Austria E-cigarettes to be Banned from Vienna Transit

Source from:  The Local Austria 09/22/2015

Vienna's public transit network (the Wiener Linien) is cracking down on people smoking e-cigarettes, and riding scooters on train platforms.

In its new house rules, to be published on October 1st, the transit company explicitly forbids the smoking of e-cigarettes on public transport, something which was previously a grey area. Conventional cigarettes have been banned from trains, trams, buses and station platforms for some time.

Scooters will join bikes, skateboards and inline skates as forbidden means of transport for getting around train platforms and underground walkways in the metro system.

And wheelchairs must confirm to specific measurements if they are to be used on underground trains, buses and trams. Anyone caught breaking the rules faces a €50 fine, although pulling the emergency brake for no good reason will still set you back €93.

However, Wiener Linien boss Eduard Winter stressed that fines are a "last resort" and that public transit employees will always seek to talk to anyone breaking the rules and to explain what they are doing wrong.

The Wiener Linien is in the process of setting up a service team with 40 employees who will be trained to give help and advice across the public transport network - to be launched in the spring. They will not be responsible for carrying out ticket inspections. Enditem