Newstead Underground

Newstead Underground
Newesteader undergrundbanen (Borish)

Overview
Owner	City of Newstead
Locale	Newstead, Borland
Transit type	Rapid transit
Number of lines	4
Line number	U1, U2, U3, U4
Number of stations	111
Daily ridership	c. 1.3 million (weekdays)
Annual ridership	c. 465 million
Website	www.nst.bo/undergrund
Operation
Began operation	1948
Operator(s)	Newstead City Transit (NST)
Character	fully grade-separated, partially underground
Train length	28–112 metres
Technical
System length	c. 95 km
No. of tracks	2–3
Track gauge	1,500 mm (standard gauge)
Electrification	750 V DC overhead line
Top speed	100 km/h
System map

The Newstead Underground (Borish: Newesteader undergrundbanen) is a rapid transit system in Newstead. It is the largest rail rapid transit system in Borland and the only one which is fully grade-separated. The network consists of four lines and has 111 stations over 95 kilometres.

After opening for tests in 1948, the first section opened for regular passengers on the 3rd of December 1949.

Name

The Newstead Underground is referred to by a variety of names. Official texts use “Newstead Underground” in Estmerish and Newesteader undergrundbanen (“Newsteadʼs underground railways”) in Borish. Colloquially, Borish speakers generally refer to it as metro ([ˈmɛt.ɾo]) “metro” or bane ([ˈbɑːnə]) “train”, whilst Estmerish speakers use “underground” or “metro”. Sometimes, the underground is referred to as T-bane (short for tunnelbanen) or U-bane (short for undergrundbanen and a calque of the Weranian U-Bahn).

History

The first calls for the construction of a rapid transit system in Newstead date back to the 1900s, as the city had grown a lot during the industrial revolution and congestion had become a serious problem. Planning began in 1921, but was put on halt due to the outbreak of the Great War. Due to post-war reconstruction and the independence process, planning did not resume until 1938. According to the 1940 plan, the metro system would consist of five to six lines, although the plan was changed after construction had begun.

In 1942, construction on the first section of the Newstead Underground began. On 11 July 1948, the line from Independence (now: Raadshous) to the Zoological Garden was inaugurated, although it only operated experimentally until 3 December 1949, when regular passenger service on the ten stations between Willemsplat and the Zoological Garden started. Early the following year, on 1 January 1950, the second line opened between Westgate (now: New World) and University, running parallel to the Willemsplat–Zoo line between Independence and University. The Willemsplat–Zoo line was known as A, while the Westgate–University line was known as B. By 1958, line A had been extended to its current termini: Spandaw to the west and Teltaw to the east. The below-ground station at the Zoological Garden was closed and replaced with an above-ground station at the Botanical Garden nearby.

Network

Lines

There are four lines on the Newstead underground, numbered U1–U4.

Line		Stations	From	To	Route	First opened	Last extension
U1		30	Spandaw	Teltaw	Spandaw–Aldenspandaw–Steanfeld–Langenfeld–Lange Strate–Raadshous–Centralstatië–Universitÿt–Botanisker Garden–Rÿkshall–Aldenteltaw–Teltaw	1949	1958
U2		31	Boilen	Treckum	Boilen–Lewenkaster–Gravord–Yoorland–Universitÿt–Ostende–Hewmarket–Newe Werlde–Westende–Lindenstrate–Treckum	1958	1973
U2		26	Boilen	Centralstatië	Boilen–Lewenkaster–Gravord–Yoorland–Universitÿt–Ostende–Hoghstrate–Kerkenstrate–Centralstatië	1958	1964
U3		37	Neweham	Ÿsey	Neweham–Kaldehous–Yestmaar Market–Ost-Ring–Universitÿt–Centralstatië–Raadshous–West-Ring–Newe Werlde–Suiþ-Ring–Stadenhalle–Steanburg–Yestmaar Market–Bringe–Aarenhous–Ÿsey	1950	1969
U4		27	Holpen	Lindenstrate	Holpen–Aldet Þorp–Hayen–Yoorland–Hërden–Norþende–Centralstatië–Kerkenstrate–Hoghstrate–Krossstrate–Newe Werlde–Westende–Lindenstrate	1961	1978
U4		26	Holpen	Stadenpark	Holpen–Aldet Þorp–Hayen–Yoorland–Hërden–Norþende–Centralstatië–Kerkenstrate–Hoghstrate–Krossstrate–Hewmarket–Stadenpark	1961	1978

Future expansions

Line		New stations	From	To	Route	Planned opening
U2		5	Centralstatië	Ranswater	Centralstatië–Norþstrate–Koningsplat–Gradenstrate–Teghenstrate–Ranswater Centrum–Ranswater	2023
U4		2	Stadenpark	Stadenhalle	Stadenpark–Middelstrate–Newemarket–Newemarketstrate–Stadenhalle	2023
U4		3	Treckum	Rÿkesfeld	Treckum–Treckum Centrum–Anstrate–Rÿkesfeld	2030?

Stations

There are 111 stations on the Newstead underground. Of these, all but twelve stations are below-ground.

Besides stations that are currently under construction for the extensions to the U2 and U4, there is only one station that no longer gets regular passenger service: Zoological Garden (Zoologisker Garden). The station was opened in 1948 and was part of the original ten-station line, but closed in 1958, with the opening of line A (now U1) to Rixhall and Teltaw. Advertisements, maps and schedules from 1958 remained ever since and the station has been used as a filming location on several occasions. Dozens of times a day, trains entering or leaving service at the nearby depot pass through the station, although the station is not part of passenger services with the exception of some special services that start at the Zoo station and run onto mainline railway tracks to destinations outside the city.

Rolling stock

The earliest model of rolling stock used on the Newstead Underground consisted of experimental units based on commuter railway trains. Initially, it was planned to have vehicles be able to run from the underground onto the national railway system, making it necessary that vehicles were compatible, eventhough this rarely ended up happening. These trains were first introduced between 1946 (for testing before the networkʼs official opening) and 1950, with modified versions of these being introduced until 1961. The last trains of this type were pulled from service in 1986. Between 1978 and 1984, almost all trains of the previous models were replaced with standard urban trains, which also was introduced in Stunhill, Westhaven and on the Newstead S-train. All trains introduced to the underground since then have been variations of that model.

Most underground trains in Newstead use a mix of longditudinal and transverse seating, with older models using almost exclusively transverse seating and newer ones using a 50:50 split between the two.