Railway line Berlin – Küstrin-Kietz border

Berlin - Küstrin-Kietz border
The station building in Müncheberg dates from when the line opened in 1868
Route
Route number (DB) :	6006 S-Bahn Berlin – Strausberg 6078 Mainline Berlin – Kostrzyn
Course book section (DB) :	200.5 Berlin – Strausberg 209.26 Berlin – Kostrzyn0
Route length:	82.5 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	D4 C3 (Küstrin-Kietz Gr-Kostrzyn)
Power system :	S-Bahn: 750 V  =
Top speed:	120 km / h
Dual track :	Long-distance railway: Berlin-Lichtenberg - Biesdorfer Kreuz Strausberg - Rehfelde Trebnitz - Seelow-Gusow Küstrin-Kietz - border S-Bahn: Berlin - Hoppegarten
Legend Berlin light rail from Friedrichstrasse Berlin Ostbahnhof 0.000 Berlin Ostbahnhof (old) / Wriezener Bahnhof Berlin Warschauer Strasse Connection to the depot to the Ringbahn Berlin Ostkreuz Ringbahn to Frankfurt (Oder) Connection Ringbahn – Rummelsburg 3.400 Berlin Nöldnerplatz from the Ringbahn 4.440 Berlin-Lichtenberg to Werneuchen 6,192 Berlin-Friedrichsfelde East 6.200 Abzw Biesdorfer Kreuz West to the outer ring 7.000 Abzw Biesdorfer Kreuz S-Bahn to Springpfuhl Biesdorfer Kreuz outer ring 7.700 Abzw Biesdorfer Kreuz Süd-Ost to the outer ring 8.500 Abzw Biesdorfer Kreuz Ost from the outer ring 8,650 Berlin-Biesdorf from Rummelsburg (now subway ) 9.940 Berlin Wuhletal 10.8 00 11.700 Berlin-Kaulsdorf 12.400 Berlin-Mahlsdorf State border Berlin / Brandenburg 14,880 Birch stone 16.600 Hoppegarten (Mark) Connection to Altlandsberger Kleinbahn 18,552 Neuenhagen (b Berlin) 21.200 Fredersdorf Rbf 22.6 + 190 Fredersdorf (b Berlin) 22.6 + 200.9 22.8 + 0.0 to Rüdersdorf 24.670 Petershagen North Connection to Strausberg Railway 27.600 Strausberg to Herzfelde and Strausberg North 31,250 Herrensee 33.700 Rehfelde 41.160 Red lynx Connection to Buckower Kleinbahn 45.800 Müncheberg (Mark) Connection to Müncheberger Kleinbahn 50.647 Obersdorf 53,951 Trebnitz (Mark) 53,951 58.444 Alt Rosenthal 63.500 Seelow-Gusow 67.332 Werbig Eberswalde – Frankfurt (Oder) from Letschin 68.300 Werbig Gbf Fürstenwalde – Wriezen railway line by Dolgelin 74,460 Golzow (Oderbruch) 77.100 Gorgast Old Or from and to Frankfurt (Oder) 80.990 Küstrin-Kietz 82,200 Or receiving waters 82.490 Küstrin old town 82.856 342.453 Or , Germany / Poland border to Kostrzyn

The Berlin - Küstrin-Kietz border line is a main line in Berlin and Brandenburg . It is the part of the Royal Prussian Eastern Railway that remained in Germany after 1945 . Due to the demarcation of the boundary after the Second World War, the route lost its importance. Opened in 1867, the formerly double-track line has been predominantly single-track since the 1940s and - with the exception of a short section in Berlin - is not electrified. An electrified suburban line of the Berlin S-Bahn runs parallel to the long-distance track from Berlin to Strausberg .

history

Prehistory and construction

→ Main article : Prussian Eastern Railway

Ideas for a railway line from Berlin via Strausberg to the east had already existed in the 1840s. The Strausberg magistrate had already decided in 1844 to make the corresponding land available free of charge. In 1853 the Prussian Minister for Trade, Trades and Public Works passed a resolution to accelerate the planning of the route. At that time a route via Altlandsberg , Strausberg and Buckow to Cüstrin was planned (at that time it was spelled by Küstrin ). These plans were not initially implemented.

In 1857 a continuous connection from Frankfurt (Oder) via Küstrin and Königsberg was completed by the Royal Directorate of the Eastern Railway, and in 1860 further to the Prussian-Russian border at Eydtkuhnen . The Lower Silesian-Märkische Railway established the connection from Berlin to Frankfurt (Oder) . The Royal Eastern Railway was the first completely state-run railway in Prussia . On the one hand, it conveyed traffic from Berlin and the areas to the west of it to the eastern provinces of the country, and on the other hand it was of considerable strategic importance.

However, the heavy traffic on the Eastern Railway and the Lower Silesian-Märkische Railway between Berlin and Frankfurt (Oder) could no longer be managed in the long term and the plans for a direct railway line between Berlin and Küstrin revived in 1861. For cost reasons, instead of the original plans, the direct route bypassing the cities of Strausberg, Altlandsberg and Buckow was chosen, which led to protests in the affected cities.

