Berlin S-Bahn
Encyclopedia
The Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit
system in and around Berlin
, the capital city of Germany
. It consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn
to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system. Unlike the U-Bahn, the S-Bahn crosses the Berlin city and state border into the surrounding state of Brandenburg
, mostly from the former East Berlin but today also from West Berlin to Potsdam
.
Although the S- and U-Bahn are part of a unified fare system, they have different operators. The S-Bahn is operated by S-Bahn Berlin GmbH, a subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn
, whilst the U-Bahn is run by BVG
, the main public transit company for the city of Berlin.
Generally speaking, the first digit of a route number designates the main route or a group of routes. Thus, S25 is a bifurcation of S2, while S41, S42, S45, S46, and S47 are all Ringbahn routes that share some of the same route.
Stations in brackets are serviced at certain times only (Monday-Friday during offpeak in the case of and during peak in the case of and ). and only run Mon-Fri.
Also, not every train reaches the nominal terminus of a line. For example, every other train on runs only to Frohnau
, five stops before Oranienburg
, and the last stop on towards Erkner
which is reached by every train is Friedrichshagen
. Similarly, some of the trains terminate northwards only at Gesundbrunnen
, and most of trains run only to Strausberg or even Mahlsdorf
, rendering Strausberg Nord
the least frequented stop on the whole network.
On 31 August 2009 a few permanent changes to the line routes were applied. Due to renovation of the Ostkreuz
station, which includes dismantling tracks connecting the Stadtbahn and the Ringbahn, (formerly ✈ Berlin-Schönefeld
↔ Spandau
) cannot turn west at this station any more. The line thus follows the Ringbahn and then branches northwards past Schönhauser Allee, like and , and terminates at Blankenburg
. To compensate for the diminished throughput on the Stadtbahn, the (formerly Erkner
↔ Ostbahnhof
) is extended westwards to Spandau
. Minor alterations have been applied to the routes of and , and has been suspended on weekends.
, Südkreuz
, Schöneweide
and Treptower Park
(northwards), respectively.
s.
Services on the Berlin S-Bahn were at first provided by the German national railway, the Deutsche Reichsbahn
. Electrification of the existing suburban lines was completed around 1929, and thoughts turned to a new project: a tunnel that would join two spur lines that protruded into the city centre from the north and south. This tunnel, to be known as the Nord Süd Bahn, was a prestige project for the Nazis
, and was opened in two sections. The first, from the north to Unter den Linden
, opened in time for the 1936 Berlin Olympics
; the final section, via Potsdamer Platz
, opened the month after the Second World War
began, in October 1939.
Many sections of the S-Bahn were closed during the war due to enemy action. The Nord Süd Bahn tunnel was flooded on 2 May 1945 by retreating SS troops during the final Battle of Berlin
. The exact number of casualties is not known, but up to 200 persons are presumed to have perished, since the tunnel was used as a public shelter and also served to house military wounded in trains in underground sidings. Service through the tunnel commenced again in 1947.
After hostilities ceased in 1945, Berlin was given special status as a "Four Sector City," surrounded by the Soviet Occupation Zone, which later became the German Democratic Republic
(GDR). The Allies had decided that S-Bahn service in the western sectors of Berlin should continue to be provided by the Reichsbahn
(DR), which was by now the provider of railway services in East Germany. (Rail services in West Germany
proper were provided by the new Deutsche Bundesbahn
.)
During the war, Berlin S-Bahn cars were overhauled at Luben
to the east of Berlin. As that town, now known as Lubin, was ceded to Poland
under the terms of the Potsdam Conference
in 1945, 84 cars currently in the works were lost to Berlin. Further cars were sent east as war reparations
, and eventually at least 287 cars were sent to Russia
where they were converted for use in Moscow
, Kiev
and Tallinn
. Additionally at least 80 two-car sets were retained in Poland, where they were used on suburban services in the Gdańsk
-Gdynia
region until 1976. Some of the latter cars were then converted for use in overhead line
maintenance trains, and some still exist in that role. One set is preserved in its Gdańsk-Gdynia condition at a museum at Koscierzyna
near Gdynia.
, the Berlin S-Bahn soon became a victim of the hostilities. Although services continued operating through all occupation sectors, checkpoints were constructed on the borders to East Berlin and on-board "customs checks" were carried out on trains. From 1958 onwards, some S-Bahn trains ran non-stop through the western sectors from stations in East Berlin to stations on outlying sections in East Germany, so as to avoid the need for such controls. From this point onwards, all East German government employees were forbidden to use the S-Bahn as it travelled through West Berlin.
