Railway line Berlin-Pankow – Berlin Schönhauser Allee

Berlin-Pankow - Berlin Schönhauser Allee (1961-2001)
A S-Bahn train of the Reichsbahn (right) runs from Schönhauser Allee on the connecting line to Pankow, west of the Wall a S-Bahn train of the BVG (left) goes to Gesundbrunnen (1990).
Route number (DB) :	6001
Route length:	2.1 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Electricity system :	750 V  =
Train control :	Bernauer driving lock
Dual track :	continuous
Legend Railway line Berlin – Szczecin from Bln-Blankenburg 4,895 Berlin-Pankow 4.2 00 0.000 to Bln-Schönholz to Bln Bornholmer Straße (S-Bahn) Ngn ( Abzw ) to Bln-Gesundbrunnen (F-Bahn) "Block tunnel" Vns (Abzw) Berliner Nordbahn to Berlin Eberswalder Str Berlin Bornholmer Strasse (East) (Bstg C + D; 1991–2003) Ringbahn from Bln-Gesundbrunnen (S-Bahn) Ringbahn from Bln-Gesundbrunnen (F-Bahn) Vpr ( Bk , formerly Abzw ) 2,099 5,599 Berlin Schönhauser Allee Ringbahn to Bln Greifswalder Straße Sources:

The railway line Berlin-Pankow - Berlin Schönhauser Allee was a double-track electrified main line in the network of the Berlin S-Bahn . It was built as a result of the construction of the wall to bypass the Gesundbrunnen and Bornholmer Straße stations in West Berlin and established a direct connection between the eastern Berlin Ringbahn and the Szczecin Railway . As early as 1952, the Deutsche Reichsbahn electrified the parallel freight line between the Ringbahn and Stettinerbahn, which was only available to a limited extent for S-Bahn traffic due to the mixed operation . After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1991, two temporary side platforms were built at the Bösebrücke, creating a transfer option to the reopened Bornholmer Straße S-Bahn station. In 2001 it was shut down as part of the renovation work on Nordkreuz. As a replacement building, a new connecting curve Bornholmer Straße - Schönhauser Allee was built by 2003, creating an additional link with the northern railway .

course

The line began at the station border of Berlin-Pankow at the level of the Maximilianstrasse underpass and connected directly to the suburban tracks of the Szczecin Railway . Between the underpasses Maximilianstrasse and Esplanade , the line crossed the parallel long-distance and freight line Pankow - junction (Abzw) Vpr and changed from the west to the east side. Behind the esplanade, the route turned south and changed from dam to trough position . The Berlin Bornholmer Strasse (east) stop, which was provisionally set up in 1991, was north of the Bösebrücke . From the Behmstrasse bridge , the line turned to the east and joined the S-Bahn tracks of the Berlin Ringbahn at the level of Malmöer Strasse . The route end was at the entry signal of the S-station Schön Allee in height of the interlocking Vpr ( V Getting Connected P ankow R ing)

The connecting curve opened in 2003 begins immediately south of the platforms of the Bornholmer Straße S-Bahn station. The mainline tracks are connected to the suburban tracks of the Szczecin and Northern Railway. The opposite track Bornholmer Straße - Schönhauser Allee crosses in a tunnel under the outer S-Bahn track and the four long-distance tracks Gesundbrunnen - Bornholmer Straße and the Behmstraße bridge and reappears at the level of the Schwedter Steg . In a second tunnel, the long-distance tracks Bornholmer Straße - Schönhauser Allee are crossed, the track threads into the S-Bahn track Schönhauser Allee - Gesundbrunnen at the level of Malmöer Straße. The standard track Bornholmer Straße - Schönhauser Allee leads from the extension in a long tunnel structure to the level of Malmöer Straße. At the level of Schönfließer Straße the track threads into the S-Bahn track Gesundbrunnen - Schönhauser Allee.