The Royal Eastern Railway Directorate at the Royal Prussian State Railways insisted on a separate train station in Berlin north of the Silesian train station for passenger traffic. The previous freight station of the Silesian Railway on the north side of the tracks was to be used for freight traffic and the Silesian Railway was to receive a new freight station on the south side of the tracks instead. The Berlin magistrate initially refused to build another station in this area. The funds amounting to 5.6 million thalers for the construction of the line and the railway station of the Ostbahn had already been approved in 1862, but it was not until 1866 that the Prussian Minister of Commerce approved that the gate in the city wall for the Frankfurt Railway should be expanded, as did the tracks the Eastern Railway could record.

The Ostbahn station in Berlin

Local train timetable from 1868

Because of the delays in the Berlin area, the first section of the new line was the eastern section Cüstrin - Gusow with an intermediate station in Golzow on October 1, 1866. On October 1, 1867, the entire Berlin - Cüstrin line and the Ostbahnhof in Berlin were opened to traffic.

The new train station in Berlin was “characterized by a wealth of architectural features that was not customary in such buildings”. The line was built with two tracks from the outset . The Ostbahn workshop (east of Warschauer Strasse) went into operation in stages in 1868 and 1870.

The only intermediate stops between the train stations in Berlin and Strausberg were initially Neuenhagen , between Strausberg and Gusow there were stops in Dahmsdorf-Müncheberg (today Müncheberg (Mark)) and Trebnitz from the start .

The first years

Course of the Eastern Railway in Berlin, around 1894

Soon after the opening of the route, further intermediate stations were set up in Kaulsdorf (1869), Hoppegarten (1870) and Rehfelde (1874). On September 15, 1872, the Eastern Railway Directorate opened a branch line from the Fredersdorf train station (called Petershagen until 1875) to Rüdersdorf , which opened on the same day . The route was particularly important for freight traffic from the limestone quarries in Rüdersdorf .

The original station of Küstrin was west of the Oder on an island between the river and the Oder-Vorflutgraben. With the construction of the Breslau - Stettin railway line between 1872 and 1874, east of the bridges over the Oder and Warthe rivers, the Cüstrin Vorstadt station, later Küstrin Neustadt Hbf, today's Kostrzyn station . The city's first train station became the Küstrin Altstadt train station and only had local significance. At the point of separation of the Berlin and Frankfurt lines to the west, a depot was set up, which was also used for passenger traffic under the name Kietz, now Küstrin-Kietz , from 1880 at the latest.

At the intersection with the Eberswalde – Frankfurt (Oder) railway line , a tower railway station was opened in Werbig in 1880 .

Until 1880 the Royal Directorate of the Eastern Railway was a state-owned, but still an independent company, then the company and its routes were incorporated into the Prussian State Railways as the Royal Railway Directorate to Bromberg. In 1895 the lines were divided between different railway departments. The section from Berlin to Strausberg came to the Berlin Directorate, east of Strausberg the route remained at the Bromberg Directorate.

Lichtenberg-Friedrichsfelde train station at the beginning of the 20th century. The passenger station on the right, the marshalling yard on the left

In 1879 the Lichtenberg-Friedrichsfelde marshalling yard (today Berlin-Lichtenberg train station ) was opened, and from 1881 there was also passenger traffic. In terms of freight traffic, the Ostbahnhof was only served by trains and wagons that had loads directly intended for it; the other cars were distributed to their destination stations in Lichtenberg-Friedrichsfelde. Two new interconnected routes for freight traffic connected the Lichtenberg-Friedrichsfelde and Rummelsburg marshalling yards on the Silesian Railway to the Berlin Ringbahn . The section to the Ostbahnhof was so noticeably relieved that the Ostbahnhof could also take up passenger traffic on the Silesian Railway from September 1, 1879 during the conversion of the Silesian Railway Station to a through station.

In 1882 the rebuilt Schlesische Bahnhof and the Berlin light rail went into operation. The passenger trains of the Ostbahn were also directed to the Stadtbahn and began or ended in Charlottenburg station . The Ostbahnhof had become superfluous for passenger traffic after only 15 years. Its tracks continued to be used for freight traffic, the station building was used for other purposes.

Both the long-distance and the suburban trains from the Eastern Railway were led to the long-distance tracks of the light rail. East of the Silesian Railway Station, the trains on the two eastward railway lines initially used shared tracks. Only east of the intersection with the Ringbahn did the Ostbahn tracks branch off at the same level as those of the Lower Silesian-Märkische Bahn. In connection with the reorganization of traffic, the Stralau-Rummelsburg station, today's Berlin Ostkreuz station, was created as a new station . The station was a community station of the Ringbahn (for passenger traffic at that time only the platforms at the connecting curves to the Stadtbahn were in operation), the Ostbahn and the Lower Silesian-Märkische Bahn.