The western sectors of the city were physically cut off from East Germany on 13 August 1961 by what was later called the Berlin Wall
, in a well-prepared plan to separate the two halves of the city – and at the same time, to divide the Berlin public transit network into two separate systems. Stadtbahn services were curtailed from both directions at the Friedrichstraße
station. This station was divided into two physically separated areas, one for eastern passengers and one for westerners. Although the station lay within East Berlin, western passengers could transfer between S-Bahn lines or to the U-Bahn without passing through border checks, much like passengers changing planes at an international airport. The GDR also operated an Intershop
in the portion of the station with services to and from West Berlin , where persons arriving from West Berlin (again without passing through border controls) could buy luxury goods such as tobacco and alcoholic beverages at discounted prices (compared to prices in West Berlin), provided they paid in hard currency
, owing in part to the fact that Intershop customers did not pay West German taxes on their purchases. The West Berlin authorities were aware of this situation but did not impose stringent customs controls on such purchases out of political considerations. The Friedrichstraße station also become the main entry point for train and subway riders from West Berlin
into East Berlin
. Service on the Nord Süd Bahn was operated for western passengers only. It passed through a relatively short stretch under East Berlin territory in the city centre, and trains did not stop at the underground East Berlin S-Bahn stations, which were called ghost station
s. Similarly, the Ringbahn services in the north of the city were curtailed at Gesundbrunnen from the west and Schönhauser Allee from the east, and in the south-east of the city at Sonnenallee and Köllnische Heide from the west and Treptower Park and Baumschulenweg from the East.
Because the S-Bahn was operated by the DR, West Berliners vented their frustration at the building of the wall by boycotting it since its fares were seen as subsidising the communist regime in the East. "Keinen Pfennig mehr für Ulbricht
," or "not a penny more for Ulbricht," became the S-Bahn opponents' chant. Within days of the Berlin Wall being built, the BVG, with assistance from other transit companies in West Germany, began providing "solidarity with Berlin buses" – new bus services which paralleled the S-Bahn lines and therefore provided an alternative. After many years of declining passenger usage and difficult industrial relations between the West Berlin workforce and their East Berlin employers, most of the western portion of the S-Bahn was closed down in September 1980 following a strike. A 20-minute service was still provided on the Stadtbahn from Westkreuz to Friedrichstraße as well as services on the Nord-Süd Bahn between Frohnau, Friedrichstraße, Lichtenrade or Wannsee.
By contrast, during the same period, services on the S-Bahn in East Berlin were increased and new lines built as housing projects expanded eastward from the city centre. With most of the U-Bahn located in West Berlin, the S-Bahn became the backbone of the East Berlin transit network.
The 1980 incidents turned media and political attention towards what was left of West Berlin's S-Bahn network. The city government decided to enter negotiations with East Germany which were finally successful. On 9 January 1984, the BVG took over the responsibility for operation of S-Bahn services in West Berlin. After further closedowns that same day, a limited service was restored, initially comprising only two short sections without direct interchange between them. In the years between 1984 and 1989, several sections were gradually reopened, resulting in a network of 71 km and three lines - with one line running on the Stadtbahn and two on the Nord Süd Bahn - comprising about 50% of West Berlin's original network. This development brought West Berlin's S-Bahn back into public awareness and restored its popularity.
Until 1984, all Berlin S-Bahn routes were allocated letters as a means of identifying the route of the train. These letters were occasionally followed by Roman numerals to indicate a shortworking or bifurcation in the service (e.g., A, BI, BII, C,) and are still used internally by the Berlin S-Bahn GmbH for timetabling and in conjunction with radio call-signs to each train unit. When the BVG took over the responsibility for operation of S-Bahn services in West Berlin in 1984, it introduced a new unified numbering scheme for both the S-Bahn and the U-Bahn, which it also operated. Existing U-Bahn route numbers were prefixed with the letter U, while the new S-Bahn route numbers were prefixed with the letter S. This system of numbering routes was used in other West German cities, and was extended to the S-Bahn service for the whole city after reunification.
After the Berlin Wall
came down in November 1989, the first broken links were re-established, with Friedrichstraße on July 1, 1990 as the first. The BVG and DR jointly marketed the services soon after die Wende
. Administratively, the divided S-Bahn networks remained separate in this time of momentous changes, encompassing German reunification
and reunification of Berlin into a single city, although the dividing line was no longer the former Berlin Wall. DR and BVG (of the whole of reunified Berlin from January 1, 1992 after absorbing BVB of East Berlin) operated individual lines end to end, both into the other party's territories. For example, S2 was all-BVG even after it was extended northward and southward into Brandenburg/former GDR territory. The main east-west route (Stadtbahn) was a joint operation. Individual trains were operated by either BVG or DR end-to-end on the same tracks. This arrangement ended on January 1, 1994 with the creation of Deutsche Bahn
due to the merger between DR and the former West Germany's Deutsche Bundesbahn
. All S-Bahn operations in Berlin were transferred to the newly formed S-Bahn Berlin GmbH as a subidiary of Deutsche Bahn and the BVG withdrew from running S-Bahn services.
