Berlin Westkreuz train station
| Berlin West Cross | |
|---|---|
 View from the radio tower to the train station, 2011
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| Data | |
| Operating point type |
Railway station (Stadtbahn) Stopping point (Ringbahn) |
| Location in the network | Crossing station |
| Design | Tower station |
| Platform tracks | 4 (bottom) 2 (top) |
| abbreviation | BWKS (Stadtbahn) BWKRR (Ringbahn) |
| IBNR | 8089047 |
| Price range | 3 |
| opening | December 10, 1928 |
| Website URL | s-bahn-berlin.de |
| Profile on Bahnhof.de | Berlin-Westkreuz |
| Architectural data | |
| architect | Richard Brademann |
| location | |
| City / municipality | Berlin |
| Place / district | Charlottenburg |
| country | Berlin |
| Country | Germany |
| Coordinates | 52 ° 30 '4 " N , 13 ° 17' 2" E |
| Railway lines | |
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| Railway stations in Berlin | |
The Berlin Westkreuz station is an S-Bahn station in the Berlin district of Charlottenburg in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district . In addition to Ostkreuz station, it represents the connection between the (extended) light rail and the circular railway .
From Westkreuz station you can take various S-Bahn lines via the Wetzlarer Bahn to Wannsee and Potsdam , via the Spandau suburban railway to the Olympiastadion and to Spandau , via the circular railway to Westend and Halensee and via the city railway to the city center .
Operationally, the station is made up of two independent operating points . The lower part is run as the Berlin Westkreuz station (Stadtbahn) with the abbreviation BWKS , the upper part as the Berlin Westkreuz stop (ring line) with the abbreviation BWKRR .
location
Westkreuz station is located in a very sparsely populated area on the border between the districts of Charlottenburg , Halensee , Westend and Grunewald . The way to the exhibition center is via the streets Am Westkreuz and Halenseestraße . Although originally intended as one of the main access stations to the fair grounds, this is about the railway stations Messe Süd (formerly Eichkamp ) and Messe Nord / ICC (formerly Witzleben ) as well as the underground stations Kaiserdamm and Theodor-Heuss-Platz and the buses of Berlin Transport companies much better developed. Therefore, the station is mainly used for changing trains.
history
The following situation arose before the station was built : West of the Charlottenburg station, a pair of tracks for the city trains led to the Grunewald station as an extension of the Stadtbahn . Two further pairs of tracks connected the station with the Nordring via Witzleben and Westend and with the Südring via Halensee . The extended city tracks and the Südringkurve crossed at the same level in the western track field of the Charlottenburg train station. The ring and suburban trains coming from the east were led over the city tracks of the Stadtbahn to Charlottenburg. Since 1911 there was a connection with the Spandauer Vorortbahn for suburban traffic to Spandau via Rennbahn and Pichelsberg . For cost reasons, this was connected to the existing pair of tracks Charlottenburg – Spandau in Heerstraße station and thus ended in Charlottenburg with the long-distance tracks of the light rail. The number of trains on the Spandau suburban railway was therefore dependent on the train occupancy of the long-distance tracks of the light rail. A consolidation of the suburban traffic to Spandau via the Lehrter Bahn , which runs further north, was ruled out because the Lehrter station had already reached its capacity limit.
As part of the great electrification of the Berlin city, ring and suburban railways, suburban traffic to Spandau between Charlottenburg and Heerstraße was to have its own pair of tracks. In addition, the plan was to remove the level crossing between the Stadtbahn and Südringkurve and the construction of a sweeping system east of the Charlottenburg train station. At the intersection of the extended Stadtbahn and the Ringbahn, a train station to be built should improve the transfer connections between the two lines. In particular, passengers who were dependent on the full ring trains had to change trains twice for a trip in the direction of Heerstraße or Grunewald (in Halensee or Westend and in Charlottenburg). During the construction, the Reichsbahn had to take into account the interests of the city of Berlin, which wanted to build an exhibition center on an approximately 100 hectare site south of the Kaiserdamm . In order not to cut up the site, the Reichsbahn had to relocate the lines to Spandau on the southern edge of the site. The new pair of suburban tracks to Spandau went into operation on August 23, 1928.
