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By Peter Ehrlich (about) (contact) Berlin, the largest city in Germany, hosts extensive U-Bahn (subway), S-Bahn (suburban railways) and trams. In all cases, these are the largest such networks in the country. In the case of the U-Bahn and the trams, Berlin can claim firsts regarding the year of their birth, with the first electric streetcar in the world beginning operations in 1881. The Berlin U-Bahn, Germany's oldest and largest, opened for service in 1902 with a line between Warschauer Straße and Ernst-Reuter-Platz. This was the first of the narrow-profile system, which ultimately reached four routes (today's U1, U2, U3 and U4, originally Lines A and B). These routes use stock which is only 2.3 meters wide, and the last extension opened in 1930. Portions of lines U1 and U2 are elevated. The last addition to the narrow lines occurred in 2000, when the U2 was extended by one station northward from Vinetastraße to Pankow. Line U4, which opened in December 1910 and has operated without change ever since, is the shortest in the U-Bahn system--only 5 stations and 2.9km long. Starting in 1923, a new wide-profile (2.6m) network went into service, with the opening of Line C (now part of U6). Expansion of the "wide" lines continued rapidly until 1930, with incremental extensions on Lines U5, U6, U7 and U8 occurring between 1956 and 1996. North-south line U9 opened in 1961, the year of the building of the infamous Berlin Wall, and reached its full length by 1976. Line U7, at 31.8km, is the longest in the U-Bahn system. The Berlin Wall disrupted service on east-west U-Bahn narrow-profile routes U1 and U2. Whereas U1 service ceased operating across the classic 1895 Oberbaumbrücke over the river Spree to Warschauer Straße, the U2 was most affected, with service to Potsdamer Platz station terminated from both sides. Later, the U2 in West Berlin between Gleisdreieck and Nollendorfplatz (serving Bülow) was shut down as it paralleled, but made a more circuitous route than the U1, between those two stations. Even though the Wall came down in 1991, through service was not restored on U2 until 1993. Finally, service across the Spree on U1 was restored in 1995. (Ironically, U2 was again shut down between Gleisdreieck and Nollendorfplatz starting in August 2006 due to the need to replace a bridge. This resulted in the U1 and the west half of U2 being combined to form a Route U12, and introduction of a 3-station shuttle between Uhlandstraße and Wittenburgplatz.) As of December 2006, service on the U2 through Nollendorfplatz and Bülowstrasse to Gleisdreieck had been restored, and the combined U1/U2 service was discontinued. The older sections of the U-Bahn feature many spectacular and handsome stations. The most ornate station, hands down, is Heidelberger Platz on the U3, with its tall arched ceilings. Other stations of note include Sophie-Charlotte Platz and Klosterstraße on the U2; the latter features a display of an original U-Bahn car. The station house at Wittenburgplatz is also noteworthy. Of course, the elevated sections of U1 and U2 are spectacular, and reminiscent of the above-ground portions of the Paris Métro. Gleisdreieck Station is a double-elevated station, with U1 on the top level, and U2 on the lower level. The stations on the newer system, as a rule, are more mundane. One exception is Zoologischer Garten on the U9, with its animal decorations on the walls. Alexanderplatz on the U5 is a high-ceilinged station, creating the atmosphere of spaciousness. Most of the rolling stock on the narrow-profile system (numbers 494-999) dates to the 1960s, but has been rebuilt at least once. Some trains of East German stock (200-300 and 1070-series), built as narrow versions of typical Communist-era subway cars, still operate on the currently combined U1/U2 (U12). At least one new train of walk-through Bombardier train is now in service on the U12. This is the first new stock for the narrow network in over 20 years. Over on the wide-profile routes, there are currently two classes of subway cars: the 2500s, dating from the 1960s/1980s, and the new walk-through 5000-series trains, dating to 2000/2001. D-stock, vintage 1957/1965, was sold to Pyongyang, North Korea starting in 1998. Fares are standard BVG fares with certain station or travel direction restrictions. Day tickets with no restrictions are available for zones A and B, which covers the entire U-Bahn system, most of the S-Bahn, the trams and local buses. A 7-day pass is also available. Service on most lines is every 3-5 minutes during the peak periods and between every 5-10 minutes at other times. On Friday and Saturday nights, U-Bahn lines U5, U6, U8, U9 and most of U2 and U7 operate 24 hours--probably the only Metro in Europe that doesn't close down entirely after midinght. Pictures by Line |
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