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.
kevinwilson
good post - i have used underground systems in america, too, and they are also so much better than in london. your picture shows what london should really be like, but sadly, london's was built so long ago, and i doubt we will ever have the money to plan a new system from scratch.