Ride Sideways
2008/10/22
In Hamburg's subway, seats are arranged in groups so you either sit facing the engine or with your back to the engine. This arrangement is different from most other subways where you sit sideways. But did you know that you actually can sit that way in the Hamburg subway?
All you have to do is catch one of the trains numbered 921 to 926. They can be spotted easily because they're still showing the old design with rounded front windows, while all other older trains have been modernized by now. At one end of each of those trains, just behind the driver's cabin, there are transverse seats.
The story behind these trains is that they have been turned into test trains for driverless operation in the 1980's. Due to the additional technical equipment, the driver's cabin became larger and thus one group of seats behind the cabin was removed and replaced by transverse seats.
The automated operation never made is past these tests, but the trains can still be found on the tracks.
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