story

Electrification of the freight tracks

As a result of the four-power statute , Greater Berlin was divided into four sectors in the summer of 1945 . The Szczecin Railway , which started at the Nordbahnhof , ran through large parts of the Soviet sector ( East Berlin ). The S-Bahn stations Gesundbrunnen  - at the intersection with the Ringbahn  - and Humboldthain , however, were in the Wedding district in the French sector ( West Berlin ). The Bornholmer Straße S-Bahn station at the point of separation between the Stettiner and Nordbahn bordered - still in the eastern part - directly on the western sector. For journeys between Pankow-Schönhausen and Schönhauser Allee , passengers have always had to change trains in Gesundbrunnen. In May 1952, the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) closed the North Station for long-distance traffic, and passenger trains would run via the outer freight ring or the Berlin outer ring or the connecting curve Pankow - Abzw Vpr to the inner ring.

In order to establish a direct connection between Pankow and Schönhauser Allee, bypassing the western sector, the DR had the connecting curve Pankow - Abzw Vpr electrified. The busbars were fed from the nearby Pankow substation. At the junction Ngn and Vnp, the trains could switch between the freight and S-Bahn tracks via short connections, with the freed route of the long-distance tracks being crossed at the junction Ngn. On December 25, 1952, the Reichsbahn began operating electric trains on the freight tracks, which are also known as the “Stalin Curve” in the literature. Because of the mixed traffic with long-distance and freight trains, the train sequence was 40 minutes. The freight trains switched between the branches Ngn and Vns on the parallel freight tracks of the Stettiner- and Nordbahn from Gesundbrunnen, so that the S-Bahn trains could overtake on the short section. With the electrification, an operational link was created for the first time between the Ringbahn and the northern routes. In terms of travel time, the route did not bring the shortening that was hoped for. The Reichsbahn therefore had the second line from Bornholmer Strasse - Pankow, which was dismantled after the Second World War , rebuilt in 1953.

Situation after the wall was built

Crossing structure of the S-Bahn and long-distance railway lines north of the Esplanade, 1991

With the construction of the wall on the night of August 13, 1961, the rail connections along the Szczecin Railway between Pankow and Bornholmer Straße and the Ringbahn between Schönhauser Allee and Gesundbrunnen were cut. The Gesundbrunnen - Bornholmer Strasse - Schönholz S-Bahn , however, remained in operation, while the Bornholmer Strasse S-Bahn station in East Berlin was closed. The connecting curve Pankow - Vpr was the only connection of the (eastern) Szczecin Railway to the rest of the S-Bahn network after the construction of the Wall more the requirements. To make matters worse, there was no alternative between Ngn and Vns, as these tracks were only to be used by West Berlin trains from now on. A new line therefore had to be built for the five-minute intervals required by the S-Bahn. The Reichsbahndirektion Berlin (Rbd Berlin) submitted the task for the construction project on August 31, 1961, which the Ministry of Transport (MfV) confirmed at the end of the month. The new line was to lead out of the existing line to the southwest of the Pankow S-Bahn station, cross under the freight tracks in a tunnel-like crossing structure near the Ngn signal box north of the Esplanade, then run parallel to the freight tracks and merge into the circular railway at the Vpr junction. For the construction, a wooden control platform west of the Schönhauser Allee S-Bahn station, built in 1952 and never used, had to be demolished. For the route, a courtyard for the municipal garbage disposal and the eastern abutment of the Behmstrasse bridge also had to be demolished. To the south of the intersection there were some allotment gardens that had to be abandoned . A wooden footbridge was built as a replacement for the patrolling border guards . The construction work was in full swing and under tightened safety precautions. The foundation, abutment and wing walls of the crossing structure south of Görschstrasse were built from prefabricated elements. These consisted of unreinforced concrete blocks measuring 1.20 × 0.60 × 0.50 m with a weight of 750 kg each. After laying the blocks with a railway crane, the butt joints were filled with liquid cement. The carriageway slab was divided into 1 m wide strips and laid using a slewing crane. Due to the lack of suitable equipment, the applied ballast often had to be tamped by hand. Due to the way it was built, the building was given the casual name “Klötzchentunnel”. At the same time as the construction work, the DR wanted to gain experience with the prefabricated construction method in order to be able to use it for other objects if necessary. After 50 days of construction, the Schönhauser Allee - Pankow track went into operation on December 7, 1961, followed by the opposite track three days later. The Reichsbahn shut down the signal boxes located in the border area by 1965.