Technically, a number of projects followed in the steps of re-establishing broken links in order to restore the former S-Bahn network to its 1961 status after 1990, especially the Ringbahn. In December 1997 the connection between Neukölln and Treptower Park via Sonnenallee was reopened, enabling S4 trains to run 75% of the whole ring between Schönhauser Allee and Jungfernheide. On 16 June 2002, the section Gesundbrunnen - Westhafen also reopened, re-establishing the Ringbahn operations.
available for revenue service. Eight routes, including most through services on the Stadtbahn, were closed and on other lines headways were reduced to 20 minutes and trains shortened.
Some minor restorations in service were made on 3 August 2009. Due to new inspection troubles the S-Bahn network was again reduced dramatically on 8 September 2009. As of that date, three quarters of the trains were withdrawn from the network due to inspection and faulty brake cylinders. There were again no trains on the Stadtbahn between Westkreuz
and Alexanderplatz
, and no S-Bahn trains to Spandau
. Trains on the circle lines, and , were running at 10-minute intervals. Other routes were running with extended intervals and reduced distances.
In late 2009, the Berlin Senate expected that normal operations would only resume in 2013. In January 2010, DB announced that they expected the system to resume normal service in December 2010 and employed 300 new staff in their workshops. In the same month, the Berlin transport Senator Ingeborg Junge-Reyer rejected an extension of the traffic contract with the operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) which is due to expire in December 2017. Different routes for the operation of the S-Bahn from 2018 are being examined. These include gradual tender lines, splitting the system up into subnetworks or the acquisition of the S-Bahn by the Berlin Lander.
By Spring of 2011, some 420 train sets were in service, a considerable improvement over the situation in 2009, but still insufficient compared to the 500 needed to provide a normal full service. The S-Bahn announced it was to invest 120 million euros in order to achieve 500 train sets in service by December of 2011. Rüdiger Grube, the head of the DB, announced that losses due to the S-Bahn crisis had reached 370 million euros at the end of 2010. He expected them to reach 700 million euros by the end of 2014, with no operating profits to be made before the end of the contract in December 2017.
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
system in and around Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, the capital city of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn
Berlin U-Bahn
The Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...
to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system. Unlike the U-Bahn, the S-Bahn crosses the Berlin city and state border into the surrounding state of Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
, mostly from the former East Berlin but today also from West Berlin to Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
.
Although the S- and U-Bahn are part of a unified fare system, they have different operators. The S-Bahn is operated by S-Bahn Berlin GmbH, a subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
, whilst the U-Bahn is run by BVG
Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe
The is the main public transport company of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It manages the city's U-Bahn underground railway, tram, bus and ferry networks, but not the S-Bahn urban rail system....
, the main public transit company for the city of Berlin.
Routes
The S-Bahn routes all feed into one of three core lines: a central, elevated east-west line (the Stadtbahn), a central, mostly underground north-south line (the Nord-Süd-Tunnel), and a circular, elevated line (the Ringbahn). Geographically, the Ringbahn takes the form of a dog's head and is colloquially known to Berliners by that name (Hundekopf). Outside the Ringbahn, suburban routes radiate out in all directions.Generally speaking, the first digit of a route number designates the main route or a group of routes. Thus, S25 is a bifurcation of S2, while S41, S42, S45, S46, and S47 are all Ringbahn routes that share some of the same route.