The Prussian Small Railroad Act of 1892 made it possible to build local railroad lines at low cost. The towns of Altlandsberg, Strausberg and Buckow received a railway connection with the railway line Hoppegarten – Altlandsberg (1898), the Strausberger Kleinbahn (1893) and the Buckower Kleinbahn (1897) with lines branching off from the Ostbahn. To the south, the Müncheberger Kleinbahn (1909) and the Strausberg-Herzfelder Kleinbahn (1895) also created private and communal branches to the Eastern Railway.

In 1899, another station was added between Golzow and Küstrin-Kietz with Gorgast. The stations Warschauer Straße (1884), Biesdorf (1885), Mahlsdorf (1895), Rummelsburg Ost (today Nöldnerplatz ) and Friedrichsfelde Ost (both 1903) were gradually opened for the growing suburban traffic in the Berlin area .

In the first half of the 20th century

Before the turn of the 20th century, the section between the Silesian Railway Station and the separation between the Silesian Railway and the Eastern Railway near Stralau-Rummelsburg had become a bottleneck. Some remedy was initially achieved by the fact that the city trains stopping everywhere no longer ended at the Silesian station, but continued to Lichtenberg. This enabled a platform in the Silesian train station to be used for long-distance and suburban traffic. Fundamental remedies were only brought about by a thorough renovation of the track systems in this area between 1900 and 1903, whereby the suburban and long-distance tracks were separated. The southern tracks were reserved for the long-distance traffic of the Silesian and Eastern Railway as well as the freight traffic of the Silesian Railway, this was followed by the tracks for city, ring and suburban traffic, the northernmost pair of tracks served the goods traffic of the Eastern Railway and the passenger traffic of the from 1903 to Wriezener platform at the Silesian station run Wriezener Bahn , which separated from the Ostbahn east of Lichtenberg. The Stralau-Rummelsburg station has been fundamentally rebuilt.

After the construction of the VnK line , Kaulsdorf became an important train station.

Routes in the east of Berlin. VnK line in the center of the picture, Eastern Railway in the upper part of the picture.

For long-distance traffic on the Eastern Railway, a new, eight-kilometer-long route had already been planned in the mid-1890s, which branches off the Silesian Railway in the Rummelsburg area and reaches the Eastern Railway far east of Lichtenberg near Kaulsdorf . This connection, known as the VnK line , went into operation in 1901. From then on, it took up long-distance traffic on the Eastern Railway, and suburban traffic to Strausberg was also carried on the VnK route from 1903. The Kaulsdorf train station received a second platform, from now on it was possible to change to the trains via Lichtenberg to the tram.

In 1928 the light rail line to Kaulsdorf was electrified with direct current. The first electric suburban trains started running on November 6, 1928, until January 4, 1929, suburban traffic was completely converted to electric operation. The section between Kaulsdorf and Mahlsdorf followed on December 15, 1930. Between Lichtenberg and Kaulsdorf, however, there was still a mixed operation between steam-powered freight trains and the trains now known as S-Bahn on the same tracks. Mahlsdorf station became a transfer station between the S-Bahn trains that ended there and the steam-powered suburban trains in the direction of Strausberg.

The plans of the Reichsbahnbaudirektion Berlin from 1937 for the expansion of the railway facilities in the greater Berlin area envisaged, among other things, the expansion of the electric S-Bahn service to Strausberg and Rüdersdorf. The work on the pair of suburban tracks from Mahlsdorf to Strausberg continued as an important war effort even after the rest of the construction work was stopped. Its facility was associated with the construction of the Berlin Wuhlheide marshalling yard on the outer freight ring , for which the Eastern Railway functioned as an important feeder line. With the relocation of suburban traffic to the new route, additional capacities could be freed up. In 1944, the pair of suburban tracks first went into operation for steam-powered suburban traffic. A new stop was made in Giebelsee (today Petershagen Nord ) just before Strausberg. In the long term, in addition to the start of the electric S-Bahn service, another pair of tracks from the Stadtbahn to Mahlsdorf was to be built for a long-distance S-Bahn. Coming from Strausberg and Rüdersdorf, these should stop at all subway stations to Mahlsdorf, within Berlin a stop was only planned at selected stations (Friedrichsfelde Ost, Ostkreuz and Schlesischer Bahnhof).

For freight traffic, the separation from S-Bahn traffic was planned on the mixed-traffic route between Lichtenberg and Kaulsdorf. In 1939, work began on the separate freight train line, which went into operation on July 3, 1941, initially as a single track with a siding at Friedrichsfelde (at the level of today's Biesdorfer Kreuz ). Since the freight facilities in Lichtenberg were to the north of the city tracks and in Kaulsdorf to the south, the freight track had to cross the city tracks at the Friedrichsfelde Ost station. The initially level crossing with the city tracks was replaced by an overpass in 1944, and at the same time the second track went into operation. The construction of the Fredersdorf auxiliary shunting yard was also carried out by the Reichsbahnbaudirektion Berlin. This was created immediately west of the Fredersdorf train station and served to relieve the Berlin-Lichtenberg marshalling yard. After the war, empty wagons were collected here and damaged wagons were parked.

1945 and after

Hamster train on the Ostbahn in Gorgast station, 1945.