The immediate location in the border area resulted in some operational peculiarities. The S-Bahn tracks belonging to the West Berlin network and the Gesundbrunnen - Schönholz freight track as well as the East Berlin freight tracks and the Schönhauser Allee - Pankow S-Bahn tracks ran at the Bösebrücke within sight of each other, so that passengers from both halves of the city could see each other could wave to each other. There was also the risk that the West Berlin trains could have been used to escape. To begin with, a two-meter-high chain link fence was erected between the two freight routes , after which it was replaced by a three-meter-high expanded metal fence . Despite the relatively high density of trains, the curve did not receive any Sv signals and automatic route blocks; these were set up between Bornholmer Strasse and Pankow until the Wall was built. When equipping the Berlin S-Bahn network with the AB 70 S automatic block, the route was also not taken into account.

View from the Pankow switchgear to the Bösebrücke, 1991. The freight track of the Nordbahn (previously S-Bahn) leads over the bridge on the right in the picture over the S-Bahn tracks of the Szczecin Railway, which were interrupted in 1961; the incision had been backfilled a few years earlier. The directly adjoining row of concrete piles heralds the wall that was to be moved to the west due to the electrification of the East Berlin freight tracks. It was never completed. The Bornholmer Straße (east) stop, visible on the left in the picture, went into operation a few weeks before the start.

The train drivers were instructed to drive in the border section with at least 40 km / h and without stopping. The location of the entry signal for the S-Bahn station Pankow at the southern abutment of the “Klötzchen tunnel” proved to be a disadvantage . Later this was moved to the north and a distant signal repeater was installed instead of the old entry signal . If there was an unscheduled stop, the train crew had to make themselves recognizable by lifting the white hand lamp three times in the direction of the next post and answering it. In the case of longer stays, the neighboring dispatchers and the border post in the control tower had to be notified via one of the intercom pillars . In this case, the passengers were warned via loudspeakers that they were not leaving the train without authorization and were instructed to keep the car doors closed. Leaving the train was only permitted under the guidance of employees of the Reichsbahn and the transport police. Since the crossing structure was not visible from the control tower, the border troops installed a complex of light barriers in the tunnel at the end of the 1970s . These were placed in such a way that a passing S-Bahn train interrupted several of them at the same time and was thus recognized. A single person who was unable to do this, however, triggered an alarm on the control tower that was invisible to him.

In the period from 1961 to 1989, at least four fatalities of refugees are known that are related to the S-Bahn route:

• On November 25, 1963, Dietmar Schulz was hit by an S-Bahn train south of Maximilianstrasse and died a short time later.
• On August 8, 1965, Klaus Kratzel was probably hit by a train in the crossroads on Görschstrasse and was fatally injured.
• On March 1, 1973, Volker Frommann was seriously injured while jumping from an S-Bahn train and died shortly afterwards in hospital.
• On January 13, 1989 Ingolf Diederichs wanted to cross the border installations in the area of ​​the Bösebrücke with a self-made ladder. When jumping off the S-Bahn, he got stuck and was dragged to death.

In 1984 one person managed to stop an express train traveling on the neighboring freight tracks with an emergency brake and to overcome the safety systems with a metal ladder. As a consequence, the border troops replaced the expanded metal fence with a concrete wall with attached round elements.

Closure and construction of the connecting curve

Work on restarting the Bornholmer Strasse S-Bahn station began on August 15, 1990, during the fall of the Berlin Wall, and was completed on December 22, 1990. At the suggestion of the Berlin Passenger Association IGEB , the DR had two side platforms built on the connecting curve Pankow - Schönhauser Allee, which went into operation on August 5, 1991. Both S-Bahn stations were connected to each other by a 60-meter-long footpath across the Bösebrücke. In the long term, a link between the two routes in the (western) S-Bahn station Bornholmer Straße was planned. This was then laid down in the mushroom concept adopted in 1992 , which, among other things, provided for the restoration and expansion of the track systems at the intersection of the Szczecin, North and Ring Railway. Since the project had to be implemented during ongoing operations, several intermediate states were planned. On September 10, 2001, the connecting curve Pankow - Schönhauser Allee went out of service after around 40 years. One week later, on September 17, 2001, the circular railway between Schönhauser Allee and Gesundbrunnen and the Stettiner Bahn between Bornholmer Straße (West) and Pankow went back into operation.

