Bitte zurück bleiben...

So it's about time I get back to writing more about the city of Munich (the title of this blog after all!) and about the things here that are notably different from places I've lived in North America.
I'll start with the things that I'll miss the most when I get back home.  Number one, I think, is public transportation!

The network of trains, trams, buses, and subways here is really a prime example of something we should learn from the Europeans, and the Munich system is awesome.  We mainly use the U-Bahn (for Untergrundbahn, or subway) and S-Bahn (for Stadtschnellbahn, often translated as "suburban trains" or "surface trains") but the Trams (electric streetcars) are quiet and smooth and great for seeing the city, and from our current apartment Benjamin takes the public bus to school every day.

An older-model U- Bahn at Marienplatz, the city center.

"Bitte zurück bleiben":
My post title refers to the recurring U-Bahn announcement, just before the doors close at every stop, which translates as "please stay back".  In the new U-bahn trains, the voice is automated, but on all the older trains the driver has to say it each time.  (I'm sure they say it in their sleep... they literally repeat it every minute in the downtown area.)  At the S-Bahn stations, you hear the same phrase announced from the platforms.

The tunnel into the U-Bahn platform at Marienplatz

The U-Bahn lines at Marienplatz are deep:
 below two different levels of S-Bahns.

The timing in the U-Bahn system is great -- I travel with it nearly every day and rarely have to wait more than 3 minutes for an U-Bahn to arrive.

A new U-Bahn in "Münchner Freiheit" station

The new U-Bahn trains are very cool, I find, but so far only about a quarter of the fleet has been replaced with these.  (I find them especially impressive when they are in the ultra-modern looking U-Bahn station just a couple stops north of us; see pictures.)

All the U-bahns here are amazingly fast, apparently the fastest in Germany, at speeds up to 80 km/h.  Mostly the drivers make very smooth stops and starts, but you can definitely feel the accelerations and have to learn to plant your feet right and hold on to something if you don't get a seat (which is often).

Sometimes the trains and platforms get very crowded, especially during rush hour and before and after the incredibly popular soccer games. People often jam themselves into the trains like sardines.  Ugh.  The soccer games are especially bad since public drinking is allowed here, and the fans often have lots beer on them (and in them).  At our subway station, unfortunately on the same line as the soccer arena, you can tell well in advance when there's home game: policemen and security staff line the platforms -- supposedly to keep drunks from falling into the tracks, but apparently also to push them on board...





Whew, that was a lot about U-Bahns, but I guess they're my favorite, at least in terms of speed of getting around.

The Trams are also fabulous.  They're quiet and more relaxed, and it's lovely to look out the windows at the city going by.

The Ostbahnhof (which we used to live beside) is the eastern point at
which all the S-Bahns go underground into the city.

The S-Bahns are very useful for getting a bit outside the city, even to some of the nearby lakes.  They are not run by the city of Munich, but by a subsidiary of the national German railway.  Their schedules mesh very well with all the U-Bahns etc. and they are the main commuter vehicle.

The Ostbahnhof, which is also a regional train station,
has 5 tracks used by S-Bahns.

All the S-Bahn lines run through the center of town on the same tracks, which are underground within the city (and so feel like a somewhat slower subway).   Munich is talking about building a second set of tracks, since during rush hour there is something like one train per minute on those tracks, and if one has problems (which is rare, but happens) then the whole system gets bogged down.

The kids are very comfortable with all the methods of transportation here, and both have their own monthly pass.  Speaking of passes, the system here really seems to run on the honor system.  There are no turnstiles or gates anywhere -- you just walk on an off all trains, trams and buses very easily.  Every so often "controllers" come on board and ask to see your pass or ticket, but incredibly rarely.
How wonderful.

Julia has this whole "fast-train-net-map" memorized...
She can really tell you which U- or S-Bahn to take anywhere in the city.