| Line | Terminus | Route | Terminus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wannsee Berlin-Wannsee railway station Berlin-Wannsee station is a railway station opened in 1874 which lies in the Wannsee district of Berlin, the capital city of Germany... |
Nord-Süd-Tunnel | Oranienburg Oranienburg railway station - External links :*... |
|
| Blankenfelde | Nord-Süd-Tunnel | Bernau Bernau bei Berlin railway station Bernau bei Berlin is a railway station in the city of Bernau bei Berlin, Germany... |
|
| Teltow Stadt Teltow Stadt railway station Teltow Stadt is a railway station near the centre of the town of Teltow to the south of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. Although the town of Teltow is in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district of the state of Brandenburg, the station is in the adjoining Teltow-Fläming district.Teltow Stadt is the... |
Nord-Süd-Tunnel | Hennigsdorf Hennigsdorf railway station Hennigsdorf is a railway station in the Oberhavel district of Brandenburg. It is the northern terminus of the S-Bahn line and is located in the town of Hennigsdorf.... |
|
| Erkner Erkner railway station Erker is a railway station situated in the municipality of Erkner, in the Oder-Spree district of Brandenburg. It is the eastern terminus of S-Bahn line .-Train services:The station is served by the following service:-External links:... |
Stadtbahn | Spandau Berlin-Spandau railway station Berlin-Spandau is a railway station situated in the Spandau district of Berlin, Germany located at the western end of the S-Bahn lines and .-Overview:... |
|
| Südkreuz Berlin Südkreuz Berlin Südkreuz is a railway station in the German capital Berlin. The station was originally opened in 1898 and is an interchange station... |
Ringbahn | Südkreuz Berlin Südkreuz Berlin Südkreuz is a railway station in the German capital Berlin. The station was originally opened in 1898 and is an interchange station... (clockwise) |
|
| Südkreuz Berlin Südkreuz Berlin Südkreuz is a railway station in the German capital Berlin. The station was originally opened in 1898 and is an interchange station... |
Ringbahn | Südkreuz Berlin Südkreuz Berlin Südkreuz is a railway station in the German capital Berlin. The station was originally opened in 1898 and is an interchange station... (counter-clockwise) |
|
| ✈ Berlin-Schönefeld Berlin Schönefeld Flughafen railway station Berlin-Schönefeld Flughafen is a railway station in Schönefeld next to Berlin-Schönefeld International Airport just outside Berlin... |
Ringbahn | Südkreuz Berlin Südkreuz Berlin Südkreuz is a railway station in the German capital Berlin. The station was originally opened in 1898 and is an interchange station... (↔ Bundesplatz) |
|
| Königs Wusterhausen Königs Wusterhausen railway station Königs Wusterhausen is a railway station for the town of Königs Wusterhausen in Brandenburg. It is the southern terminus of the S-Bahn line .The station is also served by RegionalExpress line 2 and RegionalBahn lines 14 and OE36.... |
Ringbahn | Westend Berlin-Westend railway station Westend is a station in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn lines , and .... |
|
| Spindlersfeld Spindlersfeld railway station Spindlersfeld is a railway station in the Treptow-Köpenick district of Berlin. It is the eastern terminus of the S-Bahn line .-Description:The station is situated some west of the Altstadt of Köpenick, and is also served by routes 60 and 61 of the Berlin tram network, both of which also serve the... |
Ringbahn | Hermannstraße (↔ Südkreuz Berlin Südkreuz Berlin Südkreuz is a railway station in the German capital Berlin. The station was originally opened in 1898 and is an interchange station... ) |
|
| Strausberg Nord Strausberg Nord railway station Strausberg Nord is a railway station in the city of Strausberg in Brandenburg. It is the eastern terminus of S-Bahn line .-See also:*Strausberg Railway*Straussee Ferry*Strausberg station*Strausberg Hegermühle station*Strausberg Stadt station... |
Stadtbahn | Westkreuz Berlin Westkreuz railway station Berlin Westkreuz is a station in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn lines , , , , , and and so represents a major interchange point on the Berlin S-Bahn network... |
|
| Ahrensfelde Ahrensfelde railway station Berlin-Ahrensfelde is a railway station in the suburb of Berlin, close to the Barnim district of Brandenburg. It is served by the S-Bahn line .-Overview:... |
Stadtbahn | Potsdam Hauptbahnhof Potsdam Hauptbahnhof Potsdam Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in German city of Potsdam. It is the southern terminus of S-Bahn line and, replacing the S7 on Friday and Saturday nights, the line .- Overview :... |
|
| Wartenberg Wartenberg railway station Berlin-Wartenberg is a railway station in the Lichtenberg district of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn line .... |
Stadtbahn | Spandau Berlin-Spandau railway station Berlin-Spandau is a railway station situated in the Spandau district of Berlin, Germany located at the western end of the S-Bahn lines and .-Overview:... |
|
| (Zeuthen Zeuthen railway station Zeuthen is a railway station for the town of Zeuthen in Brandenburg. It is served by the S-Bahn lines and .Zeuthen is the peak time terminus for line .... ↔) Grünau Grünau railway station Berlin-Grünau is a railway station in the Treptow-Köpenick district of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn line , and .Grünau is the terminus for off-peak trains and the peak time terminus for line .... |
Ringbahn | Hohen Neuendorf Hohen Neuendorf railway station Hohen Neuendorf is a railway station in the town of Hohen Neuendorf, Germany. It is served by the Berlin S-Bahn and by several local buses.-External links:*... |
|
| (Grünau Grünau railway station Berlin-Grünau is a railway station in the Treptow-Köpenick district of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn line , and .Grünau is the terminus for off-peak trains and the peak time terminus for line .... ↔) Schöneweide Schöneweide railway station Berlin-Schöneweide is a railway station in the Treptow-Köpenick district of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn line , , , , and .The station is also served by RegionalBahn line OE36.... |
Ringbahn | Waidmannslust Berlin-Waidmannslust railway station Berlin-Waidmannslust is a railway station in the neighbourhood of Waidmannslust, in the city of Berlin, Germany. It is served by the Berlin S-Bahn and by several local buses.-External links:*... |
|
| ✈ Berlin-Schönefeld Berlin Schönefeld Flughafen railway station Berlin-Schönefeld Flughafen is a railway station in Schönefeld next to Berlin-Schönefeld International Airport just outside Berlin... |
Ringbahn | Blankenburg Berlin-Blankenburg railway station Blankenburg is a railway station in the Pankow district of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn lines , and .-References:... |
Stations in brackets are serviced at certain times only (Monday-Friday during offpeak in the case of and during peak in the case of and ). and only run Mon-Fri.