Towards the end of the Second World War, the area through which the Eastern Railway ran was the scene of fierce fighting. The through traffic to Königsberg had already been stopped on January 22, 1945. From March 1945, the area west of the Oder was also the site of fierce fighting in the course of the Battle of Berlin . During the battle for Küstrin , the bridge over the Warta on March 9, 1945, and the one over the Oder on March 28, 1945, was blown up by German troops. When the Oder Bridge was blown up, numerous German soldiers who were still on the bridge were killed. Soviet engineer troops rebuilt both bridges by April 14, 1945. After being destroyed again by the German Air Force on April 18, they were rebuilt by the Soviet Army . On April 25, the first Soviet military train on the Eastern Railway reached Berlin-Lichtenberg station.

During the fighting in spring 1945, other facilities on the Eastern Railway were also seriously damaged. With the exception of Gusow, all station buildings between Müncheberg and the Oder were destroyed. The building of the old Berlin Ostbahnhof, which has been used by the Varieté Plaza for decades , was badly damaged in the fighting in 1945 and demolished after the war.

The Oder bridge near Küstrin-Kietz was rebuilt after its destruction at the end of the Second World War

In the Potsdam Agreement , the Oder-Neisse border was defined as Germany's eastern border. Most of the city of Küstrin came to Poland, and the Eastern Railway was also divided along the Oder. The second track of the long-distance line on the German side and the second freight track between Berlin-Lichtenberg and Berlin-Kaulsdorf were no longer used and dismantled in 1947. The tracks are said to have been used for the reconstruction of the suburban tracks on the Lower Silesian-Märkische Bahn. After the end of the war, the Eastern Railway initially remained important for the transport of reparations goods, but then lost its importance considerably. The border crossing between Kietz (today Küstrin-Kietz again ) and the Polish Kostrzyn (Küstrin) was only used for goods traffic. In 1952/53 the provisional Oder bridge was replaced by segments of the Karniner bridge, which was destroyed in 1945 . The superstructures had to be adapted to the span of the Oder bridge. At the same time, the second track between Küstrin-Kietz and Kostrzyn went back into operation.

Local passenger traffic only took place between Berlin-Lichtenberg and Kietz, with most passenger trains (all from the late 1970s) beginning and ending in Strausberg, while the S-Bahn had to be used between Berlin and Strausberg. From 1972 three pairs of service passenger trains ran between Kietz and Kostrzyn for railway employees and GDR customs officers.

The suburban line between Berlin-Mahlsdorf and Strausberg had not yet been electrified when it was separated from the long-distance tracks. Electric S-Bahn operations to Strausberg began on October 31, 1948. In 1955 the route was extended to Strausberg Nord, where electrical operation also began on June 3, 1956.

The inner-city branch of the freight track from Berlin-Lichtenberg to Wriezener Bahnhof continued to be used for freight traffic. Passenger traffic there from the trains of the Wriezener Bahn ended on December 12, 1949. During the GDR era, the Wriezener Bahnhof was mainly used for the delivery of potatoes, fruit and vegetables. As a result of the division of Germany and Berlin, the Berlin-Lichtenberg station was given long-distance traffic from 1952. A third platform went into operation this year. A year later, shunting operations for freight trains in the station were discontinued and relocated to other stations, including the Wuhlheide marshalling yard, which opened in 1953.

Berlin-Lichtenberg station became Berlin's most important long-distance station in the 1970s

In the 1970s and 1980s, Berlin-Lichtenberg became Berlin's most important long-distance train station. The trains from the north and south of the GDR reached the station either from the ring line and the connecting lines in the Ostkreuz or Frankfurter Allee area or from the Berlin outer ring using the east line section between Biesdorfer Kreuz and Lichtenberg station.

The railway systems in the area of ​​the Biesdorfer Kreuz were rebuilt beginning in 1968. For a long time, the crossing Berlin outer ring remained single-track on the route of the old freight outer ring . The railway facilities were also expanded and redesigned along the Eastern Railway. The Friedrichsfelde Ost station was new to new location. The short section of the Eastern Railway between Biesdorfer Kreuz and Lichtenberg became a busy long-distance route and was electrified in 1984.

A little south of the Biesdorfer Kreuz, the crossing VnK line was interrupted in 1966 as part of the expansion of the outer ring. When the new Biesdorfer Kreuz was built in the 1970s, connections were made from the Eastern Railway to the east to the outer ring to the north and south, but the planned connection to the western part of the VnK route was not implemented. Since then, direct journeys from the Ostbahn to the east on the Stadtbahn are no longer possible. In the 1970s, the section between Trebnitz and Gusow was expanded to double-track again.

S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains stop at a platform at Wuhletal station

On July 1, 1989, the Wuhletal S-Bahn station went into operation at the confluence of the former VnK line west of Kaulsdorf . For the first time, S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains stopped at a platform in Berlin. The double-track expansion of the S-Bahn line between Berlin-Mahlsdorf and Hoppegarten was tackled, but was not completed until August 1992. The Birkenstein stop was opened on this section on December 21, 1992.

