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http://www.urbantransport-technology.com/projects/munich/ Tue, 27 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://www.urbantransport-technology.com/projects/munich/ Munich Transport Network Munich is the capital of Bavaria and is the third largest city in Germany. The city is home to 1.3 million people and has one of the most comprehensive metro and suburban train networks in Germany. The Munich metropolitan area has a population of 2.9 million people. Population densities vary from 16,000 inhabitants per km² in the centre to 2,000 per km² on the outskirts. Car ownership levels are 530 cars per 1,000 inhabitants. There has been a shift of population toward the metropolitan areas since 1972, which meant greater commuter traffic. However, between 1997 and 2001 due to positive public transport initiatives the trend was being reversed and the number of public transport trips increased from 533 million per year to 561 million per year. Munich city now has an urban development strategy called the Munich Perspective, which has two objectives: Improved mobility, to increase the attractiveness of the city to business Reduction of land and energy use, and reduction of emissions The perspective of the city of Munich is towards expanding the U-bahn, and S-bahn networks, relieving traffic congestion hotspots in the city by road widening schemes, increasing park and ride schemes, increasing the cycle path network and tighter traffic management and parking controls. In addition, a new Maglev project has been proposed in Munich to run as a fast link from Munich Central Station to the airport. U-BAHN AND S-BAHN NETWORKS IN MUNICH The metro (underground) was built for the 1972 Munich Olympics. The underground train service is called the U-Bahn and is operated by Muncher Verkehrsgesselschaft (MVG). The lines (U1 to U8) serve only the central areas of the city. Services run every five minutes in the rush hour and then every ten minutes during the rest of the day. The Suburban train service, or S-Bahn, is operated by Deutsche Bahn (DB). The services of the S-Bahn run to the more outlying areas of the city including Flughafen airport (S1 and S8). The services S1, S2 and S4 to S8 run through a central tunnel in the middle of Munich, running from Ostbahnhof to Hauptbahnhof. The tunnel area is a single stretch of track running through the city, which can form a bottle-neck at certain peak travel times during the day. At either end of the tunnel services branch off to cover the S-Bahn network. The city of Munich also has a well developed bus and tram network run by MVG. The Munich Transport and Tariff Association (MVV) is a transport association that has centralised the ticket and pricing system in Munich. The ticket system is integrated with only one type of ticket required for all of the services in the city, although the price paid is based on a zoning system. U-BAHN UPGRADES AND EXTENSIONS Although the Munich U-Bahn network is highly successful and well integrated the MVG still needs to inject capital for maintenance and capital projects leading to extension of the network. The first of these is the U1 line where construction work has been going on since 1999 for an extension to Olympia EinkaufsZentrum (OEZ); there will be two stations and the section will be 1.3km long. The project should be finished by autumn 2004; the first section to Georg-Brauchle-Ring station has already been finished and was opened in October 2003. The OEZ will eventually form an important transfer station to the U3 line. This section is also under construction from Olympiazentrum station to OEZ and the section should be finished by 2007. There are further plans for an extension from OEZ to Moosach S-Bahn-station; an estimated time for the completion of this section is 2010. An extension to the U6 line is being constructed from Garching Hochbrück station to Forschungsgelände. The work on this project began in May 2001 and completion is expected for 2006. FURTHER U-BAHN EXTENSIONS There are other extensions planned or still in the design and consultation stage. These include the extension of the U4 line toward the east to link up with the S-Bahn station at Englschalking (S8). The line is expected to be 1.9km long but plans may be changed and the line might be established as an extension to the tram network. There are also plans to extend the U5 toward the west by 3.6km to interchange with Pasing station on the S4 line. The U6 line may also undergo a 1.3km extension from Klinikum Großhadern to Martinsried. The new extensions to the U-Bahn network in Munich will mean that the network will become 110km long. It seems that there is a policy towards more connectivity and integration between the U-Bahn and S-Bahn networks. NEW METRO TRAINSETS FOR MUNICH U-BAHN The MVG placed an order in 2003 with a consortium comprised of Bombardier Transportation and Siemens Transportation systems for eight six-car metro trainsets. These are of a new type C design, which is already running on the Munich metro. The new order is expected to be filled by 2005 to 2006. The type C design was ordered in 1997, when ten trainsets were ordered from the same company. The last of the 1997 upgrade were delivered in July 2003 and are now in service on the U-Bahn in Munich. S-BAHN TUNNEL CONSTRUCTION The existing