Austria inches towards smoking ban

Aug 31, 2007, 9:27 GMT

Vienna - The state-run railways OeBB announced on Friday that all its trains will be non-smoking from September 1 in order to step up its protection of non-smokers.

Smoking bans were already in place in local trains, but following customer demand, the regulation was extended to all trains, OeBB head Martin Huber said.

Austria's Health Minister Andrea Kdolsky welcomed the decision. Following general European trends, she considers introducing smoking bans in restaurants and cafes by 2008.

As attempts to introduce a voluntary solution were not satisfactory, draft legislation was being prepared this autumn, Kdolsky said Wednesday evening.

Restaurants above a size of 75 square metres will be obliged to establish non-smoking sections. Businesses smaller than that will have to choose whether to cater to smokers or non-smokers.

Kdolsky however ruled out a complete ban as being 'too grave a step,' as the ratio of Austrian smokers was relatively high.

Statistics show that 50 per cent of the population smokes.

In 2005 smoking was already banned in public buildings.

Complete or partial smoking bans are in place in most European countries, after Ireland made a start in 2004 with banning smoking in bars and restaurants.

Among the last countries to join on August 15 were France, Slovenia, England, and Denmark.