After 1990

View of the border bridge to Poland on the Oder

After the political change in the GDR and the subsequent reunification , cross-border goods traffic declined rapidly and largely shifted to the road. Cross-border traffic was resumed in passenger traffic. The first public passenger trains after the war between Kietz and Kostrzyn ran from June 14th to 16th, 1991 on the occasion of a city festival. Regular passenger traffic on the border section began on May 30, 1992, and a year later the passenger trains went back to Berlin-Lichtenberg via Strausberg.

In the mid-1990s, the regional public transport plan of the state of Brandenburg planned to set up a city express line to Kostrzyn , which was to begin in Berlin at the reactivated Wriezen train station.

Freight traffic to Wriezener Bahnhof ended on July 1, 1996. Most recently, its tracks were used to park empty refrigerated trucks. The section up to the former Reichsbahn repair shop, which was mainly used for maintenance of the Talgo trains' wagons after 2000, remained in operation there . The signal box B 9 of the former Wriezen freight yard was closed in 2001, since then Berlin-Lichtenberg has set up train control operations there. The site of the former freight yard has largely been cleared.

In November 2006, the Küstrin-Kietz electronic interlocking went into operation, which in the first construction stage comprised the section from the state border up to and including Gorgast. By December 2011, the further route to Strausberg was connected to the ESTW.

In 2017, the facilities at Strausberg train station were rebuilt. Previously, the track on the house platform was used by regional trains stopping on the one hand and by S-Bahn trains going through to and from Strausberg Nord on the other. During the renovation, a separate regional platform was created parallel to the S-Bahn platform so that regional and S-Bahn trains no longer have to use the same track. In the same year the section between Strausberg and Rehfelde was expanded to two tracks. Since then, trains have been able to cross over there on the open route, saving a few minutes of travel time. Since December 2017, the regional trains have also stopped at a new platform in Berlin-Mahlsdorf station.

In December 2018, two platforms on the long-distance tracks of the Ostbahn in Berlin Ostkreuz station went into operation, so that the regional trains on the route no longer start in Lichtenberg, but at Ostkreuz station.

The distance

Long distance

The route runs from Berlin in an easterly to north-easterly direction to the border with Poland on the Oder. Originally it was built with two tracks throughout. After the Second World War, the second track was dismantled as a reparation payment . Over time, some sections of the line were expanded to double-track again, these are the sections Berlin-Lichtenberg - Biesdorfer Kreuz, Strausberg - Rehfelde, Trebnitz - Seelow-Gusow and Küstrin-Kietz - border (- Kostrzyn).

The original route begins at the Ostbahnhof at the former Küstriner Platz (today Franz-Mehring-Platz) about 500 meters north of the former Silesian Railway Station, now known as Ostbahnhof . The freight station of the Ostbahn was south of the passenger station, directly adjacent to the Silesian Railway. In 1903, an end point ( Wriezener Bahnhof ) for the passenger trains of the Wriezener Bahn was established in this area . The facilities used for freight traffic until the 1990s were last run as Berlin Wriezener Gbf . The route now run under route number 6078 begins (as of 2018) on Warschauer Strasse. The former main workshop of the Ostbahn there, later a Reichsbahn repair shop, was taken over by the Talgo company after the 1990s and is now used for the maintenance of night trains. In the area of ​​the Berlin Ostkreuz station, an operating point on the long-distance track of the Ostbahn was only set up in the second half of the 2010s as part of the station renovation. Since December 2018, the station has been the starting point for regional trains in the direction of Kostrzyn. After the junction with the Berlin Ringbahn , the line turns north-east to Berlin-Lichtenberg station . A connecting line from the Ringbahn joins here from the west . To the east of the station, the old route of the Wriezener Bahn branched off to the north until the Biesdorfer Kreuz was built . The Berlin outer ring crosses the route at the Biesdorfer Kreuz, which was built in the 1970s . There are a number of connecting lines in almost all directions, but a connection from the Eastern Railway from the east to the VnK line was planned, but not built. This means that continuous journeys from the long-distance tracks of the Stadtbahn to the Ostbahn are no longer possible.

The route continues eastwards via Berlin-Kaulsdorf and Berlin-Mahlsdorf and crosses the border with the state of Brandenburg. Fredersdorf today used mainly for freight branches southward route to Rüdersdorf off in the far south of the city center nearby the railway station Strausberg begins to the north which now licensed as a tram Strausberger railway and used mainly by the S-Bahn line to Strausberg Nord . The Strausberg - Rehfelde section has been double-tracked again since 2017.

Küstrin-Kietz station.

In the Müncheberg (Mark) station, far north of the city center, the electrified Buckower Kleinbahn branches off to the north , while the Müncheberger Kleinbahn to the south ran until the early 1970s . From Trebnitz to Seelow-Gusow there is another section that has been rebuilt on two tracks. In Werbig the line is crossed by the Eberswalde – Frankfurt (Oder) line, and there is a stop on both lines. A connecting curve from the direction of Eberswalde reaches the route further east in the Werbig freight yard.

