- Fare and where to buy tickets
- Metro lines
- Working hours
- History
- Peculiarities
The metro of each major city has its own characteristic features. Sometimes this transport system can be quite different from what we used to call the subway. Sometimes it combines several types of transport systems at once. One example of such a combination is the Frankfurt am Main metro (which is often also referred to simply as Frankfurt). In this city, the metro consists of metro lines and metro tram lines ("underground tram"), connected into a single network.
The creators of this rather unusual transport system did not strive to do something original, they just wanted to solve the transport problems of the city. And they succeeded. The Frankfurt metro fully satisfies the needs of a big city, it is one of the most convenient modes of transport in it. For travelers looking to explore the city and visit all of its tourist attractions, there is no better way to do this than by buying a metro ticket. Its lines not only allow you to quickly get from almost any outskirts of the city to its center (and vice versa), but also make it possible to visit nearby towns: the metro connects them with Frankfurt.
Fare and where to buy tickets
The system of tariffs for Frankfurt transport (including the metro) seems very complicated to many tourists at first. There are about forty different types of tickets, and the city is divided into seven transport zones. Even the city center is divided into several such zones (that is, it is not a single zone). The cost of a ticket depends on many factors: it matters what station you go to, where your journey begins, which route you choose, whether you make transfers, whether you travel alone … It's really hard to figure this out, although those who are accustomed to this system tariffs, consider it very simple and convenient. However, the tourist does not need to delve into all the subtleties of this system. It is enough to know that there are several basic types of tickets, as well as how to use them and what their cost.
For example, here are several types of travel documents that may be useful to a tourist:
- a ticket for one trip (the starting and ending points of which are in the central zone);
- short trip ticket;
- a day ticket for one person;
- a day ticket for a group of passengers;
- weekly ticket;
- a ticket for a month.
A single trip ticket costs just under three euros if the starting point and destination of this trip are located in the central transport zone. A short trip pass (no more than two kilometers) costs a little less than two euros. A one-day ticket (per passenger) can be bought for about seven euros. The same travel card for a group of people costs about eleven euros. It should be noted that there should be no more than five people in a group.
A weekly ticket costs about twenty-five euros. The price of a monthly pass is approximately eighty-five euros. There is also a one-year pass that costs almost nine hundred euros, but there is usually no reason for tourists to purchase this ticket, as their stay in the city is usually limited to shorter periods.
Metro passes can also be used on other types of Frankfurt transport. Just remember to compost them or you will have to pay a fine. They also take it from free riders. There are no turnstiles in the metro, but controllers work in it.
You can buy passes, as in other cities of the world, at the ticket offices or vending machines. The latter are usually installed in the metro, as well as at all major public transport stops and train stations. There are two types of vending machines: new (with touch screens) and old (analog). You can choose any of them. You can also purchase the pass using your smartphone, but first you need to download the appropriate software.
Metro lines
The Frankfurt metro system currently has nine lines. Four of them are metro tram lines (or "underground tram", as it is sometimes called). The other five lines are a real, classic metro.
The total length of the tracks is approximately sixty-five kilometers. Of the eighty-six operating stations, only twenty-seven are underground (that is, less than a third of the total).
All branches are divided into four groups, indicated on the diagram by the first four letters of the Latin alphabet. The branches connect to the lines of their group in the underground sections of the transport system in the city center, from there all branches lead to the city outskirts. Some lines even connect the city to nearby towns. Intercity sections of the transport system are land-based.
The branches of that part of the metro, which is, in fact, an "underground tram", in fact, in many sections pass along city streets (on the surface, not underground). Two stations are even located so that passengers leave the cars directly onto the carriageway on which cars are moving.
In the Frankfurt Metro, both metro cars and conventional tram cars are used. Moreover, metro cars can be seen not only on the lines of the "subway", but also on some branches of the metro tram (where they are used along with tram cars). The gauge is standard for European railways.
The daily passenger traffic is about three and a half thousand people. The transport system carries about one hundred and twenty million passengers per year.
Working hours
The metro opens at a fairly early time - at half past six in the morning. Passengers can use its services until approximately midnight. The driving interval is usually about five minutes. During peak hours, it is reduced to two and a half minutes.
History
The first metro stations opened in the late 1960s. It was not an "underground tram" (it appeared later), but a subway. Later, the branches were completed and lengthened. Some stations were commissioned only a few years ago (in the 21st century).
The Metro (as part of the Frankfurt metro) received its first passengers in the mid-70s of the XX century - the opening of those sections that are now included in Group B (one of four groups into which all lines of the Frankfurt metro are divided) … The branches of the "C" group, which also unites several lines of the "underground tram", were opened at the end of the 20th century (in the 80s and 90s).
Peculiarities
Train doors do not open automatically, but after pressing one of the buttons located to the right and left of the doors. Let us emphasize that these buttons are not located on the doors (as, for example, on the MCC), but next to them. The rejection of the automatic door opening system makes it possible to save energy, therefore, in many metro systems of the world, the doors are opened only after the passenger presses a special button.
Some stations have a rather unusual design. For example, the entrance to one of the stations is built in the form of a tram, which from somewhere in the bowels of the earth makes its way to the surface or, conversely, tries to break into the depths of the earth.
Link to the official website: www.vgf-ffm.de
Frankfurt am Main metro
