Vlud Metro
| File:Vlud metro logo.png | |||
| Overview | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | Vlud City Council Province of Vlud | ||
| Locale | Vlud, Vyvland Keykre, Vlud, Vyvland Haflig, Vlud, Vyvland Langdon, Vlud, Vyvland Pegrems-en-Vlud, Vlud, Vyvland Veerveld, Vlud, Vyvland | ||
| Transit type | Rapid transit | ||
| Number of lines | 4 | ||
| Number of stations | 80 | ||
| Annual ridership | 397 million | ||
| Operation | |||
| Began operation | 1894 | ||
| Technical | |||
| System length | 70.7 km (43.9 mi) | ||
| |||
The Vlud Metro (Vyvlander: Mejro Vluds, pronounced /meʑɒː vlʊdz/) is a metro system in Vlud, Vyvland, which extends into nearby suburbs in the city's hinterland. It is comprised of four mostly-underground metro lines, on which lie 80 stations. The system in total has a ridership of approximately 397 million passengers per year, making it the busiest in the country. In addition, the system operates in conjunction with eleven tram routes, two of which were formerly integrated as part of the metro system. The system is centred around Goydmurt station at the southern end of the Goydmurt shopping street, where three of the four lines meet, in addition to six tram lines and numerous surface train services. The station complex at Piterkusel-Malersjri is also a major connection point.
Vlud's metro system is the oldest in Vyvland, beating Jesel's Jeselbaan by two years. The first part of the system was opened in 1894, and its last extension occurred in 2013, with additional works adding two stations in Veerveld on Line 4 due to be completed in 2016. The Metro system extends across the city, and in five cases outside the city limits, twice to Keykre, once to Langdon, once to Haflig and once to riverside areas of Pegrems-en-Vlud. It is operated jointly by Vlud City Council and the province of Vlud.
History
In 1894, under the orders of the then King Enrig IV, Vlud was to embark upon an ambitious programme of modernisation, especially of the city's infrastructure. The new metro line was chosen as the flagship project to improve the city's transport provision. The first phase of the metro's construction was the core of what are today known as lines 1 and 2; a section from Pitersplaac in the east to Gurdenpenkrox and Neferhoyel, which then lay on the city's edge. Usage of the system was slow at first, but began to pick up in the first few decades of the twentieth century, especially as extensions into newly-built suburbs were added, and as the two lines were split onto today's alignment, with one terminating in Gyrmfrop and the other at Sunbryk. The city's metro was thus the first built in Vyvland, while Jesel, Lyksdal, Lorence and Strossen subsequently constructing systems.
The third line to be constructed takes the form of the central part of today's line 3, from Brayeersig (then known as Norfdok) to Rumpe. It was decided to link these two traditionally working-class areas of the city in the late 1920s as part of a plan to alleviate poverty in Vlud's dock areas, and to connect the areas' inhabitants to better job prospects in central Vlud. However, the line became known as the the doskerbaan ('slum line') due to its passengers and poor quality of construction and maintenance. Line 3 was extended and refurbished in the 1950s under extensive nationwide infrastructure improvements by then-Prime Minister Frig Brayeer.
The fourth line of the system was started at the end of the late 1950s, and opened from Rugtyvrekamp to Ryseyesdaat in 1964, with extensions quickly being made to Domeviyjerj and Tiyvrod Wesyvre within twelve years. This line, which served two corridors with chronic transportation problems, was the best-used on the system by 1977, a mere thirteen years after its opening, and remains such to this day. The construction of a parallel tunnel in the 1990s through the line's central section helped to alleviate the congestion caused by the line's popularity.
In the early 1980s, Vlud's metro system began to reach full capacity, however numerous studies showed that the benefits of extending new metro lines into other suburbs were only marginal. Instead, a two-fold approach was taken; to consolidate and improve suburban train services, and to open light rail lines along corridors of the outer city which were unprovided for by existing transport infrastructure. Therefore, two lines were opened; the V line along the Tiyvrod valley in Vluberg borough and onto the housing estate at Sarbel-ofi-Loganven, and the D line along the Avdal valley, from Avswujre in the west to Updal in the east. Responsibility for the new light rail lines' operation initially fell with the Vlud Metro in order to better integrate them with the four existing metro lines. In 1981, the metro system incorporated the tramway to Vecanbek Palace in the south of the city, today's K tram line and converted it to light rail, although in 2002 the metro's three light rail lines were re-integrated with Vlud's wider tram system. A restructuring of the organisational structure of the Metro enabled it to extend more easily into neighbouring municipalities outside Vlud, and extensions on all lines have taken advantage of this, which has been coupled with growth in many of Vlud's commuter belt towns.
Infrastructure
Services
The system extends into all of Vlud's eleven boroughs, although there are significant areas of the city, such as Sarbel-ofi-Loganven, Teymie and Komesaane, with no services nearby. Tram lines in many the outer suburbs alleviate this lack of coverage. The four metro lines of the system all interchange with one another. One train runs on each line approximately every five minutes in most areas of the system. The Metro stays open all day, although often does not extend to outer suburbs between midnight and 5am. On Sunday nights, the Metro closes at 8pm for maintenance, opening the next morning at 5:30 am.
| Line name | Distance | Stations | First opened | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Line 1 | 21 | 1894 | Keykre Amandasjri | Obervluberg | ||
| Line 2 | 27 | 1894 | Keykre South | Haflig Sdad | ||
| Line 3 | 17 | 1930 | Langdon Rujweg | Piljrel | ||
| Line 4 | 23 | 1964 | Biyndaagensalee | Tiyvrod* |
* = To be extended to Veerveld Welelmsgurd by 2016.
Construction
The Metro system lies mostly underground, but with small surface sections on the more modern ends of most of the lines, often where they extend out of the city limits. The method of construction was mainly cut-and-cover where practical in the suburbs and in the city centre, with lines descending to deep-level in historical and hilly areas of the city for which cut-and-cover would be impractical. The line along Goydmurt, for example, was notably dug via a lengthy process of cut-and-cover known as the greetgrav (meaning 'big dig'), which lasted more than a decade. Most stations have two platforms per line, but main hubs have considerably more, with Goydmurt possessing eight total platforms for the metro. In general, earlier-constructed stations tend to be more ornate, with those opened on lines 1 and 2 in the city centre often containing elaborate sculptures and frescoes. Many stations were designed by well-known architects such as Mafjas Langmaan, who designed many of the entrance halls for line 4.