Berlin Bornholmer Strasse - Berlin Schönhauser Allee (since 2003)
Track Schönhauser Allee - Bornholmer Straße at the level of the Schwedter Steg , 2014. The track in the opposite direction runs parallel to it, invisibly through a tunnel structure.
Route number (DB) :	6018
Course book section (DB) :	200.8, 200.85
Route length:	0.7 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	C4
Electricity system :	750 V  =
Minimum radius :	280 m
Train control :	Bernauer driving lock
Dual track :	continuous
Legend from Bln-Blankenburg from Bln-Schönholz (F-Bahn) from Bln-Schönholz (S-Bahn) 0.000 Berlin Bornholmer Strasse to Bln-Gesundbrunnen (S-Bahn) to Bln-Gesundbrunnen (F-Bahn) 0.744 5.140 Ringbahn from Bln-Gesundbrunnen (S-Bahn) Ringbahn from Bln-Gesundbrunnen (F-Bahn) 5.750 Berlin Schönhauser Allee ( Bft ) Ringbahn to Berlin Greifswalder Strasse Sources:

The new construction of the S-Bahn route Bornholmer Straße - Schönhauser Allee could only be carried out after the long-distance and freight tracks from Pankow to the Ringbahn had been completed in their final position. The new S-Bahn tracks went into operation on June 16, 2003. Associated with this was the possibility of a platform-level change at the Bornholmer Straße S-Bahn station as well as a direct connection from the eastern ring line to both the Szczecin and the North and Kremmen lines .

operation

The connecting curve electrified in 1952 was initially used by train group C (from 1954: K) every 40 minutes. The train group initially drove between Westkreuz and Blankenburg and was shortened to Warschauer Straße in 1955 . After the wall was built, train group 2 ( Bernau  - Grünau ) ran instead of train group K, but instead every 20 minutes. There was also a steam-powered shuttle train between Oranienburg and Greifswalder Strasse until November 1961 .

With the completion of the S-Bahn tracks in December 1961, in addition to train group 2, train groups N / N _I to Blankenburg and the re-established train group K to Oranienburg could be extended from the ring to the Stettiner Bahn. The interval was 20 minutes in each case. Two more train groups were added by 1970. A further increase in the number of trains was not possible due to the large main signal spacing .

Train groups from September 27, 1981

KBS	Train group	Days of operation	Trains / h	Walkway	Remarks
140	K	Mon-Sun	3	Schönefeld Airport  - Oranienburg
141	M.	Mon-Fri	3	Pankow  - Schöneweide (- Grünau )	only in rush hour traffic
	N	Mon-Sun	3	Bernau  - Grünau (-  Zeuthen )
142	O	Mon-Fri	3	Blankenburg  - Spindlersfeld	only during the day
143	L.	Mon-Fri	3	Book  - Alexanderplatz
	U	Sat – Sun	3	Book - Schöneweide	only during the day

With the introduction of line numbers, train groups K and K _I (until 1990: M) were given the line designation S10, train group N drove as line S8, train groups O and U as S85 and train group L as S86. After the reopening of the Südring in December 1993, the Reichsbahn discontinued the S85 line, and with the 1994 summer timetable also the S86 line. The remaining lines S8 and S10 ran with two train groups each. With the closure of the loop gap over Sonnenallee on December 18, 1997, the repeater trips on both lines were discontinued in favor of the newly established line S4 ( Jungfernheide  - Schönhauser Allee ). Since only two train groups drove over the route in this way, the S4 was extended with two train groups in the spring of 1998 via the "Ulbricht curve" to Bernau. Before the line was closed in September 2001, the S4, S8 and S85 ran the line, the latter went (with interruptions) in 2003 to the new connecting curve.