In Golzow, the Oderbruchbahn , which was discontinued in 1966, crossed the route. In front of the Küstrin-Kietz station , the line from Frankfurt (Oder) , the original line of the Eastern Railway, joins from the southwest . There was a connecting curve from the direction of Werbig to Frankfurt. From the Küstrin-Kietz train station to the Oder, the line is double-tracked again. The border with Poland is reached at the Oder Bridge.

S-Bahn route

Long-distance and S-Bahn tracks (right) in Fredersdorf station

An S-Bahn line with separate tracks runs parallel to the long-distance railway systems between Berlin Ostbahnhof and Strausberg. The S-Bahn tracks come from the Stadtbahn to the Biesdorfer Kreuz on the southern side of the long-distance train tracks, then on the northern side. The S-Bahn line is double-tracked to Hoppegarten, and single-tracked to Strausberg with an intersection in Fredersdorf.

Until the 2010s, the S-Bahn line to Strausberg and Erkner at the east end of the Ostbahnhof and ran parallel to each other as far as the Ostkreuz station. To the east of the Warschauer Straße station, the lines to the southern and (until 2006) to the northern ring line branched off.

After the reconstruction of the Ostkreuz station, the platforms of the S-Bahn will be served in one direction. The two northern tracks between Ostbahnhof and Ostkreuz are used by trains heading towards the city center, while the southern pair of tracks are used by trains going out of town. Since the renovation, the S-Bahn line to Strausberg branches off east of the platforms in Ostkreuz station from those of the line to Erkner.

To the east of Lichtenberg station is the Friedrichsfelde S-Bahn workshop. In the area of ​​the Biesdorfer Kreuz, the S-Bahn tracks change from the south to the north side of the long-distance train tracks. Here the S-Bahn branches off in the direction of Ahrensfelde. The border between Berlin and Brandenburg is crossed in front of the Birkenstein stop, which was only opened after 1990. From Hoppegarten the S-Bahn line is single-track. Strausberg train station is reached via Neuenhagen, Fredersdorf and Petershagen Nord . The S-Bahn connection continues from here via the Strausberg – Strausberg Nord railway to Strausberg Nord.

Monument protection

Listed S-Bahn rectifier plant in Kaulsdorf

The following objects along the route are on the list of monuments of the states of Berlin and Brandenburg:

• The ostkreuz stand as a complete system listed. These included u. a. the platforms with platform supports, waiting and service houses and the pedestrian bridge. After the renovation in the second half of the 2010s, none of this has survived. Some design elements on the platforms are based on the historical models. The newly built pedestrian bridge is also based on the shape of the old bridge. Some buildings in the area are also listed. This includes a railway house on the north side (Ostbahn) and another house, a water tower and a substation for the S-Bahn on the south side (Silesian Railway).

• Most of the listed buildings in the Berlin-Friedrichsfelde S-Bahn depot dates from the 1950s, some of which were first built in 1905.

• The rectifier plant for the S-Bahn on Wilhelmsmühlenweg in Kaulsdorf was built in 1927 by Richard Brademann .

• The Berlin-Mahlsdorf train station with the station building, platform roofing and S-Bahn bridge is a listed building as a whole. The systems date from the time the station was renovated from 1926 to 1931 in connection with the construction of the S-Bahn line.

• In Hoppegarten , the Kaiserbahnhof facilities, consisting of a reception building, supervisory building, platform and paved forecourt, are listed. They date from the last years of the 19th century and were used by the emperor and his court on visits to the nearby racetrack.

• The Müncheberg station complex consists of a reception building, forecourt, platform, signal box, signal bridge and several residential and commercial buildings. The station building is one of the few remaining original from the time the line was built.

passenger traffic

In the year the line was opened, three continuous pairs of trains ran from Berlin to East Prussia over the same day, plus a pair of trains between Berlin and Landsberg / Warthe . In the period that followed, the number of long-distance and local trains increased significantly, especially in the Berlin area.

Until the track systems in the Stralau-Rummelsburg area were rebuilt at the turn of the 20th century, the suburban trains of the Eastern Railway ran on the long-distance light rail tracks. There was no connection from the city tracks of the Stadtbahn to the Ostbahn. In 1895 a little over 20 suburban trains ran from the Stadtbahn to Strausberg and just as many to Lichtenberg every day.

Mahlsdorf suburban train station around 1910

In 1914, before the First World War , operated on the route

• Depending on the day of operation, up to twelve pairs of express trains to East Prussia or Warsaw , but they did not stop between Berlin and Cüstrin
• ten to twelve pairs of passenger trains between Berlin and Cüstrin, some of them continuing
• one or two amplifier trains to Dahmsdorf-Müncheberg
• about two suburban trains per hour between Berlin and Strausberg (to Kaulsdorf via the VnK route)
• about two light rail trains to Kaulsdorf, significantly more to Lichtenberg-Friedrichsfelde.
• 16–18 pairs of trains to Werneuchen, which used the old long-distance track of the Eastern Railway to Lichtenberg

1939, before the Second World War drove over the route

• 13 to 15 pairs of express and express trains a day
• about ten pairs of passenger trains continuously between Berlin and Küstrin, sometimes further
• a number of amplifier trains between Berlin / Strausberg and Rehfelde, Dahmsdorf-Müncheberg or Trebnitz
• Half-hourly trains between Berlin and Strausberg on the VnK route, plus some amplifier services
• S-Bahn every 10 minutes to Berlin-Mahlsdorf
• 18 pairs of trains and a few holiday amplifiers on the long-distance track to Lichtenberg and on towards Werneuchen

After the Second World War, the line lost its importance in passenger traffic. Cross-border passenger traffic was discontinued and long-distance trains no longer ran on the route. The passenger trains of the Wriezener Bahn did not begin until Lichtenberg, those of the Ostbahn usually only in Strausberg.

