The Munich U-Bahn () is an electric rapid transit network in Munich, Germany. The system opened on 19 October 1971, and is operated by the municipally owned Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft (MVG). It is part of the Münchner Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund (MVV; Munich Transport and Tariff Association) and is interconnected with the Munich S-Bahn.
Together with the S-Bahn, the U-Bahn forms a major component of Munich's local public transport. The network consists of eight lines, serving 96 stations (100 when interchange stations with separate levels are counted twice) and extending over of track.
In 2024, the system carried 452 million passengers.
Lines
The Munich U-Bahn operates eight lines.
Line From Via To Olympia-Einkaufszentrum station Westfriedhof station – Hauptbahnhof – Sendlinger Tor station – Kolumbusplatz station Mangfallplatz station Feldmoching station Scheidplatz station – Hauptbahnhof – Sendlinger Tor station – Kolumbusplatz station – Giesing – Innsbrucker Ring station Messestadt Ost station Moosach Olympiazentrum station – Scheidplatz station – Münchner Freiheit station – Odeonsplatz station – Marienplatz – Sendlinger Tor station – Implerstraße station Fürstenried West station Westendstraße station Heimeranplatz station – Hauptbahnhof – Karlsplatz (Stachus) – Odeonsplatz station – Lehel station – Max-Weber-Platz station Arabellapark station Laimer Platz station Westendstraße station – Hauptbahnhof – Karlsplatz (Stachus) – Odeonsplatz station – Max-Weber-Platz station – Ostbahnhof – Innsbrucker Ring station Neuperlach Süd station Garching-Forschungszentrum station Fröttmaning station – Freimann station – Studentenstadt station – Münchner Freiheit station – Odeonsplatz station – Marienplatz – Sendlinger Tor station – Implerstraße station – Harras Klinikum Großhadern station Olympia-Einkaufszentrum station Westfriedhof station – Rotkreuzplatz station – Hauptbahnhof – Sendlinger Tor station – Kolumbusplatz station – Giesing – Innsbrucker Ring station Neuperlach Zentrum station Olympiazentrum station Scheidplatz station – Hauptbahnhof – Sendlinger Tor station – Kolumbusplatz station – Giesing – Innsbrucker Ring station Neuperlach Zentrum station
The network covers of track and has 100 stations. In 2024, it carried 452 million passengers. Trains run at up to , the fastest speed of any German U-Bahn.
Service stops overnight (01:00–04:00 on weekdays, 02:00–04:00 on weekends), except on occasions such as New Year's Eve.
Line U6 is the only line that leaves Munich, running north to Garching. All others stay underground within the city. U5 comes above ground at Neuperlach Süd. U6 is above ground between Studentenstadt and Garching, with short tunnels at Garching and Garching-Forschungszentrum.
Three line pairs share tracks in the city centre, with coordinated timetables: U1 and U2 U3 and U6 U4 and U5
Most stations have two tracks with an island platform. Stations with side platforms are: Olympia-Einkaufszentrum (U1), Richard-Strauss-Straße (U4), Neuperlach Süd (U5), Garching-Hochbrück, and Nordfriedhof (both U6).
Some stations are larger: Scheidplatz and Innsbrucker Ring – four tracks with two island platforms for cross-platform interchange Hauptbahnhof (U1/U2) and Münchner Freiheit (U3/U6) – four tracks on one level Implerstraße (U3/U6), Max-Weber-Platz (U4/U5), Kolumbusplatz (U1/U2) – three tracks (one side, one island) Olympiazentrum, Fröttmaning, and Kieferngarten – four tracks each; Olympiazentrum for the Olympic Park, Fröttmaning and Kieferngarten for the depot and the Allianz Arena
At Hauptbahnhof, lines U4 and U5 use a separate station at a higher level, giving a total of six tracks. Sendlinger Tor, Odeonsplatz, and Olympia-Einkaufszentrum also have two levels, connected by escalators and lifts.
Frequency and scheduling Peak hours: every 5 minutes, as often as every 2 minutes where lines overlap. Off-peak: every 10 minutes. Early mornings and late evenings: every 20 minutes or more, though overlapping lines often reduce waiting times.
U1 Line Route Olympia-Einkaufszentrum – Mangfallplatz
Line U1 opened in 1980 together with the former U8 (now U2). Initially it operated on part of the U2 route, but became a separate line after the branch to Rotkreuzplatz was completed.
Today the line is long and serves 15 stations. It runs from Olympia-Einkaufszentrum in Moosach, where line U3 also terminates on a different level, to Mangfallplatz in the south. The line colour is green.
From Olympia-Einkaufszentrum the line runs along Hanauer Straße to Georg-Brauchle-Ring, designed by artist Franz Ackermann, and continues via Westfriedhof, Gern, and Rotkreuzplatz, which was the terminus from 1983 to 1998. It then proceeds beneath Nymphenburger Straße to Maillingerstraße and Stiglmaierplatz before joining the U2 at Hauptbahnhof.
On the busy city section, U1 and U2 run with coordinated 5-minute intervals. At Hauptbahnhof, interchange to all S-Bahn lines and lines U4/U5 is available.
South of Hauptbahnhof, U1 continues to Sendlinger Tor, where the U1/U2 platforms are located in separate tunnels linked by a pedestrian passage. At Fraunhoferstraße, close to the Isar, large support pillars define the station's design. At Kolumbusplatz, U1 branches off from U2.
The southern extension opened in 1997. It includes Candidplatz, Wettersteinplatz, and St.-Quirin-Platz, the last of which has a glass-and-steel shell roof that extends nearly to track level. The line terminates at Mangfallplatz beneath Naupliastraße.