Also, not every train reaches the nominal terminus of a line. For example, every other train on runs only to Frohnau
Berlin-Frohnau railway station
Berlin-Frohnau is a railway station in the neighbourhood of Frohnau, in the city of Berlin, Germany. It is served by the Berlin S-Bahn and by several local buses.-External links:*...
, five stops before Oranienburg
Oranienburg railway station
- External links :*...
, and the last stop on towards Erkner
Erkner railway station
Erker is a railway station situated in the municipality of Erkner, in the Oder-Spree district of Brandenburg. It is the eastern terminus of S-Bahn line .-Train services:The station is served by the following service:-External links:...
which is reached by every train is Friedrichshagen
Friedrichshagen railway station
Berlin-Friedrichshagen is a railway station in the Treptow-Köpenick district of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn line .-External links:...
. Similarly, some of the trains terminate northwards only at Gesundbrunnen
Berlin-Gesundbrunnen railway station
Berlin-Gesundbrunnen is a railway station in Berlin, Germany. It is situated in the eponymous district in the former Wedding borough as an interconnection point between the northern Ringbahn and Nord-Süd-Tunnel lines of the Berlin S-Bahn, as well as a regional and long distance station of the...
, and most of trains run only to Strausberg or even Mahlsdorf
Mahlsdorf railway station
Berlin-Mahlsdorf is a railway station in the Marzahn-Hellersdorf district of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn line .It is the terminus for every 2nd train during regular daytime service....
, rendering Strausberg Nord
Strausberg Nord railway station
Strausberg Nord is a railway station in the city of Strausberg in Brandenburg. It is the eastern terminus of S-Bahn line .-See also:*Strausberg Railway*Straussee Ferry*Strausberg station*Strausberg Hegermühle station*Strausberg Stadt station...
the least frequented stop on the whole network.
On 31 August 2009 a few permanent changes to the line routes were applied. Due to renovation of the Ostkreuz
Ostkreuz
Berlin Ostkreuz is a station on the Berlin S-Bahn suburban railway, and one of the busiest in Germany. The station is in the former East Berlin district of Friedrichshain, now part of the borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg....
station, which includes dismantling tracks connecting the Stadtbahn and the Ringbahn, (formerly ✈ Berlin-Schönefeld
Berlin Schönefeld Flughafen railway station
Berlin-Schönefeld Flughafen is a railway station in Schönefeld next to Berlin-Schönefeld International Airport just outside Berlin...
↔ Spandau
Berlin-Spandau railway station
Berlin-Spandau is a railway station situated in the Spandau district of Berlin, Germany located at the western end of the S-Bahn lines and .-Overview:...
) cannot turn west at this station any more. The line thus follows the Ringbahn and then branches northwards past Schönhauser Allee, like and , and terminates at Blankenburg
Berlin-Blankenburg railway station
Blankenburg is a railway station in the Pankow district of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn lines , and .-References:...
. To compensate for the diminished throughput on the Stadtbahn, the (formerly Erkner
Erkner railway station
Erker is a railway station situated in the municipality of Erkner, in the Oder-Spree district of Brandenburg. It is the eastern terminus of S-Bahn line .-Train services:The station is served by the following service:-External links:...
↔ Ostbahnhof
Berlin Ostbahnhof
Berlin Ostbahnhof is a mainline railway station in Berlin, Germany. It is in Friedrichshain, now part of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, and has undergone several name changes in its history. It was known as Berlin Hauptbahnhof from 1987 to 1998, a name now applied to Berlin's new central station...
