Copenhagen (CNN) — In Copenhagen, visitors is often brought on by the two-wheel number of transportation: the bicycle.
Ever since bicycles have been imported into Denmark from France in 1869, they’ve change into the primary type of transportation within the Scandinavian metropolis. Within the Twenties, it wasn’t uncommon to see each the working class in addition to excessive society pedaling by means of the streets. However with the opening of the Metro’s new M3 Cityring line, commuters have a brand new means of getting round.
Whereas Copenhagen’s Metro has all the time been moderately environment friendly, many neighborhoods lacked stations, and thus, accessibility.
Larger accessibility
The round line has 17 new stops, practically doubling the variety of current stations.
DA MARIE ODGAARD/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
Cityring, a 15.5-kilometer (roughly 9.63 miles) round line with 17 new stops — which practically doubles the variety of current stations — now connects outlying neighborhoods that radiate removed from the town middle. Residents will not have to depend on their bikes to get round, a boon particularly throughout Copenhagen’s hygge-inducing winters.
The impetus for the challenge was twofold, in response to Henrik Ploughmann Olsen, CEO of Copenhagen Metro. “To begin with, it was a query of bettering public transport, making it extra environment friendly and of higher high quality,” he mentioned. “But it surely was additionally about metropolis improvement in different areas exterior of the town middle.”
Courtesy The Copenhagen Metro
Public squares have been constructed, with 150 benches and 800 timber, have been put in across the 17 new stations. The plazas not solely enable entry to the Metro, however will hopefully encourage extra commerce and housing.
“We see that it attracts outlets but additionally workplaces and service-oriented companies,” mentioned Olsen.
Constructing the road was not with out its challenges.
Olsen acknowledged that the eight years of building impeded visitors and customarily disrupted folks’s every day lives. “We had the equipment proper exterior folks’s home windows for fairly a considerable variety of years,” he mentioned.
Glass and light-weight are key design parts, and stations have been designed to combine with their environment.
Reginaldo Gross sales/Metro Firm
Technical points additionally challenged tunnel designers. They needed to construct round older constructions with shaky foundations, such because the historic Frederik’s Church, a.okay.a. Marble Church, on the Marmorkirken station.
Controlling groundwater was additionally crucial throughout building.
“A variety of the homes within the inside a part of the outdated metropolis middle are literally based on wood piles from the seventeenth century or 18th century,” defined Olsen, “If you happen to take away the groundwater from these piles, they will rot.”
As well as, builders needed to deftly maneuver round current Metro tunnels–but Olsen proudly notes the extension was accomplished with out inflicting any shutdowns to the present system.
Shiny, new rails
The brand new M3 line permits Copenhagen to compete on a world stage.
Reginaldo Gross sales/Metro Firm
The road itself is a factor of magnificence; modern and gleaming like a seal shimmying by means of water, this shiny new rail line is runs routinely with none conductors.
The system operates 24 hours a day, twelve months a 12 months — a uncommon service supplied by solely a small handful of cities worldwide, together with New York Metropolis, Chicago, and Melbourne — and a full rotation across the line takes 24 minutes. Common velocity is about 40 kilometers per hour (roughly 25 miles per hour) however when a practice hits prime velocity, it will probably cruise at 90 kilometer an hour (55 miles per hour).
Not like older stations, all the brand new stops are outfitted with two elevators as an alternative of 1 and the incline of stairs was lowered to make going up and down flights much less taxing. For right this moment’s iTouch tradition, screens by ticket machines provide riders with route info and maps.
Not simply straightforward on the trip, Cityring’s stations are straightforward on the eyes.
Glass and light-weight are key design parts and stations have been designed to combine with their environment. On the Frederiksberg Allé station, for instance, the inexperienced inside colour scheme is a segue to the out of doors park that greets riders after they attain road stage.
Cleanliness and effectivity are two tenets of the Metro system. Income generated from ticket gross sales is reinvested into upkeep, and quarterly surveys of passengers give Metro operators path on what’s working, what’s not and the place they should direct funds.
Bike-friendly
The Cityring would not wish to compete with bikes, however as an alternative combine itself into current transportation infrastructure. “Metro really helps the ideas of the having bikes being both final mile or first mile mode of transportation, so you would use it together,” mentioned Olsen.
Bikes are allowed on the Metro throughout non-rush hours, and cellars at each station present storage for the two-wheeled autos when not in use. Screens at exit factors announce close by bus and practice departures for simple connections.
This shiny new rail line is conductor-less and runs routinely.
Reginaldo Gross sales/Metro Firm
Whereas these options have residents excited concerning the new system, Olsen believes “a very powerful factor is that you do not have to search for agenda,” he mentioned. “You’ll be able to simply undergo the station and there will be a practice proper after.” To him, freedom from the shackles of a schedule exemplifies the benefit of utilizing the Metro.
The brand new M3 line — and the enlargement of the Metro usually — not solely providers the town internally, however permits Copenhagen to compete on a world stage. Citing Hamburg, Germany, and Stockholm, Sweden as close by rivals, Olsen hopes to draw each companies and vacationers to Copenhagen by way of alternatives offered by the Metro.
With the opening of the M3 Cityring, ridership is anticipated to rise from 65 million to 122 million by 2020, and two extensions to the present M4 line are resulting from open over the subsequent 5 12 months.
Whereas projections are formidable, Olsen’s definition of success is extra modest.
“The much less folks have to consider us, the higher,” he mentioned. “So in case you can simply depend on us and do not must suppose a lot about utilizing the Metro, as a result of it is simple to make use of and you do not have to plan your journey, then I assume we’re a hit.”