Lines and train groups on July 31, 2001

KBS	Train group	Days of operation	Trains / h	Walkway	Remarks
200.4	A.	Mon-Sun	3	Bernau  - Westhafen
	A I	Mon-Sun	3	Book  - Westhafen
200.8	N	Mon-Sun	3	Birkenwerder  - Grünau
200.85	K I	Mon-Sun	3	Blankenburg  - Spindlersfeld	only during the day

Remarks

1. ^ To 1952: Berlin Stettiner Bahnhof
2. ↑ since 1954: Berlin-Pankow
3. ↑ A track connection between the Ringbahn and the Szczecin and Northern Railway at Gesundbrunnen station was not established until 2001.

literature

• Ulrich Kothlow: First building the wall - then building the line. The connecting curve Schönhauser Allee - Pankow . In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter . 38th year, no. 5 , 2001.

Web links

• Michael Bartnik: The history of the "integrating curve". In: hisb.de. June 13, 2009 . 

Individual evidence

1. ^ Administration of the facilities of the Reichsbahndirektion Berlin (ed.): Operating route map of the Reichsbahndirektionsbezirks Berlin . May 1959 ( blocksignal.de ).
2. ^ Administration of the facilities of the Reichsbahndirektion Berlin (ed.): Operating route map of the Reichsbahndirektionsbezirks Berlin . January 1968 ( blocksignal.de ).
3. ↑ Deutsche Reichsbahn. Reichsbahndirektion Berlin (Ed.): Bahnhofsplanbuch . Bf Berlin-Pankow. April 1, 1967 ( sporenplan.nl ).
4. ↑ Deutsche Reichsbahn. Reichsbahndirektion Berlin (Ed.): Bahnhofsplanbuch . Bf Schönhauser Allee. April 1, 1967 ( sporenplan.nl ).
5. ↑ Deutsche Reichsbahn. Reichsbahndirektion Berlin (Ed.): Bahnhofsplanbuch . Bf Bornholmer Strasse. April 1, 1967 ( sporenplan.nl ).
6. ^ Bernhard Strowitzki: S-Bahn Berlin. Story (s) for on the go . 2nd Edition. GVE, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-89218-073-3 , p. 136-138 .
7. ^ Bernd Kuhlmann: Berlin North Cross. Construction - history - present . transpress, Stuttgart 2020, p. 34-39 .
8. ↑ Udo Dittfurth: August 1961. S-Bahn and construction of the wall . Ed .: Berlin S-Bahn Museum. 3rd Edition. GVE, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-89218-080-7 , pp. 72-77 .
9. ↑ ^{a b} Konrad Koschinski: The electrical operation on the Berlin S-Bahn. Volume 5: Temporarily separated - 1960 to 1980 . 2nd Edition. VBN, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-933254-22-1 , pp. 49-53 .
10. ↑ Udo Dittfurth: August 1961. S-Bahn and construction of the wall . Ed .: Berlin S-Bahn Museum. 3rd Edition. GVE, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-89218-080-7 , pp. 121-124 .
11. ↑ Ulrich Kothlow: First construction of the wall - then construction of the route. The connecting curve Schönhauser Allee - Pankow . In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter . No. 5 , 2001, p. 152-153 .
12. ^ Bernd Kuhlmann: Berlin North Cross. Construction - history - present . transpress, Stuttgart 2020, p. 40-45 .
13. ↑ Konrad Koschinski: The electrical operation on the Berlin S-Bahn. Volume 5: Temporarily separated - 1960 to 1980 . 2nd Edition. VBN, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-933254-22-1 , pp. 43-48 .
14. ↑ Steffen Buhr: The signal connections. In: blocksignal.de. February 10, 2004, accessed September 12, 2020 . 