) is extended westwards to Spandau
Berlin-Spandau railway station
Berlin-Spandau is a railway station situated in the Spandau district of Berlin, Germany located at the western end of the S-Bahn lines and .-Overview:...
. Minor alterations have been applied to the routes of and , and has been suspended on weekends.
Service hours
The normal daytime service runs fundamentally between 04:00 and 01:00 Monday-Friday, between 05:00 and 01:00 on Saturdays and between 06:30 and 01:00 on Sundays. However, there is a comprehensive nighttime service on most lines between 01:00 and 05:00 on Saturdays and 01:00 and 06:30 on Sundays, which means that most stations enjoy a continuous service between Friday morning and Sunday evening. One exception to this is the section of the between and which has no service during these times. Many other lines are totally unchanged in their operation, but some are curtailed or extended during nighttime service. Particularly, the , , , , , are unchanged, and the , have no nighttime service. The only line that is extended rather than curtailed is , which then runs westward as far as to compensate for servicing only the ↔ section. Remaining lines , , and terminate westwards at stations OstkreuzOstkreuz
Berlin Ostkreuz is a station on the Berlin S-Bahn suburban railway, and one of the busiest in Germany. The station is in the former East Berlin district of Friedrichshain, now part of the borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg....
, Südkreuz
Berlin Südkreuz
Berlin Südkreuz is a railway station in the German capital Berlin. The station was originally opened in 1898 and is an interchange station...
, Schöneweide
Schöneweide railway station
Berlin-Schöneweide is a railway station in the Treptow-Köpenick district of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn line , , , , and .The station is also served by RegionalBahn line OE36....
and Treptower Park
Berlin Treptower Park railway station
Treptower Park is a railway station in the Alt-Treptow locality of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn lines , , , and and so represents an important interchange point on the Berlin S-Bahn network. The station consists of two island platforms, enabling cross-platform interchange between lines...
(northwards), respectively.
Inception
With individual sections dating from the 1870s, the S-Bahn came into existence in 1924. It was formed as the network of suburban commuter railways running into Berlin was converted from steam operation to a third-rail electric railway. The resulting network was primarily above-ground but with some subsurface tunnelTunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s.
Services on the Berlin S-Bahn were at first provided by the German national railway, the Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
The Deutsche Reichsbahn – was the name of the German national railway created from the railways of the individual states of the German Empire following the end of World War I....
. Electrification of the existing suburban lines was completed around 1929, and thoughts turned to a new project: a tunnel that would join two spur lines that protruded into the city centre from the north and south. This tunnel, to be known as the Nord Süd Bahn, was a prestige project for the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, and was opened in two sections. The first, from the north to Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden is a boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is named for its linden trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall between two carriageways....
, opened in time for the 1936 Berlin Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
; the final section, via Potsdamer Platz
Potsdamer Platz
Potsdamer Platz is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about one kilometre south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag , and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park...
, opened the month after the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
began, in October 1939.
During and after World War II
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II....
. The exact number of casualties is not known, but up to 200 persons are presumed to have perished, since the tunnel was used as a public shelter and also served to house military wounded in trains in underground sidings. Service through the tunnel commenced again in 1947.
After hostilities ceased in 1945, Berlin was given special status as a "Four Sector City," surrounded by the Soviet Occupation Zone, which later became the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
(GDR). The Allies had decided that S-Bahn service in the western sectors of Berlin should continue to be provided by the Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn of the GDR
The Deutsche Reichsbahn or DR was the operating name of state owned railways in the German Democratic Republic ....
(DR), which was by now the provider of railway services in East Germany. (Rail services in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
proper were provided by the new Deutsche Bundesbahn
Deutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
.)
During the war, Berlin S-Bahn cars were overhauled at Luben
Lubin
Lubin is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. From 1975–1998 it belonged to the former Legnica Voivodeship. Lubin is the administrative seat of Lubin County, and also of the rural district called Gmina Lubin, although it is not part of the territory of the latter,...
to the east of Berlin. As that town, now known as Lubin, was ceded to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
under the terms of the Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
in 1945, 84 cars currently in the works were lost to Berlin. Further cars were sent east as war reparations
War reparations
War reparations are payments intended to cover damage or injury during a war. Generally, the term war reparations refers to money or goods changing hands, rather than such property transfers as the annexation of land.- History :...