In addition to its primary use as a transfer station, the station to be built between the Stadtbahn and the Ringbahn was also intended as an entrance and exit to the planned exhibition center and was therefore given the name Exhibition . For this reason, the station was given a generously dimensioned reception building that was connected to Halenseestrasse via a side street . For the light rail, two middle platforms used in directional operation were created . On both sides of the platforms developed reversing installations ; the western sweeping system was primarily intended for trains stopping at the exhibition center, the eastern sweeping system for making people who drop in and out of the Grunewald parking station in the direction of Spandau. The Ringbahn was given a central platform that was located at right angles above the two city platforms. The entrance and exit to the station building was made from the ring platform via a pedestrian bridge. With a corresponding increase in traffic, a second ring platform was structurally prepared. Likewise, the station building could have been extended to the west and given a separate entrance to the city platforms.
The station exhibition went into operation on December 10, 1928. While the city platforms were used by electric trains from the start, only steam-powered trains ran on the ring platform until April 18, 1929. On weekdays, between 16,000 and 20,000 passengers were expected to transfer traffic between the Stadtbahn and Ringbahn, and around 700 trains stopped at the station every day. After a possible thinning of the traffic on the north and south ring curve, up to 50,000 passengers were expected. In addition, there were another 50,000 passengers who were expected at trade fairs. On January 15, 1932, the name was changed to Westkreuz .
The plans of the National Socialists to transform Berlin into the world capital Germania envisaged relocating long-distance traffic to the Ringbahn. The Westkreuz station was to be expanded into a western station as a link to the Grunewald parking station. Plans from 1941 envisaged adding two platforms to the S-Bahn's light rail vehicles. To the north and south of this, five and four platforms were provided for long-distance traffic. Two ring platforms, one each for the S-Bahn and steam-powered passenger trains, were to span the lower level. There were no plans for the exact design of the facility.
From the beginning there were problems with the subsoil, which consists of a sand-filled ice age meltwater channel. Settlement damage occurred during construction, including the signal tower tilting. The Ringbahnhalle also sagged, there were differences in settlement of up to 60 centimeters. Therefore, over the course of time, it had to be reworked again and again. In 1968, the Reichsbahn began the largest repair project to date: the circular railway hall was hydraulically raised, new foundations were set, and a deep foundation attempted. This work dragged on until 1976.
The shutdown of the S-Bahn after the Reichsbahner strike in 1980 also affected Westkreuz station. There was only minimal traffic on the Stadtbahn, operations on the Ringbahn had been completely stopped. Even in 1984 after the BVG took over the business , nothing changed at first. It wasn't until 1989 that the Berlin Senate began to rebuild the Ringbahn. He noted that there was a particularly large need for renovation at Westkreuz station. In 1993 the reception building and signal box had to be demolished; the signal tower had a dangerous overhang of 30 cm. The station was equipped with escalators and elevators.
On December 17, 1993, the first section of the Ringbahn was put back into operation, so that the Westkreuz had regained its old function after 13 years. Between June 27, 1994 and May 31, 1997, Westkreuz was also the terminus of the regional railways in the direction of Spandau. For this purpose, a temporary wooden platform was built on the freight tracks of the ring railway, which was demolished as part of the renovation of the freight ring tracks. As part of the complete renovation of the light rail system in Westkreuz, both the tracks and the two light rail platforms have been completely renewed since 2004. The work was completed by the 2006 World Cup .
As one of 20 so-called main stations of the Berlin S-Bahn, the station is manned by local supervision . At the ring platform, the train driver handles the train using the driver's cab monitor (ZAT-FM). Contrary to the ZAT standard handling procedure, train handling is carried out by local supervision on the track in the direction of Spandau in the case of special traffic .
