manager of the New Year’s Eve Trail, told “Vienna Today”.
Information can be transmitted to visitors with an electronic computer system. “And if needed, we can also step in with a traffic light system and signal people if they can go or wait a moment,” Domkar said.
Strict action against pyrotechnic articles
Vienna’s police chief, Gerhard Pürstl, also hopes that the New Year’s Trail will draw crowds towards the city centre. This in turn should make it easier for officials in the capital to monitor the celebrations. Pürstl announced zero tolerance for rioters.
Private fireworks, supervised by private security and the police, are also strictly prohibited. “Basically, it is forbidden to light pyrotechnics in the city area – there is a pyrotechnic ban here. It is also forbidden to take pyrotechnics with you on the New Year’s route. And this ban is strictly controlled by the police and punished if necessary,” explains Irina Steirer, spokesperson for the Vienna State Police Headquarters.
Wiener Linien strengthened on the move
Public transport is recommended to reach the New Year’s Trail: Metro trains initially run every 5-7 minutes and then every 15 minutes, like on weekends. U2 to Schottentor, U3 to Herrengasse, U1 and U4 to Karlsplatz or U1 and U3 to Stephansplatz are some of the options towards the city centre.
For safety reasons, the Stephansplatz station will be closed at 10 p.m. at the latest, as a large number of visitors to the New Year’s Trail are expected. In addition, 18 tram lines and 14 bus lines are in operation on New Year’s Eve. Already on Saturday morning there were restrictions on public transport due to the New Year’s Eve rush on the ring road.
The running distance was 5.5 kilometers on Ring and Kai. As in the past, the 3,400 runners came dressed in costume, so there was an Obelix and lucky pigs to be seen. Mario Bauernfeind was the fastest man across the finish line with a time of 15.37 minutes, Lisa Hauser was the fastest of the women with a time of 18.42 minutes.
