Friday, May 9, 2008

Retro Metro

Down below the Munich surface streets is an interesting underground of 97 U-bahn stations that connect the city and transported over 601 million passengers (actually that number includes the TRAM, S-bahn and busses as well) in 2007. One of my favorite stations is the colorful Westfriedhof (or West Cemetery) station, pictured here, on the U1 line out past the Olympic Park. The blue lights radiating from the ceiling to the rock like walls, and the large dome Yellow & red lights are stunning. The U1 line stretches 12 KM, which seems short, but note that all 6 U-bahn lines operate within the Munich city limits – with the exception of the U6, which crosses the city border in Garching. The U1 line originally opened in 1980, but the Westfriedhof station was part of an extension that opened in 1998. Despite record numbers of passengers, the MVV is planning a 3.8% ticket price increase beginning July 1 to pay for further extensions.

3 comments:

Chuck Pefley said...

That is a very "other-worldly" look to the station.

Louis la Vache said...

Very intereting contrast to the Métro stations - even the newest, the 14, in Paris.

"Louis la Vache"

Troy said...

I agree with you, Louis, on the contrast of the Metro stations in Paris. Like Paris, all of the stations have their unique look and feel, but despite the differences in Paris, you always know when you're looking at a Paris Metro station. It's amazing how the RATP creates a fairly consistent look while allowing for differences