Passengers of the Munich Transport Company (MVG) will soon have to cope with additional restrictions and significantly longer travel times. After 2020 and 2022, the much-used underground lines U3 and U6 will be interrupted for a longer period of time this year due to construction work. Because switches at Sendlinger Tor have to be replaced, no underground operation is possible between June 12 and July 30 between Sendlinger Tor and Goetheplatz.
The two lines are each divided into a north and a south branch. During the construction period, the U3 will run every ten minutes between Moosach and Odeonsplatz and between Fürstenried West and Goetheplatz. The U6 runs between Garching-Forschungszentrum or Fröttmaning and Odeonsplatz every five minutes during peak hours, otherwise every ten minutes. On the southern branch, the U6 only runs between Klinikum Großhadern and Implerstraße. A ten-minute cycle applies here.
Only one shuttle train can run every ten minutes between Odeonsplatz and Sendlinger Tor, as there is only one track available in this section. The MVG is setting up four replacement bus lines for this. The U3 bus line connects the Sendlinger Tor underground station with Goetheplatz. Line X3 runs between Hauptbahnhof Süd and Goetheplatz.
The U6 bus line runs as a ring line on the route Sendlinger Tor – Goetheplatz – Poccistraße – Implerstraße – Tumblingerstraße – Goetheplatz and Sendlinger Tor. Line X6 runs as a ring line on the line route Hauptbahnhof Süd – Goetheplatz – Poccistraße – Implerstraße – Tumblingerstraße – Goetheplatz – Hauptbahnhof Süd.
The buses X3 and X6 create an additional connection to the main station. Passengers can avoid the Sendlinger Tor – Marienplatz – Odeonsplatz shuttle train by switching to the U4 or U5 in the direction of Odeonsplatz or the S-Bahn in the direction of Marienplatz.
Because of the replacement buses 15 minutes longer travel time
For the passengers, the journey time is extended by about 15 minutes by using the replacement buses. Because buses can get stuck in traffic on the 800-meter-long section of Lindwurmstraße between Goetheplatz and Sendlinger-Tor-Platz due to the construction site there, it can be a good alternative to walk the distance, which takes about ten minutes to accomplish.
The fact that the two lines have to be interrupted again this year is due to the age of the infrastructure, which urgently needs to be replaced after more than 50 years. According to the MVG, individual repairs no longer help here and are too expensive in the long run.
That’s why everything has to be removed and replaced with new material: three points and the associated track crossings, rails and sleepers as well as around 600 tons of ballast. In addition, around two kilometers of busbars will be renewed. The public utilities also want to use the closure for an electrotechnical renovation between Odeonsplatz and Goetheplatz and renew the facades on the Goetheplatz and Marienplatz platforms.
The conversion of the Sendlinger Tor underground station, which has been going on for more than six years, is currently scheduled to be completed in autumn of this year.