15. ↑ Bernd Kuhlmann: The automatic route block AB 70 S of the Berlin S-Bahn . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . 38th year, no. 4 , 1991, pp. 67-73 .
16. ↑ ^{a b} Bernd Kuhlmann: Berlin North Cross. Construction - history - present . transpress, Stuttgart 2020, p. 46-53 .
17. ↑ ^{a b} Michael Bartnik: The history of the "Ulbricht curve". In: hisb.de. June 13, 2009, accessed October 30, 2021 . 
18. ^ Christine Brecht: Schulz, Dietmar. In: chronik-der-mauer.de. Retrieved November 4, 2021 . 
19. ↑ Christine Brecht: Kratzel, Klaus. In: chronik-der-mauer.de. Retrieved November 4, 2021 . 
20. ↑ Hans-Hermann Hertle: Frommann, Volker. In: chronik-der-mauer.de. Retrieved November 4, 2021 . 
21. ↑ Martin Ahrends, Udo Baron: Diederichs, Ingolf. In: chronik-der-mauer.de. Retrieved November 4, 2021 . 
22. ↑ S-Bf. Bornholmer Strasse An East-West Conflict? In: signal . No. 4 , 1990, pp. 6–9 ( signalarchiv.de ).
23. ^ Bernd Kuhlmann: Berlin North Cross. Construction - history - present . transpress, Stuttgart 2020, p. 59 .
24. ^ Bernd Kuhlmann: Berlin North Cross. Construction - history - present . transpress, Stuttgart 2020, p. 73-75 .
25. ^ Bernd Kuhlmann: Berlin North Cross. Construction - history - present . transpress, Stuttgart 2020, p. 98-113 .
26. ↑ Query of the course book route 200.8 at Deutsche Bahn.
27. ↑ Query of the course book route 200.85 at Deutsche Bahn.
28. ↑ GeoViewer. DB Netze track 
29. ^ Bernd Kuhlmann: Berlin North Cross. Construction - history - present . transpress, Stuttgart 2020, p. 114-121 .
30. ↑ Holger Prüfert: S-Bahn train groups 4th quarter 1952. In: kibou.de. Retrieved September 11, 2020 . 
31. ↑ Holger Prüfert: S-Bahn train groups 4th quarter 1955. In: kibou.de. Retrieved September 11, 2020 . 
32. ↑ Bernd Kuhlmann: The Berlin outer ring . Kenning, Nordhorn 1997, ISBN 3-927587-65-6 , pp. 79-81 .
33. ↑ Holger Prüfert: S-Bahn train groups 4th quarter 1961. In: kibou.de. Retrieved September 11, 2020 . 
34. ↑ Holger Prüfert: S-Bahn train groups 2nd quarter 1970. In: kibou.de. Retrieved September 11, 2020 . 
35. ↑ Bernd Kuhlmann: The Berlin outer ring . Kenning, Nordhorn 1997, ISBN 3-927587-65-6 , pp. 90-91 .
36. ^ Deutsche Reichsbahn (Ed.): Course book of the Deutsche Reichsbahn. Winter timetable . Valid from September 27, 1981 to May 22, 1982. Tables 140–143 ( eisenbahnwelt.com [accessed September 11, 2020]).
37. ↑ Holger Prüfert: S-Bahn train groups 3rd quarter 1981. In: kibou.de. Retrieved September 11, 2020 . 
38. ↑ Holger Prüfert: S-Bahn-Zuggruppen 2nd quarter 1991. In: kibou.de. Retrieved September 12, 2020 . 
39. ↑ Holger Prüfert: S-Bahn train groups 4th quarter 1993. In: kibou.de. Retrieved September 12, 2020 . 
40. ↑ Holger Prüfert: S-Bahn-Zuggruppen 2nd quarter 1994. In: kibou.de. Retrieved September 12, 2020 . 
41. ↑ Holger Prüfert: S-Bahn train groups 4th quarter 1997. In: kibou.de. Retrieved September 12, 2020 . 
42. ↑ Holger Prüfert: S-Bahn train groups 2nd quarter 1998. In: kibou.de. Retrieved September 12, 2020 . 
43. ^ ^{A b} Holger Prüfert: S-Bahn train groups 2nd quarter 2001. In: kibou.de. Retrieved September 11, 2020 .