U2 Line Route
The route of the U2 line has undergone more changes than any of the other Munich underground lines. It also changed its name as it was first called U8. It is the only line that runs or ran on all three "line families" (U1/U2, U3/U6 and U4/U5). Today it has a length of and 27 stations. The line's colour is red.
The U2 starts in the north at Feldmoching, where it connects to the S1 to Freising/Airport. The station there is decorated with rural and urban motives of Feldmoching's history. Below Hasenbergl, a district which had been known for its social problems, it goes to Dülferstraße, which provides access to the eastern Hasenbergl and a newly built area on Panzerwiese. Dülferstraße was the terminus from 1993 till 1996.
Via the stations Harthof and Am Hart, the U2 reaches Frankfurter Ring. In the tunnel between Am Hart and Frankfurter Ring, there is a white and blue wave pattern, which is the only installation of art in a Munich U-Bahn tunnel outside of stations.
After Milbertshofen station the U2 touches the U3 line at Scheidplatz, where cross-platform interchange is possible. Before the opening of the section to Dülferstraße in 1993, U2 went from Scheidplatz to Olympiazentrum, sharing the track with the U3. Through the district of Maxvorstadt the U2 continues to downtown Munich, reaching the stations Hohenzollernplatz, Josephsplatz, Theresienstraße und Königsplatz. At Königsplatz one can find artworks from the nearby Glyptothek on the platform.
At München Hauptbahnhof (Munich Central Station), the U2 meets the U1, with which it shares tracks until Kolumbusplatz (see above).
After Kolumbusplatz the U2 continues eastward and reaches the stations Silberhornstraße, Untersbergstraße and Giesing station, with an interchange possibility to S3 and S7. The next stations are Karl-Preis-Platz and Innsbrucker Ring, where cross-platform interchange to the U5 is possible. Until 1999, when the branch to the Messestadt stations was opened, the U2 ran from here to Neuperlach.
Via the stations Josephsburg and Kreillerstraße the U2 reaches Trudering, which features two platforms in separate tunnels, connected by two transversal tunnels. In 1994, during the construction of this section, an accident happened: the ceiling of the new tunnel collapsed due to the intrusion of water and a bus fell into the crater. Two passengers and one construction worker died and the construction was delayed.
Via Moosfeld, the U2 reaches Messestadt West and its terminus Messestadt Ost. These stations are located between the fairgrounds (Messestadt) in the north and a development area and the Bundesgartenschau 2005 in the south.
U3 Line Route
The U3 is the original Olympic line; the first section was opened for the Olympic Summer Games 1972. Today the line has a total of length of and 25 stations. The line's colour is orange.
Today the U3 starts in the north at Moosach, Munich's 100th U-Bahn station, where passengers can change to the S1 to Freising/Airport. From here the line runs east to Moosacher St.-Martins-Platz and Olympia-Einkaufszentrum, where a change to the U1 is possible. After passing through Oberwiesenfeld station, the U3 reaches its original northern terminus at Olympiazentrum. From 1972 until 2007, this station was the end of the original Olympic line.
When Munich was awarded the Olympic Summer Games 1972 in 1965, the U-Bahn network concept (which was adopted only one year earlier) had to be revised to speed up the construction of a connection to the Olympic venues at Olympic grounds. The Olympic connector (now U3) was redesigned as a branch of the U6 line, because the original plan of a direct connection to the Olympic ground from Munich Central Station was not feasible in the new timeframe. This original U3 sections consists of four stations (from north to south): Olympiazentrum, Petuelring, Scheidplatz, where cross-platform interchange to the U2 (the line originally supposed to serve the Olympic venues) is possible since 1980, and Bonner Platz. After Bonner Platz the U3 reaches Münchner Freiheit, where it joins the U6 to run together through the inner city section to Implerstraße (for this section see U6 below).
After leaving the three-track junction station Implerstraße, where the U6 heads west towards Harras before ending up in Großhadern suburb, the U3 reaches Brudermühlstraße (near the picturesque Flaucher section of the Isar river), Thalkirchen (Zoo) (a short walk from the large city zoo) and Obersendling, which is built higher than the Thalkirchen station, because it is located on the "Hochufer" (western tread) of the River Isar. Here, interchange to the S-Bahn at Siemenswerke station is possible. The U3 continues west via Aidenbachstraße and Machtlfinger Straße, before reaching Forstenrieder Allee, Basler Straße, and eventually the terminus Fürstenried West. This southern-eastern section was opened on 28 October 1989, as can be seen from huge date numbers on the western entrance of Obersendling station.
U4 Line Route
With only and 13 stations, the U4 is Munich's shortest U-Bahn line. This line has originally been planned as U9 and is the only line that operates regularly with 4-car sets rather than the full 6-car set. The exceptions are Fridays in the late afternoon and during the Oktoberfest. The line's colour is mint green.
The U4 begins in the west in the Laim neighbourhood at Westendstraße station, which it shares with the U5 line. Both U4 and U5 are the only lines of a joint line "family", which only branch out on one end of the common line, as an originally planned western extension of the U4 was first put on hold and was subsequently cancelled altogether.
From Westendstraße the U4 runs east to Heimeranplatz, which connects to S7 and S20 S-Bahn lines. The next two stations, Schwanthalerhöhe (originally called Messegelände, the German for "exhibition grounds"; the name was changed when the exhibition centre relocated to Riem in 1998) and Theresienwiese, are gateways to the Oktoberfest, and are therefore highly loaded during this event. Between both aforementioned stations, there is a track that links to Implerstraße to provide a connection to the depot in Fröttmaning.