- Fare and where to buy tickets
- Metro lines
- Working hours
- History
- Peculiarities
The transport network, which is usually called the Cologne metro, is actually not even a light metro: it is a real, classic metro. This type of transport is also often called the "underground tram", but in fact only part of its tracks passes underground. Strictly speaking, metro tram is one of the types of tram. In other words, the Cologne metro is essentially a high-speed tram.
How, from the passenger's point of view, is this rather unusual transport different from a regular subway? What are its advantages and disadvantages in comparison with the usual metro? We can say with certainty about the Cologne metro (as we in this text, after the Cologne people, will call the metrotram): it is in no way inferior to many "classic" metros on the planet. By the way, some of its sections, even purely visually, are very similar to a regular metro.
This transport is comfortable, safe, fast and covers almost all areas of the old German city.
Fare and where to buy tickets
Tickets are purchased, as in many metro systems in the world, at the entrances to the station, at ticket offices or vending machines. You can purchase a ticket from the bus driver or online. It is important not to forget to validate the purchased ticket in the carriage. However, tickets purchased from vending machines, as a rule, have already been validated; their validity period begins at the time of purchase. The only exception is a set of four tickets: even if you bought it from the machine, the tickets still need to be validated.
As a matter of fact, there is no special metro ticket in Cologne. Any ticket purchased is suitable for all types of public transport. The fare system in Cologne is quite complex, there are many types of travel documents, but a tourist does not have to understand all the details of this system. It is enough to know the basic types of travel documents. There are several of them:
- disposable for short distances;
- disposable with the possibility of transplantation;
- set of four tickets;
- travel card valid until three o'clock in the morning of the next day;
- travel card for a day;
- travel pass for five days;
- travel card for a week;
- travel card for a month.
A one-time ticket for short distances is the cheapest of the listed ones. It costs just under three euros. A monthly pass (the most expensive on the list) costs over ninety euros.
Children under the age of five can use the metro for free. There is a special fare for children between the ages of six and fourteen: tickets are sold at significantly reduced prices.
Metro lines
The Cologne metro (more precisely, in the Cologne metro system) has twelve branches. Their total length is approximately one hundred and ninety-five kilometers. There are two hundred thirty-three stations on them (only thirty-eight of them are underground). This huge transport system covers almost the entire city and also connects it to Bonn.
The scheme of the Cologne metro is somewhat reminiscent of the map of the Moscow metro. Only instead of the circular line, the Cologne metro system has a half-ring.
On three lines, not only trams are used, but also freight trains. Two of these branches connect the city to Bonn. These lines are operated by two transport organizations at once - Cologne and Bonn.
All branches are divided into five groups, indicated by the following five colors:
- pink;
- Gray;
- Red;
- blue;
- light green.
The sections of the branches located in the city center are underground, and on the city outskirts the paths run along the surface. That part of the Cologne metro, which is located underground, visually very much resembles an ordinary, classic metro. But pantographs rise above the roofs of the carriages, which cannot be seen in an ordinary subway. The floor height on different branches is not the same, this is especially noticeable where cross-platform transplants operate. Sometimes passengers need to climb several steps to enter the car, and sometimes the entrance is directly accessible from the platform level. However, all interchange hubs also for the most part look the same as in a regular metro.
The Cologne metro system previously used conventional trams, but in the 2000s they were finally decommissioned and replaced by high-speed ones. The new carriages are slightly lower than the carriages of the old trams. Their length is thirty meters, width is about two and a half meters, and the capacity is seventy people. The maximum speed that the new trains can reach is eighty kilometers per hour.
There are plans for the further development of the metro and the extension of the lines. Construction work is underway.
The metro's annual passenger traffic is almost two hundred and eleven million people. The daily passenger traffic is approximately five hundred seventy-eight thousand people.
Working hours
High-speed trams start running at five o'clock in the morning and stop at about midnight. The time interval between trams is approximately two minutes.
History
The history of the Cologne metro begins in the 70s of the 19th century. It was then that the horse tram appeared in the city - a tram drawn by horses and driven by horse traction. This transport quickly became very popular in the city. Several companies have appeared that are engaged in such passenger transportation. Soon these companies formed a single network.
By the beginning of the 20th century, there was a need for the electrification of tram lines in the city. But the companies that owned the horses were completely uninterested in this. For this reason, the city bought tram lines from them. At the beginning of the 20th century, electric trams appeared in the city. New lines were built to the suburbs; however, these branches were more like railways.
In the 40s of the XX century, during the hostilities, the city center was completely destroyed. Tram lines were also destroyed. In the post-war years, some of them were restored. At that time, the number of cars in the city increased dramatically. This was one of the reasons for the construction of the first tram tunnel: it was supposed to improve the transport situation in the city, where traffic became more and more difficult.
The construction of the tunnel was progressing rather slowly. The reason was the intervention of archaeologists, who considered it necessary to carry out excavations at the construction site. The fact is that in one of the oldest German cities, especially in its center, the land hides many secrets of the past - for example, the remains of a medieval fortress.
Peculiarities
The Cologne metro system actually forms a single network with the city electric train system - they function together. At first glance, the diagram of their lines looks rather confusing: it is not easy for an unprepared tourist to understand it. Therefore, it is better to study this map in advance, before the trip, in a relaxed atmosphere, in order to then feel confident in the Cologne city transport.
All stations of the Cologne metro are equipped with special lifts for those passengers whose possibilities are limited.
Official website: www.kvb.koeln
