Odds 'n Ends

There is something wrong with the UK's approach to transport infrastructure. We cut too much of the railway network under Dr Beeching, have failed to electrify it, then have dithered for decades over really important projects like London's CrossRail. I always find it refreshing to see a more strategic approach in Germany or France.

Munich started its U-Bahn around the time of the 1972 Olympics and has invested steadily in expanding the network since then. Unlike London's deeper underground lines which seem to be designed for dwarves, the U-Bahn trains are wide (probably slightly wider than those on the Circle, District and Metropolitan lines) with plenty of headroom for tall people.

On my trip this week I was impressed at the design of some stations. On the U-Bahn map two lines are showing as crossing over but in the intersection station the lines come into the station in parallel. Such stations like Innsbrucker Ring have 4 platforms in parallel.

I noticed that in the rushhour, the trains were synchronised to allow passengers to change line. The way it worked is shown in the following photos:

In this example the eastbound U5 train arrives in the station.

Before the U5 train has stopped completely, the U2 eastbound train arrives in the station.

A fair number of passengers change trains. The trains leave with a separation of about 30 seconds. In rush hour both lines operated one train every 3-4 minutes.

The pictures above show the older style of train with distict coaches - up to 6 per train.

However the more modern trains have a concertina between each coach meaning that the six coach train appears as one continuous space as shown above.

This week I visited the Electronica trade show in Munich; Europe's largest in this industry branch. The trade fair centre - Neue Messe Muenchen - was under construction in the late 1990s before I moved back to the UK, however I have never taken a look at it. In my decade in Germany I often represented my company at Electronica. In those days however the trade show as at the old fairground to the west of the Theresienwiese.

The Messestadt is well served by public transport with two U-bahn (underground) stations and plenty of bus connections.

There is an entrance building at both east and west ends of the centre. The photo above shows the west entrance.

The exhibition halls are in three rows (A, B & C) with a large green space between each row of halls. On the first day it was pleasant enough to sit outside, but on my second day there was constant rainfall. The photo above looks towards the end of the B row with the A row out of view on the right.

Most exhibition halls are 161 metres long and 71 metres wide and have extensive spaces in between presumably for vehicles when setting up and tearing down exhibition stands.

Inside the halls have a vast volume.

I only stuck to row A at Electronica but that row alone accomodated a huge number of stands.

It is decades since I visited South Wales and Mrs O has never been there. This is a shame as it is only 3 hours drive away. We booked a weekend in Monmouth staying at a B & B above the Bistro Prego. I had expected tow ork a full Friday but since I am no longer working we were able to get away early.

We crossed the older Severn Bridge and then drove up the Wye Valley from Chepstow. This is all new for me and the trees on the east side of the valley were lit by the fading sun. When we got to Tintern, the sun was aready behind the hills to the west.

Nevertheless the abbey rin looked great with the backdrop of sunlit trees in their autumn glory.

Monmouth is at the junction of the Wye and the Monnow rivers. We made our way to Prego which is very close to the centre of town.

It is in the narrow street in the photo above which is for pedestrians only. The Prego B & B is small and reasonably priced with about £40 for single occupancy and £60 for double. The room was simple but comfortable. We headed out for a curry, which tasted good but the service was less than friendly. We decided we would try the Prego restaurant the following evening.

At the foot of the main street there is the bridge over the Monnow. It was built in the 1270s and is the only surviving old bridge with a town gate on it. I have seen many pictures of bridges like this in history books but it was good to see one for real.

On the whole I thought that the town was very pleasant. The shopfront signs on the main street were noticably subdued compared with the typical high street. There were lots of buildings a few hundred years old with lovely high ceilings. A fair number of the older buildings had 4 storeys.

I knew nothing about the town until last weekend, but was pleasantly surprised and would not mind going there again.