During the 1970s and 1980s between Müncheberg and Kietz between five and seven pairs of passenger trains per day, and between Strausberg and Müncheberg around twice as much. In addition, there were S-Bahn trains every 20 minutes to Strausberg and every 10 minutes to Mahlsdorf (during rush hour to Hoppegarten). There were also professional booster trains to Mahlsdorf and west of Friedrichsfelde trains on the lines in the direction of Ahrensfelde and Wartenberg. The range of S-Bahn services has changed little since then.

Railcar of the Oderlandbahn in Seelow-Gusow

From May 28, 1994, in addition to five local trains, three pairs of express trains were traveling between Berlin-Lichtenberg and Kostrzyn, two pairs of express trains continued from there to Gorzów Wielkopolski . In 1995, traffic was synchronized, with trains running every two hours between Berlin and Kostrzyn and every hour to Müncheberg. In 1996 the hourly service was extended to Seelow-Gusow. In the mid-1990s, mostly locomotive-hauled trains were used, especially locomotives of the 232/234 series. In the meantime, diesel railcars of the 628 series were used in 1995/96 .

After 2000 there was a continuous hourly service with regional trains on the RB 26 line between Berlin-Lichtenberg and Kostrzyn every hour with 17 pairs of trains per day. In 2006 this line was taken over by the Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn Betriebsgesellschaft (NEB) under the brand name "Oderlandbahn".

There was only regular long-distance traffic in the 2008/09 timetable year, when a Berlin – Warsaw night train ran over the route. Occasionally, the route is used in diversion traffic when there are closures between Berlin and Frankfurt (Oder).

