Munich U-Bahn Information
Many people wonder what ‘U-Bahn’ stands for. Well, it simply means underground railway. The Munich U-Bahn in particular, is an integrated system of networks that serves the city of Munich in Germany. It operates on 8 lines, serving a 96 stations in total. An extremely popular means of public transportation it has an astounding annual ridership of nearly 400 billion (2014). The responsibility of this 103 km long metro network lies with Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft.
Munich U-Bahn Map
Map of Munich U-Bahn showing various routes and stations is below. Click on the map to enlarge it.
Munich U-Bahn Timings, Frequency and Schedule
The U-Bahn operates from around 04:30 am in the morning and runs till nearly 01:30 am. However, for more accurate timings you can check the official website which gives detailed information, stop/line wise. The frequency of the trains vary from 5 minutes during peak hours, with a maximum frequency of nearly 20 minutes during the wee hours of the night.
Munich U-Bahn Fare, Pass and Ticket
The fares depend on the distance travelled and are zone based. A 1 zone ticket costs 2.70 €, while a 2 zone and 3 zone ticket costs 5.40 € and 8.10 € respectively. A ticket for 4 or more zones costs 10.80 €. Children ticket (aged 6-14 years) regardless of the zones travelled, costs 1.30 €.
Riders can purchase single day tickets for 1 day or 3 days. The price of this ticket varies with the age group one is looking at. The 1 day ticket allows multiple journeys on the selected day till 6:00 am the following day. Similarly a 3 day ticket can be used for unlimited travel for three consecutive nights, till 6:00 am the fourth day. A 1 day ticket for the white zone costs 6.40 €, while the 1 day ticket that is valid for all the zones costs 12.40€. A 3 day ticket costs 16.00€, it is valid in only the white zone.. Group day tickets can be purchased for unlimited travel on one and three days. The price is 12.20 € and 28.20 € respectively for one and three days.
A children’s day card valid for the entire network can be used for any number of trips on the selected day to 6:00 am, the following day. The card costs 3.00€.
Travelers can also purchase single city tour cards. These are valid for a single person aged 15 years and above and can be purchased for 1, 3 and 4 days. These are valid on all public transport and also provide discounts on certain tourist attractions. A one day card costs 10.90 €, while three day and four day card costs 20.90 € and 25.90 € respectively.
Children under the age of 6 years travel free.
For more information on the types of tickets available, along with a fare chart you can visit the following two links: http://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/tickets-fares/fares/index.html
http://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/tickets-fares/tickets/index.html
Note: The fares differ according to the age of the passengers, as there are different set of fares for different age groups. Also, there is a Stripe ticket also available for which the fares aren’t mentioned in this article.
Munich U-Bahn Parking
There are a number of parking lots available at each metro station. Direct parking facilities are very rare, and some stations offer parking facilities for more than 570 cars. The parking space is well marked and easy to find.
Munich U-Bahn Rules and Tips
Transit of small pets is allowed for free. For additional pets, child fares apply, if not travelling in a carrier. Bikes are allowed on U-Bahn for a fee of 2.60 €. However, these are not allowed during peak hours on weekdays, from 6:00 am to 9:00 am and 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. The tickets can be inspected any time and need to be validated at the ticket gates on the platforms. A penalty of 40 € is levied, if caught travelling without a valid ticket. The metro stations also provide parking facilities.
Munich U-Bahn Safety and Other Services
The Munich metro is considered to be one of the safest means of public transportation in Germany and there is a reason why. The trains and stations have some of the most modern facilities to cater to the safety of people. For the trains there is an emergency brake installed in each of them, while the stations have something called as an emergency stop. The function of both these facilities is for the stopping of trains in case of an emergency of some sort. In addition, almost all the stations are equipped with defibrillators. As a precautionary measure to cater to fires, fire extinguishers are placed in a number of places.
Some of the other services that they provide its passengers are, a storage compartment to cater to people’s luggage and a lost and found department to help those people who lost their valuables while travelling the metro system.
For more information on the safety measures, you can visit the official website at: https://www.mvg.de/en/safety.html
Munich U-Bahn Lines
Munich U-Bahn Metro network is more than 100 km long on which the trains operate at a speed of 35.6km/hr.. Currently, Munich U-Bahn consists of 8 lines serving 96 stations in total.
● Munich U-Bahn Line U1 – The U1 metro trains runs between Olympia and Einkaufszentrum and the line operate underground. It started operating along with U2 in the beginning, and now it operates on a separate line. The line spans 12.2 km long and merges into the U2 track at Munchen Hauptbahnhof. The colour used to represent U1 is green.
● Munich U-Bahn Line U2 – The underground route U2 runs between the route of the north of Feldmoching and Messestadt Ost. The route U2 has undergone so many changes that it was first called U8. This is the only line that runs through all three line families. The length of this route is 24.4 km and red is its line colour.
● Munich U-Bahn Line U3 – On the U3 line, the metro runs between Moosach and Furstenried West. The construction of the line was speeded up when the city hosted Olympic Summer Games in 1972. In 2010, U3 line was extended from Olympia Einkaufszentrum to Moosach. Currently, it spans around 25 km in length and is represented by the colour orange.
● Munich U-Bahn Line U4 – The U4 line runs between Westendstrabe and Arabellapark. The line is only 9.3km long, serving 13 stations in total. This is the only line that operates with 2 or 3 train set. During the evening from 21.00 hours, U4 line operates between Max-Weber-Platz and Arabellapark and further gets transferred to U5 heading towards the west. The smallest of all the lines on the Munich U-Bahn, it is represented by the colour mint green.
● Munich U-Bahn Line U5 – The U5 line operates between Laimer Platz and Neuperlach Sud. It spans over 15 km long in length and uses the colour brown as its line colour. After reaching Westendstrabe, it shares the track with U4 heading towards Max-Weber-Platz.
● Munich U-Bahn Line U6 – The line U6 operates between Garching- Forschungszentrum and Klinikum Grobhadern. This is the oldest tunnel built line with a length of 27.4 km. There are a couple of extension plans with regard to this line and currently, it is represented by the colour blue.
● Munich U-Bahn Line U7 – The line U7 runs between Westfriedhof and Neuperlach Zentrum. This line was opened in December 2011.
● Munich U-Bahn Line U8- The most recent addition to the Munich U-Bahn, line U8 began operations in the month of December 2013. It operates between Olympiazentrum and Sendlinger Tor.