, and eventually at least 287 cars were sent to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
where they were converted for use in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
and Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
. Additionally at least 80 two-car sets were retained in Poland, where they were used on suburban services in the Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
-Gdynia
Gdynia
Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...
region until 1976. Some of the latter cars were then converted for use in overhead line
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
maintenance trains, and some still exist in that role. One set is preserved in its Gdańsk-Gdynia condition at a museum at Koscierzyna
Koscierzyna
Kościerzyna is a town in Kashubia in Gdańsk Pomerania region, northern Poland, with some 24,000 inhabitants. It has been the capital of Kościerzyna County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999; previously it was in Gdańsk Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998...
near Gdynia.
Cold War
As relations between East and West began to sour with the coming of the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the Berlin S-Bahn soon became a victim of the hostilities. Although services continued operating through all occupation sectors, checkpoints were constructed on the borders to East Berlin and on-board "customs checks" were carried out on trains. From 1958 onwards, some S-Bahn trains ran non-stop through the western sectors from stations in East Berlin to stations on outlying sections in East Germany, so as to avoid the need for such controls. From this point onwards, all East German government employees were forbidden to use the S-Bahn as it travelled through West Berlin.
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
, in a well-prepared plan to separate the two halves of the city – and at the same time, to divide the Berlin public transit network into two separate systems. Stadtbahn services were curtailed from both directions at the Friedrichstraße
Berlin Friedrichstraße railway station
Berlin Friedrichstraße is a railway station in the German capital Berlin. It is located on the Friedrichstraße, a major north-south street in the Mitte district of Berlin, adjacent to the point where the street crosses the Spree river...
station. This station was divided into two physically separated areas, one for eastern passengers and one for westerners. Although the station lay within East Berlin, western passengers could transfer between S-Bahn lines or to the U-Bahn without passing through border checks, much like passengers changing planes at an international airport. The GDR also operated an Intershop
Intershop
Intershop was a chain of government-run retail stores in the German Democratic Republic in which only hard currencies could be used to purchase high-quality goods. The East German mark was not accepted as payment...
in the portion of the station with services to and from West Berlin , where persons arriving from West Berlin (again without passing through border controls) could buy luxury goods such as tobacco and alcoholic beverages at discounted prices (compared to prices in West Berlin), provided they paid in hard currency
Hard currency
Hard currency , in economics, refers to a globally traded currency that is expected to serve as a reliable and stable store of value...
, owing in part to the fact that Intershop customers did not pay West German taxes on their purchases. The West Berlin authorities were aware of this situation but did not impose stringent customs controls on such purchases out of political considerations. The Friedrichstraße station also become the main entry point for train and subway riders from West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
into East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
. Service on the Nord Süd Bahn was operated for western passengers only. It passed through a relatively short stretch under East Berlin territory in the city centre, and trains did not stop at the underground East Berlin S-Bahn stations, which were called ghost station
Ghost station
Ghost stations is the usual English translation for the German word Geisterbahnhöfe. This term was used to describe certain stations on Berlin's U-Bahn and S-Bahn metro networks that were closed during the period of Berlin's division during the Cold War...
s. Similarly, the Ringbahn services in the north of the city were curtailed at Gesundbrunnen from the west and Schönhauser Allee from the east, and in the south-east of the city at Sonnenallee and Köllnische Heide from the west and Treptower Park and Baumschulenweg from the East.
Because the S-Bahn was operated by the DR, West Berliners vented their frustration at the building of the wall by boycotting it since its fares were seen as subsidising the communist regime in the East. "Keinen Pfennig mehr für Ulbricht
Walter Ulbricht
Walter Ulbricht was a German communist politician. As First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party from 1950 to 1971 , he played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany and later in the early development and...
," or "not a penny more for Ulbricht," became the S-Bahn opponents' chant. Within days of the Berlin Wall being built, the BVG, with assistance from other transit companies in West Germany, began providing "solidarity with Berlin buses" – new bus services which paralleled the S-Bahn lines and therefore provided an alternative. After many years of declining passenger usage and difficult industrial relations between the West Berlin workforce and their East Berlin employers, most of the western portion of the S-Bahn was closed down in September 1980 following a strike. A 20-minute service was still provided on the Stadtbahn from Westkreuz to Friedrichstraße as well as services on the Nord-Süd Bahn between Frohnau, Friedrichstraße, Lichtenrade or Wannsee.
By contrast, during the same period, services on the S-Bahn in East Berlin were increased and new lines built as housing projects expanded eastward from the city centre. With most of the U-Bahn located in West Berlin, the S-Bahn became the backbone of the East Berlin transit network.
