For some time now, residents of a railway station in the north of Vienna have been complaining about noisy and smelly diesel locomotives: the trains stand directly in front of a block of flats with their engines running, sometimes for hours, sometimes even for days. Now the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) are reacting.
Already a year ago, residents of Jedlersdorf station in Vienna's Floridsdorf district drew attention to the fact that diesel locomotives had been repeatedly standing on the tracks and burning diesel for several months. Air and noise pollution of the highest order, quite concentrated for the residents of a housing estate right next to the tracks.
One resident even reported an entire weekend when the engine was running, the locomotive was at a standstill and unoccupied. Passing trains, as those affected emphasised, would not disturb. After all, the station was there more than 100 years earlier, and it was known that train movements also took place there.
But why are diesel locomotives allowed to park idling, while any motorist who leaves his engine running in the car park faces a fine of 100 to 200 euros? Especially as the stationary locomotives sometimes cause the surrounding area to vibrate for hours.
The problem is reminiscent of port cities like Hamburg or Marseille, where people living near the port are exposed to even more diesel exhaust fumes than people in Floridsdorf. For comparison: a diesel car consumes up to 1.5 litres of fuel per hour, depending on the engine, a diesel locomotive already 7.6 litres and a large cruise ship even 12,000 litres - when idling.
Now it is indeed the case that diesel locomotives cannot simply be switched on and off. This is because technical components in the locomotive have to warm up before starting and cool down after stopping. ÖBB also cannot park the locomotives directly somewhere else to warm up or cool down due to lack of space. However, this does not explain why the engines sometimes run for days. ÖBB has now promised an improvement: new software will be installed in the more modern models, which will considerably reduce the noise pollution. But in Floridsdorf it is mostly the old diesel locomotives that are noisy and smelly. These are now to be gradually replaced by hybrid locomotives.
Small vans and trucks need at least Euro class 4 and an environmental sticker for the environmental zone in the entire Vienna city area. All the more annoying when you drive a clean truck during the day and are exposed to diesel exhaust fumes outside your window for hours when you return home.