Vienna’s U2 network is expanding with a new station opening, and investigators in Tyrol released new findings in femicide case, plus more stories from Austria on Monday.
Vienna opens new U2 station Lina-Loos-Platz
A new U-Bahn station in Vienna’s east is entering service on Monday, with the U2 now stopping at Lina-Loos-Platz between Aspernstraße and Hausfeldstraße, according to Der Standard.
The station was built in rough form during the U2 extension to Seestadt Aspern in 2013 and was long known as a “ghost station” before being expanded into a full stop while trains continued running. Wiener Linien says the network now has 110 stations.
The new stop is intended to serve the Oberes Hausfeld development area. City officials said the first completed housing project is due to be occupied in March, and plans for the wider area include 3,700 flats for 8,000 residents as well as facilities, offices and separated cycle paths.
More details emerge on Austria’s plan to cut VAT on everyday foods
Austria’s Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler has been outlining plans for a reduced VAT rate of 4.9 percent on selected foods, including bread, milk, butter, eggs and a wide range of fruit and vegetables.
Speaking on ORF’s press hour on Sunday, Babler said the measure would apply from July 2026. And in addition to the other foods mentioned, the reduced rate will also apply to rice, onions, garlic, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, apples, pears, stone fruits such as apricots, bread and pastries.
According to Babler, the focus will be on products produced in Austria, and the final list of food has now been drawn up by the Ministry of Finance.
Babler said a family with two children could save around €100 per year under the scheme. The policy is expected to cost about €400 million annually. The government says the package will be fully financed, including through new levies on non-recyclable plastic and parcels arriving from non-EU countries.
Babler stressed that competition authorities would intervene if retailers failed to pass the VAT cut on to consumers. He said ensuring affordability for basic items was a key social policy goal amid continued cost-of-living pressures.
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Autopsy suggests mother and child were likely suffocated, prosecutor says
The Innsbruck public prosecutor has released the results of an autopsy on the bodies of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter, saying they were highly likely to have been suffocated, according to Der Standard.
The woman and child, originally from Syria, were reported missing in July 2024 after a relative in Germany filed a missing persons report. After 16 months of investigations, their bodies were found in mid-November in an Innsbruck flat, hidden in two chest freezers behind a specially built plasterboard wall.
Two brothers aged 53 and 55 are in pre-trial detention. They have admitted hiding the bodies but deny murder and describe what happened as an accident. They are presumed innocent.
Five Britons suspected of stealing hotel luggage in Tyrol
Police in Tyrol suspect five British nationals aged 17 to 24 of stealing luggage from hotel guests in Kitzbühel and of leaving a restaurant bill unpaid in St. Johann, according to Kurier.
Six suitcases were left in a hotel corridor on Sunday to be taken to rooms, but were taken and later found rummaged through in a stream bed. Expensive clothing and valuables were missing, with the damage put in the high five-figure range.
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Police said the suspects were arrested in St. Johann on Wednesday and are being reported at liberty. They are suspected of several offences including aggravated theft and fraud, and a large share of the stolen property has been recovered and returned.
What’s happening in Austria today
Vienna City Hall hosts a run of party press conferences in the morning, including the ÖVP at 9:00 am, the Greens at 9:30 am and the FPÖ at 10:00 am, ahead of upcoming Gemeinderat and Landtag sittings.
Deputy mayor and education councillor Bettina Emmerling is scheduled to give a keynote on early years education at 10:30 am at the Education Lab in Vienna’s 4th district.
Statistik Austria is due to publish the Consumer Price Index and Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices for December 2025, including the annual average for 2025, and it is also scheduled to brief journalists on price developments in 2025 and a new “price radar” tool.
In sport, Austria play Serbia in the men’s EHF EURO 2026 in Herning at 6:00 pm, with ORF 1 as the broadcaster.
Vocabulary
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die U-Bahn-Station – underground station
die Obduktion – autopsy
die Untersuchungshaft – pre-trial detention
der Bundeskanzler – chancellor
der Diebstahl – theft
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