S-Bahn tunnel between Ostbahnhof and Hauptbahnhof is a weak point in the S-Bahn system; to cross the city all the trains have to pass through it. Tunnel maintenance frequently causes disruption. A second tunnel has recently been proposed for construction parallel to the old tunnel. The new tunnel will be started in 2005 and will enter service in 2008. It is estimated that the 8km tunnel will cost &uro;600 million to construct. TRAFFIC CONTROL AND PARK AND RIDE The greater volume of traffic through the city of Munich in the mid-1990s led to a traffic control system being set up. This was the Munich COMFORT (Cooperative Transport Management Munich project) scheme. Under this scheme tighter traffic control was introduced and park and ride schemes were adopted to try and reduce the flow of traffic into the Bavarian capital. TECHNOLOGY IN PARK AND RIDE A success story is the Park and Ride centre, which was opened in Fröttmaning in 1994. It is located directly next to the A9 Nuremberg - Munich motorway. It has dedicated motorway access and can accept 1,270 cars and 80 coaches. The U-Bahn leaves for the city centre every 5 to 10 minutes and the trip to Marienplatz takes 15 minutes. In a development of the Munich COMFORT scheme in 2002 three freely programmable matrix displays were installed on the A9 motorway to display park and ride information. These indicate the number of free parking spaces for cars and buses and provide additional information such as public transport departure times and congestion further along the motorway and in the city. At the Park and Ride motorists are guided to the nearest free parking space by a dynamic control system. The information is provided by scanning laser detectors at the entrance and exit barriers and ultrasound detectors fitted to each of the parking spaces. PROPOSED MUNICH MAGLEV AIRPORT LINK A new Maglev project has been proposed in Munich to run as a fast link from Munich Central Station to the airport. The Maglev is a system in which the train runs levitated from the tracks by using electromagnetic forces between super-conducting magnets on board of the vehicle and coils on the ground. Between Hackerbrücke and Olympiapark the train will run in a tunnel area and then on an elevated guideway. It will run parallel to http://www.urbantransport-technology.com/projects/sydney2/ Tue, 20 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://www.urbantransport-technology.com/projects/sydney2/ Sydney Public Transport System Sydney is the capital of the state of New South Wales, on the east coast of Australia. The city has a population of 4 million and a very comprehensive public transport system. Upgrades on many services occurred in preparation for Sydney hosting the Olympic Games in 2000. Modes of public transport in Sydney include: Monorail: The Metro Monorail was opened in July 1988. It is one of only a few above-ground rail systems in the world that operates through the heart of a major city. The elevated circle line was a gift to Sydney in celebration of Australia's Bicentennial and is now one of the most popular ways of getting about, moving over 4 million passengers per year between Darling Harbour and the city centre. The Monorail is privately operated and funded by the Australian company, Metro Transport Sydney and is under a seven year management contract to Connex. Metro Light Rail: This is Sydney's newest transport system, which started in August 1997 and was extended in 2000 to Sydney's inner west. Starting from Central Station, it is a modern tram line that runs along the harbour to the western parts of the centre. The Light Rail line is also operated by Connex. The system is 7.2km of standard gauge (1,435mm) dual track, 5.7km of which is a dedicated Right of Way (ROW) with the remainder being on a street running area. The system operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with services every 8-10 minutes during most of the day. CityRail: CityRail is a suburban train service that runs underground throughout the centre of Sydney. Double-deck trains are most frequently used on all routes spreading out from the city centre as far as 60km to Richmond or 56km to MacArthur. Lines are bundled in the central area and offer a metro-like service with trains every few minutes. A new branch of the green line (East Hills Line) to the airport opened in time for the 2000 Olympic Games. Ferries: Sydney Ferries have been operating in Sydney harbour for over 135 years. They offer regular services to over 37 wharves, including the suburb of Manly and the riverside city of Parramatta. In 2004, a new Sydney Ferries Corporation will manage the staff and operations of the current Sydney Ferries, which is a division of State Transit, the government bus and ferry body that runs services in Sydney and Newcastle. This decision was made in an attempt to arrest the increasing debts and low passenger numbers of recent years. Buses: Buses in Sydney are operated by State Transit. Many enhancements to the already-comprehensive service are planned or ongoing. In November 1988 'Action for Transport 2010' was launched by the government of New South Wales. A fully-funded programme of infrastructure investment to road, rail, ferry and bus networks, Action for Transport 2010 was a long-term vision for how the State's transport needs can be met. It addressed 12 main