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Ivo Köhler: 100 Years of the Strausberg Railway. quoted in: Andreas Geißler, Konrad Koschinski: 130 Years of the East Railway Berlin - Königsberg - Baltic States . Ed .: German Railway Customers Association. GVE, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-89218-048-2 , pp. 27-32 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Royal Prussian Minister of Public Works (ed.): Berlin and his railways 1846–1896 . tape 1 . Verlag Ästhetik und Kommunikation, Berlin 1982, p. 233–234 (first edition: Julius Springer Verlag, Berlin 1896).
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Royal Prussian Minister of Public Works (ed.): Berlin and his railways 1846–1896 . tape 1 . Verlag Ästhetik und Kommunikation, Berlin 1982, p. 235–236 (first edition: Julius Springer Verlag, Berlin 1896).
4. ↑ ^{a b} Andreas Geißler, Konrad Koschinski: 130 years of the East Railway Berlin - Königsberg - Baltic States . Ed .: German Railway Customers Association. GVE, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-89218-048-2 , pp. 32-33 .
5. ^ Frank Lammers: Küstrin: City history and city traffic . GVE, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-89218-091-1 , p. 25 .
6. ↑ Axel Mauruszat: Prussian Eastern Railway. In: bahnstrecken.de. December 17, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017 . 
7. ^ Andreas Geißler, Konrad Koschinski: 130 years of the East Railway Berlin - Königsberg - Baltic States . Ed .: German Railway Customers Association. GVE, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-89218-048-2 , pp. 47 .
8. ↑ Jürgen Meyer-Kronthaler, Wolfgang Kramer: Berlin's S-Bahnhöfe. Three quarters of a century . be.bra verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-930863-25-1 , p. 164 .
9. ^ Berlin and its buildings. Berlin 1896. Three volumes: 1. Introductory part - engineering, 2. Building construction / Part 1, 3. Building construction / Part 2; edit as facsimile and ed. by the Architects and Engineers Association of Berlin and the Association of Berlin Architects, published by Ernst, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-433-02279-8 , p. 278.
10. ^ Andreas Geißler, Konrad Koschinski: 130 years of the East Railway Berlin - Königsberg - Baltic States . Ed .: German Railway Customers Association. GVE, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-89218-048-2 , pp. 42 .
11. ↑ ^{a b c} Andreas Geißler, Konrad Koschinski: 130 years of the East Railway Berlin - Königsberg - Baltic States . Ed .: German Railway Customers Association. GVE, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-89218-048-2 , pp. 44-45 .
12. ^ ^{A b} Roland Ebert, Dieter Walczik: The VnK route . In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter . No. 1 , 1991, p. 2-12 .
13. ↑ Royal Prussian Minister of Public Works (ed.): Berlin and his railways 1846–1896 . tape 1 . Verlag Ästhetik und Kommunikation, Berlin 1982, p. 207–208 (first edition: Julius Springer Verlag, Berlin 1896).
14. ^ ^{A b} Bernhard Strowitzki: S-Bahn Berlin. Story (s) for on the go . 2nd Edition. Verlag GVE, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89218-073-3 , p. 143-151 .
15. ^ Prussian Ministry for Public Works, Railway Ordinance Gazette , Volume 22, Carl Heymanns Verlag , Berlin 1899, p. 346.
16. ^ ^{A b} Royal Prussian Minister of Public Works (ed.): Berlin and his railways 1846–1896 . tape 1 . Verlag Ästhetik und Kommunikation, Berlin 1982, p. 360–361 (first edition: Julius Springer Verlag, Berlin 1896).
17. ↑ Jürgen Meyer-Kronthaler, Wolfgang Kramer: Berlin's S-Bahnhöfe. Three quarters of a century . be.bra verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-930863-25-1 , p. 178 .
18. ^ Bernd Kuhlmann: Railway megalomania in Berlin. The plans from 1933 to 1945 and their implementation . 2nd Edition. GVE, Berlin 2008, ISBN 3-89218-093-8 , pp. 76 .
19. ↑ Jürgen Meyer-Kronthaler, Wolfgang Kramer: Berlin's S-Bahnhöfe. Three quarters of a century . be.bra verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-930863-25-1 , p. 96 .
20. ^ Bernd Kuhlmann: Railway megalomania in Berlin. The plans from 1933 to 1945 and their implementation . 2nd Edition. GVE, Berlin 2008, ISBN 3-89218-093-8 , pp. 76-77 .
21. ^ ^{A b} Peter Bley: Bf. Friedrichsfelde Ost on a journey . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . No. 9 , 1979, pp. 204-208 .
22. ^ Bernd Kuhlmann: Railway megalomania in Berlin. The plans from 1933 to 1945 and their implementation . 2nd Edition. GVE, Berlin 2008, ISBN 3-89218-093-8 , pp. 105-112 .
23. ↑ ^{a b c} Bernd Kuhlmann: Railways across the Oder-Neisse border . Ritzau KG - Zeit und Eisenbahn Verlag, Pürgen 2004, ISBN 3-935101-06-6 , p. 88-89 .
24. ↑ ^{a b} Bernd Kuhlmann: Railways across the Oder-Neisse border . Ritzau KG - Zeit und Eisenbahn Verlag, Pürgen 2004, ISBN 3-935101-06-6 , p. 89-94 .
25. ↑ ^{a b c d} Andreas Geißler, Konrad Koschinski: 130 years of the East Railway Berlin - Königsberg - Baltic States . Ed .: German Railway Customers Association. GVE, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-89218-048-2 , pp. 70-73 .
26. ↑ Jürgen Meyer-Kronthaler, Wolfgang Kramer: Berlin's S-Bahnhöfe. Three quarters of a century . be.bra verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-930863-25-1 , p. 302-303 .
27. ↑ ^{a b} Bernd Kuhlmann: The Berlin train stations . Geramond, Munich 2010, ISBN 3-7654-7086-4 , p. 56 .
28. ↑ Bernd Kuhlmann: Bahnknoten Berlin, The development of the Berlin railway network since 1838. Verlag GVE, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89218-099-7 , p. 152.
29. ↑ ^{a b} Bernd Kuhlmann: Railways across the Oder-Neisse border . Ritzau KG - Zeit und Eisenbahn Verlag, Pürgen 2004, ISBN 3-935101-06-6 , p. 95-100 .
30. ↑ ^{a b} Andreas Geißler, Konrad Koschinski: 130 years of the East Railway Berlin - Königsberg - Baltic States . Ed .: German Railway Customers Association. GVE, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-89218-048-2 , pp. 78-79 .
31. ↑ Modernization and renewal of the Eastern Railway. In: bahnaktuell.net. December 18, 2011, accessed January 1, 2018 . 
32. ↑ Bahn Report , 6/17, p. 40
33. ↑ Bahn-Report , 1/18, p. 42.
34. ^ Deutsche Bahn, DB Netz, total route directory, as of February 1, 2003.
35. ^ Bahn, DB Netze, interactive map, graphic part of the infrastructure register , accessed on October 28, 2018.
36. ↑ Entry in the Berlin State Monument List
37. ↑ Entry in the Berlin State Monument List
38. ↑ Entry in the Berlin State Monument List
39. ↑ Entry in the Berlin State Monument List
40. ↑ Entry in the monument database of the State of Brandenburg
41. ↑ Entry in the monument database of the State of Brandenburg
42. ^ Berlin and its railways 1846-1896. Published by the Ministry for Public Works, Julius Springer Verlag, Berlin 1896, reprint Verlag Ästhetik und Kommunikation, Berlin 1982, Volume II, p. 436.
43. ^ Deutsche Reichsbahn, course books summer 1960, winter 1974/75 and 1988/89.
44. ^ Andreas Geißler, Konrad Koschinski: 130 years of the East Railway Berlin - Königsberg - Baltic States . Ed .: German Railway Customers Association. GVE, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-89218-048-2 , pp. 83 .