Here, the Greens and ÖVP work together in Vienna

Greens and ÖVP are cooperating in Vienna and are having major projects reviewed. They have formulated a corresponding joint request to the City Audit Office, as the respective club leaders Georg Prack (Greens) and Harald Zierfuß (ÖVP) explained in a press conference on Tuesday. The two parties want to know about the cost development and transparency of major construction projects such as the subway expansion, event hall, or long-distance bus terminal.

For Green-Turquoise, it is evident that there are considerable deficits here. They recall delays, some of which have already been announced - and which are expected to further burden the budget with additional costs, as suspected. This concerns, for example, the network expansion of the subway. The "disaster" surrounding U2 and U5 is considered the most serious example, they are convinced.

Focus on Subway

The originally estimated costs for the expansion phase have now almost tripled to around 6.45 billion euros, the Greens and ÖVP calculate in the audit request. It is also lamented that the commissioning of the U5 is being postponed. It is now supposed to shuttle between Karlsplatz and Frankhplatz only in 2030. The latter will thus have a "ghost station," as the route will be completed years earlier.

The St. Marx event hall, officially called the Vienna Holding Arena, is also considered a negative example by the two opposition parties. Originally announced with an opening date in 2024, the project has been postponed multiple times, as stated in the request. Currently, total costs are up to 500 million euros, with the city granting a subsidy of 215.39 million euros.

Call for "Full Control"

The long-distance bus terminal, which is also likely to be delayed by years, as well as revised schedules for the modernization of hospitals are mentioned. The causes of the cost overruns, according to the Greens and ÖVP, lie less with inflation and more with the "mismanagement" of the city officials. They demand "full control," Zierfuß made clear: "The financial situation of the city is already bleak."

The audit by the city audit office is to take place during the respective construction phases to also highlight possible further negative developments. "No one guarantees that there won't be further delays," Prack expressed little hope. The city was also urged to comply with the reporting obligation to the city audit office if budget overruns threaten.

The third Viennese opposition party, the FPÖ, showed little impressed in a reaction. They considered it "embarrassing" that the ÖVP and Greens are copying a blue initiative. "The fact is that the Viennese FPÖ already submitted a comprehensive audit request for the U2/U5 expansion to the city audit office in December 2024 - long before the ÖVP and Greens now became publicly active," stated club chairman Maximilian Krauss.

SPÖ speaks of "escape forward"

The SPÖ identified an "escape forward." For the ÖVP and Greens are responsible for the "debt explosion" at the federal level. "The ÖVP has shown with illustrative consistency that arithmetic is not one of their strengths - and the Greens have watched idly as their ministers," said SPÖ councilor Christian Deutsch in a reaction. The mentioned projects would be handled transparently, he assured.

In the subway construction, the SPÖ did not accept comparisons with initial cost estimates. These would date back to 2014. The current figure is calculated with twelve years of inflation or factors such as the pandemic, the Ukraine war, or the century flood, they emphasized. They also pointed to successfully completed projects like the Vienna Museum or the redesign of streets.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.