We will rely on the public transportation in order to reach the Zeche Zollverein site.
The site is located in Essen – a city adjacent to Dortmund, – and the closest public transport stop is “Essen Zollverein” [map].
You can plan your trip in the travel applications such as https://www.vrr.de/en/homepage/ using “Essen Zollverein” as your destination.
We will travel there together from the university. You can also travel on your own if you prefer, but please be there in time.
Meeting point at the university: near the S-bahn train station “Dortmund-Universität” at the north campus of the university, [map]
Meeting time at the university: 13:50.
Our planned route: S1 train (direction Essen or Solingen) to Essen Hbf, there change to the underground tram (U-bahn) 107 (direction Gelsenkirchen or Abzweig Katernberg) and stop at Essen Zollverein. Since we are a large crowd of people, please do not miss your stop. In Essen Hbf, watch signs for “U-bahn” and find the right platform where the 107 stops in the direction Gelsenkirchen.
Given the weather forecast, please take your umbrellas and waterproof clothes.
Meeting point at the mine: Besucherzentrum Ruhr [map]
The starting time of the tour is 15:30. Please kindly note that delays of more than ten minutes will not be acceptable as the groups will leave by that time. If you travel on your own, please plan to be there before 15:30. Note that delays of S1 trains can happen.
After the tour, you can explore the site on your own, or enjoy a dinner (not included in the registration price).
We have pre-booked some tables in two locations on site:
– “The Mine” [map], 50 seats reserved.
– “Casino” [map], a more fancy location, 10 seats reserved.
Alternatively, you can choose among the numerous locations in Essen.
In the evening, you will travel back to your hotels in Dortmund on your own, but we are certainly happy to help you if needed.
Important information on the public transport tickets.
To travel from Dortmund to Essen, you need the ticket for (at least) Zone B. This ticket is unfortunately not included in your registration fee.
The “A3” tickets issued in Dortmund are not valid for such trip. If by any chance you have a “Zone C” or “Zone D” tickets valid for the day of our tour, they can also be used.
The single trip in Zone B costs 6,10 EUR (“Einzelticket”, ticket valid 2 hours), therefore you need 12,20 EUR for the return trip.
One can save time and money by using tickets for multiple travellers. As shown here https://www.vrr.de/en/tickets-fares/ticket-overview/ticket/vrr/24-stundenticket-24-hour-pass/, if 5 persons travel on the same ticket, the 24-hour ticket will cost only 31,40 EUR.
Therefore, we strongly recommend to gather in groups of 4-5 people and buy such joint tickets “24-StundenTicket”, choosing the appropriate number of travellers.
To buy the tickets, you can:
– Use the mobile apps of VRR or Deutsche Bahn (German railways)
– Use the green (VRR) ticket machines at the train stations. The only green ticket machine at the university campus is located near the exit from the S1 train stop “Dortmund-Universität” (on the ground level), here https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4926992,7.4176679,51m/data=!3m1!1e3. VERY IMPORTANT: by default, the green ticket machines “stamp” your ticket, starting the countdown of its validity period. If you buy your ticket long in advance, you need to explicitly alter this setting in the ticket machine so that your ticket is not stamped (see explanations on this page https://lhcb2022.tu-dortmund.de/index.php/local-information/). Then, you will have to stamp your ticket before entering the train station.
– Use the red (DSW21) ticket machines at the H-bahn (monorail) stations on campus, or throughout the city. The red ticket machines do NOT stamp your ticket, and you need to do that yourself when entering the train station. You will find the red ticket machines at every H-bahn station, but they accept only cash.
– Let us (your guides) know in advance, collect the money, and we will buy a ticket for you.
Please sort out your tickets sufficiently in advance before the starting time of our trip (namely, Tuesday or Wednesday): waiting in a queue of 100 people to the ticket machine is not a pleasant experience.
Below you find screenshots of how to find the 24-hour ticket zone B for 5 people in the red DSW21 ticket machines:
(Change language to English at the bottom)
Select “Day/Tourist Ticket”
Select “24-hour ticket”
Select price category B
Choose the number of person by clicking “+” until reaching 4/5 people
Pay 🙂
Below you find screenshots of how to find the 24-hour ticket zone B for 5 people in the green VRR ticket machines (apologies to terrible quality of images):
On the main screen (you may choose English language in the bottom), select the “VRR rate”.
Select Price level B.
Select the 24-hour ticket for the appropriate number of travellers
Select “issue without validation” if you buy in advance (otherwise the 24h count starts immediately), and proceed to payment.
Don’t forget to validate your ticket when starting your travel.