strategies: Meeting the needs of a growing and changing population Safeguarding the environment Improving air quality Reducing car dependency Getting more people on public transport Improving access for rural communities Making freight more competitive Keeping the network in good order Getting the best out of the system Giving the community value for money Making space for cyclists and walkers Preventing accidents and saving lives It was projected that 28,000 construction jobs would be created with the proposed road and rail projects, giving the city of Sydney one of the most state-of-the-art, extensive and reliable integrated public transport systems. In recent times, uncertainty has seeped in with regards to the future of some of the projects. Everything was going to plan, with much construction work in progress, when a decision was made to suspend some projects with the possibility of cancelling them. For some projects the future is still undecided even though in many cases construction is well advanced. What follows in this article is a précis of the major projects announced as part of this government blueprint. RAPID BUS TRANSITWAYS In Sydney, rapid bus transitways have been chosen over light rail because they suit western Sydney's low population densities, are cheaper to build and offer more flexible transport options according to the Road and Traffic Authority (RTA) and Department of Transport joint venture. Sydney's seven transitways will be built between 2002 and 2010. Proposed completion dates are: Parramatta - Strathfield Transitway (2002) Liverpool - Parramatta Transitway (2003) St Marys - Penrith Transitway (2003-2008) Parramatta - Blacktown Transitway (2004) Blacktown - Wetherill Park Transitway (2006) Blacktown - Castle Hill (2009) Parramatta - Mungerie Park, near Rouse Hill (2010) Almost 20km of the inaugural Liverpool - Parramatta Transitway (LPT) will be built on unused arterial road or other greenfield corridors. The remaining 10km will use bus priority lanes on existing roads. Co-ordinated traffic signals will give transitway buses priority at intersections with other roads. It will travel through 8km of industrial areas, making it easier for people to use public transport to go to work as well as hospitals, schools, shops and entertainment venues. At present only 5% of people in the region regularly use public transport. Each of the 34 transitway stations on the LPT will resemble railway stations with security cameras, covered waiting areas and real-time passenger information displays. All will have wheelchair access. The transitways will require changes to the NSW Roads Act because they are a new form of public transport. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is now being prepared for the 30km LPT and major construction work is set to begin in 2000 with completion in 2003. PARRAMATTA - CHATSWOOD RAIL LINK The Parramatta Rail Link is the NSW government's largest publicly funded infrastructure project and among the most significant construction works currently in progress in Australia. When completed, it will be fully integrated with the Sydney metropolitan rail system. During construction, more than 1,000 jobs will be created at the height of activity with another 4,000 indirect jobs to be created in associated industries. Major construction on the Chatswood to Epping section of the new rail link commenced on 25 November 2002. The Thiess Hochtief Joint Venture (THJV) was awarded the contract for this section. Bovis Lend Lease has been appointed to manage the THJV contract, including ensuring all works undertaken by the contractor have been verified by an independent party. Unfortunately, half of this new line may never be built. The line was to be finished by 2010 to shift thousands of western Sydney commuters from their cars and relieve the over-stressed CityRail network. But in June 2003, the NSW Transport Services Minister declared his uncertainty: "We are building the first stage, but there is a second stage and that needs to be assessed and it's currently being assessed whether we continue with that rail link." PARRAMATTA RAIL LINK ROUTE The main component of the Parramatta Rail Link works will be the twin rail tunnels. Current construction work also includes a cut and cover tunnel under the Lane Cove River, dive structures at locations where the underground tunnels meet the surface tracks and the integration works to connect the new rail link with the existing Main North and North Shore Lines. These works will include the rebuilding and/or upgrading of a number of road and rail bridges and associated infrastructure. The underground http://www.urbantransport-technology.com/projects/berlin/ Tue, 20 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://www.urbantransport-technology.com/projects/berlin/ Berlin Public Transport Network Berlin was restored as the German capital right after the unification of the two German states in 1990. The city has approximately 3.5 million inhabitants. Public transport in Berlin is well developed. There are nine underground lines, 15 suburban train lines and about 150 bus lines. 