The Bommersheim Tram Depot

September 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Last week the tram depot in Bommersheim (now used to store trains for the U-Bahn) opened its doors to the public for the first time, to allow a small number of people to take a guided tour.

I was able to join one of the tours, and consider myself very lucky because the restrictions in place meant that not just anyone could take part.

A U-Bahn (U2 type) stands across the points in Bommersheim. The running rails are to the right, the sidings to the left.

A U-Bahn (U2 type) stands across the points in Bommersheim. The running rails are to the right, the sidings to the left.

Click on the photos in this article to enlarge them

Before we started, we were briefed on where and what we could do inside the depot.  The running lines, which link to the depot, were in normal use with trains passing us at close range at about 50kmh.  Inside the engine shed there are pits, used for access to the undercarriages, which posed a danger.  Levers and controls, although not themselves unsafe, were covered with grease that would be difficult to wash out of clothing.

After signing to say that we had understood all of this, the tour could begin. [Read more…]

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Can you get tickets for the next day from ticket machines?

April 23, 2010 By 2 Comments

This is a question I had never really thought about until I was asked it – can you get tickets for the next day from the ticket machines for the trains in Germany?

I think the simplest answer is: “not normally, but it depends on the type of machine”.

Sounds confusing?  I didn’t think it was going to be, until I started looking at the ticket machines in our area a bit closer.

The one that I use most often is for the U-Bahn – the train to Frankfurt.  Here the answer is most definitely “no”.  You can buy tickets for groups and for the whole day, even the so-called “Hessenticket”, but only for the current day.

A ticket machine - this one was out of order

One of the local ticket machines - the destination code is entered using the numeric keypad

However just round the corner is a similar machine for the bus stop.  Strangely, this one has different options, including one to buy a ticket for the whole week, meaning 7 days starting on the day of purchase.  Some machines of this sort even allow you to buy a card that lasts a month, but again starting to day.   In the RMV area a “month” is considered to be until the day in the following month with the same number, so a monthly ticket that starts on 23rd April is valid until and including 23rd May.

And yet, the only machine I know here where I can actually buy a ticket for a future date is at the main station for main-line trains.

Thankfully there are two other ways to buy your local train tickets in advance.  One is via the online ticket shop – assuming that there is enough time for it to arrive by post.  The other, perhaps simpler, is to go to a local agent who can issue tickets for the different zones for the date of your choice.

This not only saves finding the change for the machine, but if you are unsure about which tarif or zones you need, there is someone there to help you as well!

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Wo ist die längste Wendeltreppe in London?

March 23, 2010 By 3 Comments

“Wo ist die längste Wendeltreppe in London?” Das hat uns tatsächlich jemand gefragt und ich werde die Frage so gut ich kann beantworten.

Ich habe drei sehr lange Wendeltreppen gefunden. Sie befinden sich in U-Bahnschächten und in einer Sehenswürdigkeit.

Auf der Piccadilly Line ist die kürzeste Strecke in  London, zwischen Leicester Square und Covent Garden. Sie beträgt nur etwa 260 Meter und man ist in nur 45 Sekunden am nächsten Bahnhof. Die Wendeltreppe ist im Bahnhof Covent Garden und man sollte sich gut überlegen ob man die Treppen hinaufsteigen möchte oder ob man doch lieber den Aufzug nimmt.  Denn es wären dann 193 Stufen zu bewältigen. Das entspricht ungefähr 15 Etagen.

In London Hampstead befindet sich auf der Northern Line die Hampstead Tube Station, die mit ihrer Wendeltreppe schon etwas zu bieten hat: nämlich auf 192 Fuß, bzw. 58,5 Meter sind ca. 320 Stufen.

Die Wendeltreppen sind nicht als der normale Weg gedacht, sondern als Notausgang und es ist nicht unbedingt zu empfehlen den Treppenweg zu nutzen.

Wenn man aber doch einmal sehr viele Stufen hinaufsteigen möchte, kann man dies im Londoner Monument tun, es hat in seinem Turm, der 61 Meter hoch ist, 311 Stufen. Wenn man oben gewesen ist bekommt man nach dem Abstieg eine Urkunde darüber, dass man die vielen Stufen geschafft hat. Auf der Urkunde befinden sich außerdem noch ein paar Informationen über das Monument.

Ob das nun die längste Wendeltreppen sind kann ich nicht definitiv sagen, aber für mich wären sie lang genug!

Filed Under: All Things British, London Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

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