Until 1984, all Berlin S-Bahn routes were allocated letters as a means of identifying the route of the train. These letters were occasionally followed by Roman numerals to indicate a shortworking or bifurcation in the service (e.g., A, BI, BII, C,) and are still used internally by the Berlin S-Bahn GmbH for timetabling and in conjunction with radio call-signs to each train unit. When the BVG took over the responsibility for operation of S-Bahn services in West Berlin in 1984, it introduced a new unified numbering scheme for both the S-Bahn and the U-Bahn, which it also operated. Existing U-Bahn route numbers were prefixed with the letter U, while the new S-Bahn route numbers were prefixed with the letter S. This system of numbering routes was used in other West German cities, and was extended to the S-Bahn service for the whole city after reunification.
Reunification
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
came down in November 1989, the first broken links were re-established, with Friedrichstraße on July 1, 1990 as the first. The BVG and DR jointly marketed the services soon after die Wende
Die Wende
marks the complete process of the change from socialism and planned economy to market economy and capitalism in East Germany around the years 1989 and 1990. It encompasses several processes and events which later have become synonymous with the overall process...
. Administratively, the divided S-Bahn networks remained separate in this time of momentous changes, encompassing German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
and reunification of Berlin into a single city, although the dividing line was no longer the former Berlin Wall. DR and BVG (of the whole of reunified Berlin from January 1, 1992 after absorbing BVB of East Berlin) operated individual lines end to end, both into the other party's territories. For example, S2 was all-BVG even after it was extended northward and southward into Brandenburg/former GDR territory. The main east-west route (Stadtbahn) was a joint operation. Individual trains were operated by either BVG or DR end-to-end on the same tracks. This arrangement ended on January 1, 1994 with the creation of Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
due to the merger between DR and the former West Germany's Deutsche Bundesbahn
Deutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
. All S-Bahn operations in Berlin were transferred to the newly formed S-Bahn Berlin GmbH as a subidiary of Deutsche Bahn and the BVG withdrew from running S-Bahn services.
Technically, a number of projects followed in the steps of re-establishing broken links in order to restore the former S-Bahn network to its 1961 status after 1990, especially the Ringbahn. In December 1997 the connection between Neukölln and Treptower Park via Sonnenallee was reopened, enabling S4 trains to run 75% of the whole ring between Schönhauser Allee and Jungfernheide. On 16 June 2002, the section Gesundbrunnen - Westhafen also reopened, re-establishing the Ringbahn operations.
Service reductions
On 20 July 2009, known locally as "Black Monday," the S-Bahn service was significantly reduced due to safety checks on the trains ordered by the German Federal Railway Authority. Having so many trains taken out of service for inspection left less than 30 percent of the system's rolling stockRolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
available for revenue service. Eight routes, including most through services on the Stadtbahn, were closed and on other lines headways were reduced to 20 minutes and trains shortened.
Some minor restorations in service were made on 3 August 2009. Due to new inspection troubles the S-Bahn network was again reduced dramatically on 8 September 2009. As of that date, three quarters of the trains were withdrawn from the network due to inspection and faulty brake cylinders. There were again no trains on the Stadtbahn between Westkreuz
Berlin Westkreuz railway station
Berlin Westkreuz is a station in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn lines , , , , , and and so represents a major interchange point on the Berlin S-Bahn network...
and Alexanderplatz
Berlin Alexanderplatz railway station
Berlin Alexanderplatz is a railway station in the Mitte district of Berlin's city centre. It is one of the busiest transportation hubs in the Berlin area...
, and no S-Bahn trains to Spandau
Berlin-Spandau railway station
Berlin-Spandau is a railway station situated in the Spandau district of Berlin, Germany located at the western end of the S-Bahn lines and .-Overview:...
. Trains on the circle lines, and , were running at 10-minute intervals. Other routes were running with extended intervals and reduced distances.
In late 2009, the Berlin Senate expected that normal operations would only resume in 2013. In January 2010, DB announced that they expected the system to resume normal service in December 2010 and employed 300 new staff in their workshops. In the same month, the Berlin transport Senator Ingeborg Junge-Reyer rejected an extension of the traffic contract with the operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) which is due to expire in December 2017. Different routes for the operation of the S-Bahn from 2018 are being examined. These include gradual tender lines, splitting the system up into subnetworks or the acquisition of the S-Bahn by the Berlin Lander.
By Spring of 2011, some 420 train sets were in service, a considerable improvement over the situation in 2009, but still insufficient compared to the 500 needed to provide a normal full service. The S-Bahn announced it was to invest 120 million euros in order to achieve 500 train sets in service by December of 2011. Rüdiger Grube, the head of the DB, announced that losses due to the S-Bahn crisis had reached 370 million euros at the end of 2010. He expected them to reach 700 million euros by the end of 2014, with no operating profits to be made before the end of the contract in December 2017.