Vienna hosts first world tram driver championship

Vienna: Vienna was hosting a veritable traffic stopper on Saturday, with 25 tram driving teams from across the world battling it out in the first ever...

Vienna: Vienna was hosting a veritable traffic-stopper on Saturday, with 25 tram-driving teams from across the world battling it out in the first ever Tram Driver World Championship.

Spectators gathered in front of the Austrian capital's neo-Gothic city hall to witness the competing teams from as far as Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong and San Diego show off their driving skills.

"We are celebrating a very special anniversary today -- 160 years of trams in Vienna," said Elias Natmessnig of Vienna public transport, which organised the contest.

"To mark the occasion we decided that we would host the World Championship instead of (just) the European Championships and bring teams from six continents to the city."

Tram drivers were facing off in eight challenges that test their ability to operate the heavy vehicles -- which weigh 30 or 42 tonnes depending on the model -- with precision, including braking and accelerating smoothly.