An additional east access has been ordered by the State of Berlin and is expected to be built in 2018.
construction
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The station was built according to Richard Brademann's plans . The only access to the station is via the street Am Westkreuz, at the end of which until 1993 the reception building with the electromechanical signal box Wk was located. From there, a footbridge leads over the freight tracks of the Ringbahn and the passenger track Westend - Halensee to the Ringbahnsteig. From the ring platform, the stairs to the two city platforms go down.
Former reception building with signal box
The construction of the reception building took around a year and a half. Its generous expansion was justified in its intended function as a trade fair station . With the otherwise prevailing transfer traffic and the low local traffic, according to Brademann, the installation of a few service rooms on the platforms would have been sufficient. Brademann originally planned to lay the station building above the intersection of the Stadtbahn and Ringbahn and to have a single domed hall spanned over the facility. The project was abandoned for financial reasons.
The station building was at the southern end of the forecourt of today's street Am Westkreuz with the main entrance to the north. Another entrance was on the west side. The main entrance is symmetrical. The five access doors were designed in the manner of a vestibule with walls sloping towards the rear. Pillar-like wall templates between the individual doors divided the porch. In view of the expected trade fair traffic, the wall templates should also act as locks . A canopy-like concrete slab summarized the door area, above which rectangular wall fields with brick patterns appeared . Separated from the porch by a concrete cornice, the skylight of the counter hall rose . The windows were arranged axially to the entrance doors. Above it was the name BAHNHOF AUSSTELLUNG or later BAHNHOF WESTKREUZ in illuminated letters. At the southeast corner, the S&H 1912 signal box construction Wk stood out from the rest of the building. A window front extending over three corners in the direction of the track system indicated the function.
In contrast, the track side of the building had a simplified facade. The wall surfaces of the nested cubic structure of the reception building, the skylight and the signal tower were structured by flush window openings. The signal box emerged from the alignment opposite the station building . At a height of 20 meters above the tracks of the extended light rail, the building was the highest signal box in Berlin at the time. A concrete slab, above which the control room of the signal box was located, and two further concrete slabs as the upper end of the tower formed a horizontal counterweight to the height of the structure.
The floor plan of the counter hall also indicated its intended function as a trade fair station. Starting from the smaller west entrance, the ticket offices were on the right-hand side, the access to the platform was opposite the entrance. The larger north entrance would have served as an exit in the direction of the exhibition center, so that the streams of passengers would not have crossed. The location of this exit on the long side was justified by the layout of the forecourt, which for reasons of space could only have been laid out on the north side. In addition, a possible expansion of the reception building had to be taken into account. If it had been implemented, this would have been extended to the west and a separate entrance to the city platforms would have been created. The walls of the counter hall were clad with light-colored tiles in the lower area . From there, a six-meter-wide iron, wood-covered bridge walkway with glazed ribbon windows led to the access to the ring platform.
After the reception building and the signal tower have been demolished, the western corner of the building and part of the western transverse side of the building are still present. After its decommissioning on April 30, 1993, the tasks of the signal box were taken over by the electronic signal boxes WKR and WKS , which are controlled from the operations center of the Berlin S-Bahn in Halensee .
Tracks and platforms
Access from the pedestrian bridge to the ring platform is via a four meter wide staircase. The 12.33 meter wide and 160 meter long circular platform is 42.08 meters above sea level and has a platform height of 96 centimeters. Due to its elevated location, it is equipped with a platform hall as weather protection. The hall has a tapered skylight and glazed side walls. It measures 22 meters in width and 161 meters in length. The city platforms are each 14.75 meters wide and 163 meters long, the platform height is also 96 centimeters. These platforms are located at a height of 36.08 meters above sea level. They are covered over a length of 40 meters by the iron structure of the Ringbahnhalle and the freight tracks of the Ringbahn, while the remaining length has a two-legged butterfly roof . Additional weather protection is provided over a 6.30 meter high embankment on both sides . The stairs between the city and ring platforms were equipped with escalators from the start . An operating track also runs between the two city platforms .
