A Truly Haupt Haiptbahnhof (3)

STOP PRESS - breaking news

And a bit more ...

At least the announcement will allow Solent Blue Line Blue Star GoAhead South Coast to register their replacement services.

Looks a bit like a so-called "pub deal" to avoid any problems with a take-over and the competition authorities.

And, surprise, surprise, the local press is quick to report:-

Well I never, did you ever! What a swell carve-up this is!

Isometric Investigation

Too late to assist No 3 son in his evening exploration, but fbb thought it might be interesting to try to unravel what appears to be a very complex over engineered plan of Munich Hauptbahnhof.

The pink bits are "gesperrt", obviously closed. The separate bit of "zugang" (also, presumably, "ausgang") is actually BELOW the main section and represents the subway access from Stationplatz and the trams.

Interestingly, Goole Translate offers "bullet" for "geschoss" but fbb  suspects the area is not "under the bullet" but a basement level. If we look at a pre-rebuilding version ...

... we can see where escalators and lifts led down to a way out to tram, bus, bike and taxi. The out of date Streetview confirms this.

To understand the north side of the station we need to take a look at the magnificent Nackerbrucke.

This lies at the Western end of the station approach tracks and has an S-Bahn station attached. When the S-Bahn was created, tracks deviated from the original Starnberger platforms and plunged below ground ...

... to run under Arnulfstrasse.

The opportunity was taken to include a lengthy shopping basement here, with exits (reading from west to east), to ...

... Arnulfstrasse, S-Bahn platforms,  more side streets and, eventually ...

... the eastern end of the S-Bahn platforms, the trams and the Underground.

Thanks to a few video stills we can experience a delve into the S-Bahn from a real passenger's point of view. We begin by descending to the Untergeschoss by escalator. (Lifts are available).

We are now in that massive basement access and shopping area and it is wide ...

... and long.

A second escalator takes us down to the platforms.

There is one large island platform ...

... with plenty of seats ...

... something of a rarity in the equivalent UK setting.

There are platforms for both sides of the train ...

... but the far side does not appear to be used under normal circumstances - maybe for very busy times or emergencies?

We are reminded that S-Bahn is DB. i.e. National Rail.

So tomorrow we take a similar look at the U-Bahn Underground platforms.

 Next Hauptbahnhof blog Wednesday 30th November 

A Truly Haupt Hauptbahnhof (2)

Growing And Growing

It was in 1840 that Munich's first railway opened to Augsburg but almost immediately the very basic and effectively temporary station at Marsfeld was too small. The above, more permanent building was constructed roughly where the present station is situated.

It was subsequently extended.

It had a substantial train shed ...

Further extension continued ...

... but, yet again, by 1903 another rebuild was necessary.

This building seemed set for longevity with further extensions being made on the side of the main trainshed.

Two "suburban" stations were added ...

...the larger on the north side servef Starnberg and the southern "annex" being mainly for trains to Holzkirchen.

Both places are now part of the S-Bahn network, at Starnberg ...

... and Holzkirchen.

Holzkirchen is the terminus of line S3 ...

... but the Starnberg Line S6 ...

... has been further extended.

But we rush ahead of ourselves. The S Bahn is, as a brand, something of a newcomer, having been developed from 1972 onwards by improving existing suburban services and linking then via City Centre tunnels.

Back to the 1903 build. The bombing of WW2 put paid to that. Most of the trainshed was destroyed ...

... and the station building was utterly obliterated.

The rebuild took time with a brand new overall roof constructed in the mid to late 1950s.

Its extent can be better sern below.

The substantial Starnberger Bahnhof is seen on the right.

It took till 1960 to create the new station building ...

... which is now being replaced by this:-

It will be great when it's finished!

When number 3 son visited by night he was impressed with the huge mezzanine floor which acts as  route from the main station to trams, U-Bahn and S-Bahn.

The signage was clear, but to a Brit unused to the level of integration and communication ...

... it was scarily empty and somewhat baffling!

Too much information?

To be concluded ...

 Next "concluding" blog : Wednesday 30th November 

A Truly Haupt Hauptbahnhof (1)

Munich's main station is orientated west-east and this is confirmed by Google Earth.

But there is a problem with Streetview. According to No 3 son (who, like all sons, knows everything), Google is banned from doing a full and complete Streetview in Germany because of privacy issues. Apparently, they needed to obtain everyone's permission who appeared on screen. This sort of nonsense does creep in to our modern litigious society, but no one seems to know why private as well as public CCTV proliferates - seeking nobody's permission!

The last view of Munich's streets was in 2008.

So Streetview has gaps in its blue lines ...

... and is well out of date, even where it is complete.

Streetview shows us the impressive main entrance on Stationplatz (surprising road name, eh?) complete with huge clock and gravity defying roof over the taxi area! Impressive, is it not?

Well it is not! Because it has gone! Google Earth shows what might have been a WW2 bomb site, but is actually a big gap left by the demolition of that splendid entrance building.

But fbb needs to step back a little and will return to the "bomb site" in due course/

Readers with a better memory than fbb will recollect the the old man wrote a series of blogs on Munich's transport system as recently at July 2022.

Repeats are a feature of BBC TV but fbb likes to keep them to a minimum. So, by way of a starter, Munich has an excellent tram system with modern low floor three and four segment trams ...

... and oodles of buses.

It has an excellent Underground network (U-Bahn) ...

... with proper sized trains, not the squashed ones on the deep level lines in London. In addition there is an S-Bahn network of outer suburban lines ...

... run by Deutsche Bahn as opposed to the City transport authority for the others.

And, of course, there is just one zonal fares system for the whole lot.

Most "modes" (apart from suburban bus, obviously) meet up at the Hauptbahnhof.

Note, please, Hbf Sud (bottom centre) and Hbf Nord (top centre) being more distanced parts of a complex interchange system.

So what drew fbb back to Munich? You may remember that No 3 son popped over for a one night stand (not that sort!) to attend a meeting with clients and accompanied by his boss, Philip.

According to No 3 son, this should have involved a straightforward S Bahn ride from Airport to City Centre.

Seemples!

And cheap. The Airport is in Zone 5 ...

... and both S1 and S8 would get you to the Hauptbahnhof. A Zone 5 fare would have been 8.80 Euros each.

Philip took a taxi for 100 Euros one way, 50 Euros each - but then he is the boss! 

The splendid Hauptbahnhof station entrance was still there when chummy made his helpful video ...

... but it has definitely gone now!

This is the first thing that baffled No 3 son!

At night!

More tomorrow.

Snippet

Another inaccurate (fake, even) model for Christmas.

And this one os FREE! Well, it is free if you are a member of Oxford Diecast's "Platinum" club-thingey.

Not for fbb - he has little room on the layout for a mass of road vehicles.

Munich Puzzle Picture For fbb

No 3 son likes testing his old man's intellectual acuity, especially now it is beginning to fade a bit. One of the pictures he sent was this.

It arrived several shades darker, presumably snapped without flash! A tweak on the computer brightened the image.

So, thanks to the wonders of modern technology and the interwebnet, a search for 'Munich Obelisk" soon revealed "it" in all its glory.

This is an interesting war memorial, cast from the captured Turkish guns from the Battle of Navarino in 1827, hence the dark colour of the 29-metre tall Obelisk. It is the work German architect Leo von Klenze.

The Obelisk has a decorative base with memorial inscriptions, leafy garlands and ram's heads on each corner. It stands upon a three step base. During summer months, there are beds of flowers around the Obelisk. During the recent visit, the monument stands unadorned in the cold grounds of Karllinenplatz.

 Next Hauptbahnhof blog : Tuesday 29th November