28 tram lines operate in the eastern part of Berlin. Many buses and some subways and city-trains run a night service. The double-decker buses serve a citywide network of 1,917km. The local public transport network is supplemented by 371km of tram lines, 151km of underground railways (U-Bahn) and 321km of suburban train services. The rapid transit network actually consists of two independent systems, the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn. In 1996, the Verkehrsgemeinschaft Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB) was set up to organize all public transport, both in Berlin and the surrounding State of Brandenburg. The overall transport policy objectives of the cities are to reduce car use and related pollution and to widen the choice of modes available. BERLIN S-BAHN The Berlin S-Bahn could be considered a metro in its own right; it is mainly an urban means of transport (total length 327km, of which 250km are within the city of Berlin), it is totally independent from other rail traffic (third rail power supply) and it operates at quite dense intervals (every 3 or 4 minutes) along the central routes. The network can be classified into three groups of lines: Stadtbahn: S3, S5, S7, S75, S9 lines serving the east-west route through the city centre, all at ground or elevated level Nordsüdbahn: S1, S2, S25, S26 lines operating north-south through the city tunnel Ringbahn: S41 (clockwise), S42 (anti-clockwise), S45, S46, S47, S8, S9 lines running on the circular route and the southeastern branch. BERLIN U-BAHN The first U-Bahn line opened in 1902. This first line was mainly elevated. In the following years the network grew steadily towards the west (U2 west) and branches were built to the south (U1 south, U15 and U4). The original line was also extended into the city centre (U2). The network grew rapidly after the First World War, running alongside the S-Bahn until the Wall was built in 1961, when the service was partially suspended. After the Berlin Wall was torn down, it again returned to full service. In October 1998, a new station, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park, was added to line U2 to improve access to the new Potsdamer Platz area. After some years of construction a short extension from Vinetastraße to Pankow was eventually opened in September 2000. The new terminus station is situated right under the S-Bahn station. Currently, Berlin's U-Bahn network is about 146km long; U7 is the longest line at 32km and U4 the shortest at just 3km. U-BAHN AND S-BAHN EXPANSION PROJECTS Currently all U-Bahn expansion projects have been suspended because of lack of funds. In fact, in September 2003 it was announced that Berlin's public transport network would need to cut its workforce by a third, or 4,500, by 2007. Although new projects are not being pursued, some expansion projects were already advanced when the suspension decision was made. In the city centre, around the Reichstag, new governmental buildings and a major railway station at Lehrter Stadtbahnhof are being constructed. Therefore construction work for an U5 extension westbound (Alexanderplatz - Rathaus - Schlossplatz - Unteren Linden Brandenburger Tor - Reichstag - Hauptbahnhof) has been started, although it's not sure whether the line will definitely be built in the near future. In the long run this line might reach Tegel Airport. At Potsdamer Platz a future station for a planned line U3 is also incorporated into the new station complex for regional trains on the new north-south tunnel. This new line would run along Kurfürstendamm (now U15) via Potsdamer Platz and Alexanderplatz to Weißensee in the northeast. After having reached Pankow, line U2 might eventually be extended by one more station to Pankow-Kirche and U7 might be extended from its southern terminus Rudow to Flughafen Schönefeld, which is now projected as Berlin's major airport. The S-Bahn is being extended from Lichterfelde Süd to Teltow Stadt (S25, 2.5km). There are also plans to lay new tracks from Spandau to Falkensee. Ostkreuz station is one of the most highly frequented interchanges in Berlin's public transport network. Around 140,000 people depart, arrive and change here every day. It is now undergoing renovation and redesigning. BERLIN TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT CENTRE Early in 2003, the Berlin Traffic Management Centre (known as VMZ Berlin in Germany) was opened to record and evaluate the traffic situation in Berlin. Specifically, the aim is to produce the integration of all Berlin transport into an efficient city traffic management system. This includes individual and public passenger transportation as well as commercial transportation. The data gathered is used to generate comprehensive traffic information and also aid in the informed management decisions for better public transport in Berlin. The creation and operation of the Traffic Management Centre cost &uro;16 million. Over 50 webcams and over 200 infrared sensors are installed in locations around the city. These feed into the central Traffic Management Centre computer which controls 22 outdoor electronic display units and a network of existing data centres. The Traffic Management Centre infrastructure is the property of the City-State of Berlin but a joint venture between DaimlerChrysler Services AG and Siemens AG (VMZ Berlin GmbH) will operate the VMZ Berlin for ten years. VMZ Berlin will operate in partnership with Berlin transport companies, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) and S-Bahn Berlin GmbH. DaimlerChrysler Services are supplying the webcams.