To the west of the city platforms there is a double-track sweeping system for the trains that end here, to the east there is a single-track sweeping system for dropouts and dropouts to the Hundekehle railcar hangar. During the redevelopment of the Stadtbahn and the relocation of the Charlottenburg station , the track was temporarily prepared as a line track. As a stopping point, the Ringbahnhof has no sweeping system or track changes.
Connection
The Westkreuz is served by a total of seven lines of the Berlin S-Bahn. The tower station serves primarily as a transfer between the individual S-Bahn lines. There is a bus stop , but it is only served in one direction.
literature
- Karl Remy: Opening of the "Exhibition" station in Berlin . In: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung . No. 52 , December 26, 1928, pp. 846-849 ( digital copy [PDF]).
Web links
- Entry in the Berlin State Monument List
- Berlin Westkreuz station (Ringbahn) on stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de
- Berlin Westkreuz train station (Stadtbahn) on stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de
- Photo of the reception building demolished in 1993 (1970s or 1980s) on tagesspiegel.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Station price list 2020. In: Deutsche Bahn. Deutsche Bahn, January 1, 2020, accessed on July 11, 2020 .
- ↑ Query of the course book route 200.41 at Deutsche Bahn.
- ↑ Query of the course book route 200.42 at Deutsche Bahn.
- ↑ Query of the course book route 200.46 at Deutsche Bahn.
- ↑ Query of the course book route 200.5 at Deutsche Bahn.
- ↑ Query of the course book route 200.7 at Deutsche Bahn.
- ↑ Query of the course book route 200.75 at Deutsche Bahn.
- ^ DB Netz AG (Ed.): Ril 100.0002. Abbreviations for localities . 1st of February 2014.
- ↑ a b Wolfgang Kiebert: The electrical operation on the Berlin S-Bahn. Volume 2.1: The Great Electrification - 1926 to 1930 . VBN Verlag B. Neddermeyer, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-933254-15-3 , pp. 37-43 .
- ^ A b c Karl Remy: Station renovations as part of the electrification of the Berlin city, ring and suburban railways . In: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung . No. 27 , July 4, 1928, p. 429-433 ( archive.org [PDF]).
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Susanne Dost: Richard Brademann (1884–1965). Architect of the Berlin S-Bahn . VBN Verlag B. Neddermeyer, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-933254-36-1 , p. 124-129 .
- ^ A b c d Karl Remy: Opening of the "Exhibition" station in Berlin . In: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung . No. 52 , December 26, 1928, pp. 846-849 ( archive.org [PDF]).
- ^ Peter Bley: Berlin S-Bahn . 8th edition. alba, Düsseldorf 2003, ISBN 3-87094-363-7 , p. 14-19 .
- ↑ a b c d Mike Straschewski: Westkreuz (Ringbahn). In: www.stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de. October 26, 2008, accessed January 21, 2017 .
- ^ Bernd Kuhlmann: Railway megalomania in Berlin. The plans from 1933 to 1945 and their implementation . 2nd Edition. Verlag GVE, Berlin 2008, ISBN 3-89218-093-8 , p. 30-31 .
- ^ Bernd Kuhlmann: Railway megalomania in Berlin. The plans from 1933 to 1945 and their implementation . 2nd Edition. Verlag GVE, Berlin 2008, ISBN 3-89218-093-8 , p. 40-41 .
- ↑ Printed matter 17/15669. (PDF) Berlin House of Representatives, March 19, 2015, accessed on July 11, 2015 .
- ↑ News in brief - S-Bahn . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . April 2016, p. 73 .
- ↑ Manuel Jacob: ZAT now regular handling of the S-Bahn . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . No. 6 , 2017, p. 112 f .
- ↑ Printed matter 17/18610. (PDF) Berlin House of Representatives, June 10, 2016, accessed on June 28, 2016 .
- ↑ Signal box Wk. In: www.stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de. April 5, 2010, accessed January 21, 2017 .
- ↑ List of electronic signal boxes for the S-Bahn. In: www.stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de. December 31, 2015, accessed January 21, 2017 .