Austria Clinches the Title

On 13 September 2025, Vienna wrote tram history: the Austrian capital hosted the first official tram-driver world championship. 25 teams from the same number of countries and six continents vied for the title between Vienna’s city hall and Burgtheater. by Sigrid Riewe-Scholz

A 250-meter course with eight disciplines called for maximum dexterity and speedy reaction – including the millimetre-precise “Perfect Stop”, the tricky “Lateral Distance” and the spectacular “Tram Bowling“, where the tram pushes a giant ball toward oversized pins. Further highlights included “Stop & Go“ spilling as little water as possible and “Maintaining Speed”,  which entailed covering a distance of 20 meters at 25 km/h with the speedometer covered.

After some thrilling rounds cheered on by crowd of around 50,000, the winner was clear: the Wiener Linien team asserted itself against strong competition and secured the first World Championship title in tram driving. The Polish team from Poznan came in second, followed by drivers from Oslo. International participants included  teams from Brazil, China and Algeria. Germany entered the competition with drivers from Berlin and Leipzig, and finished in seventh place after a race to catch up.

HANNING & KAHL as partner

As partners of the championship, we are delighted to have been involved in this premiere. In close cooperation with Wiener Linien – one of our esteemed customers – we sponsored and jointly organised this unique international event.
Traditionally, vehicles of the host country are driven – in Vienna this was a modern Flexity tram and also an Ultra Low Floor (ULF). Both vehicle types are equipped with HANNING & KAHL brake components which ensure precise and reliable deceleration – a decisive factor in the millimeter-precise disciplines.

More than just a competition

The tram-driver world championship was part of the large public-transport (Öffi) festival on Vienna’s Rathausplatz. Under the motto “FEST feiern, FEST Spaß haben“ along the lines of “Celebrate and have fun”, thousands of visitors joined in the fun – with interactive stations, a varied entertainment program as well as exclusive glimpses behind the scenes of Vienna`s public transport system. 

To sum up: the first tram-driver world championship in Vienna was a huge success – in sporting, organisational and emotional terms. We are proud to have been a partner.