Railway line Berlin-Neukölln – Berlin-Baumschulenweg
| Berlin-Neukölln-Berlin-Baumschulenweg | |
|---|---|
 Berlin Köllnische Heide train station along the route
| |
| Route number : | 6021 S-Bahn 6045 freight line |
| Course book section (DB) : | 200.45, 200.46, 200.47 |
| Route length: | 3.5 km |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Power system : | 750 V = |
The Berlin-Neukölln – Berlin-Baumschulenweg railway line is a railway line in the south of Berlin . It connects the Ringbahn from Berlin-Neukölln station via Berlin Köllnische Heide with Baumschulenweg on the Görlitz long-distance and suburban railway . The route, initially only designed for freight traffic, has also served suburban traffic since 1910 and is now used by the Berlin S-Bahn trains.
history
Plant and electrification
The line, which was initially at ground level and single-tracked, was laid between 1890 and 1896; the opening took place on June 8, 1896. At first it was used exclusively for freight traffic. The freight trains between the Niederschöneweide-Johannisthal marshalling yard, Rixdorf and Tempelhof marshalling yard had to go to the Görlitz station and switch between Görlitzer Bahn and Ringbahn via the inner Görlitz connection. At the point of separation with the Ringbahn, the connecting curve had to cross the passenger tracks of the Ringbahn at the same level. The connecting track was created so that this process could be omitted. Originally the route, which was also called the Rixdorf - Niederschöneweide-Johannisthal freight connection , was 5.27 kilometers long. From the meeting with the Görlitzer Bahn at Baumschulenweg (at that time only a stop on the Görlitzer Bahn) it ran parallel to this to the Niederschöneweide-Johannisthal station (today: Berlin-Schöneweide ). It was initially planned to continue the independent parallel route to the Görlitzer Bahn to the Schöneweide marshalling yard, which was another two kilometers further south-east. However, it did not come to fruition.
From 1910, the line was extended by two suburban tracks north of the existing freight track. Corresponding plans had already been made in the middle of the previous decade. During the renovation, the entire route was laid on a dam and bridges were built over the Heidekampgraben and the streets to be crossed, including Kaiser-Friedrich-Straße (today: Sonnenallee ) and Kiefholzstraße. At the same time, the facilities around the Baumschulenweg train station were renewed. The suburban station was laid out on three tracks, with the tracks to the north only separating after the station and the merging of the lines to the south only after the station. This form of the system was partly also for safety reasons; Among other things, this should prevent the trains from colliding with the station.
With the expansion of the line, a stopover was to be created at the intersection with Kaiser-Friedrich-Straße. The preparatory work began in 1913 and the platform was completed three years later. The further expansion, including that of a reception building, was delayed due to the First World War . The Köllnische Heide stop was finally opened on August 16, 1920.
On November 6, 1928, the suburban tracks were electrified as part of the “ Great Electrification ”. The connecting line then became the main line of train group G between Mahlsdorf and Grünau .
A short time after electrification, a crossing station for the freight trains was built at about the same level as the S-Bahn station.
Germania planning
When the National Socialists came to power in 1933, plans for the world capital Germania were drawn up a few years later . The Ringbahn was given greater importance, as it was supposed to accommodate all traffic on the suburban lines and act like a large distribution group. The connecting line as a link to the Görlitzer Bahn was accordingly assigned an important role, but more for long-distance and freight than local traffic.
The line was to be expanded to a total of eight tracks, two of which were still reserved for the S-Bahn. Two pairs of tracks were to be carried out to the Görlitzer Bahn. As part of a new line, the remaining pair of tracks was to connect the connecting line with the Lower Silesian-Märkische Bahn at Köpenick station.
Although the route is relatively short and the work would have taken less time than at other points in the route network, only preparatory measures were taken. Only a few extended abutments , including those at the overpass over the Britzer connecting canal, still bear witness to the previous plans. After the end of the Second World War , the original condition was restored with three tracks. The crossing point at Köllnische Heide train station was also given up and torn down between 1952 and 1955.
Construction of the wall and the division of the route
With the construction of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the line was interrupted about 270 meters behind the Köllnische Heide train station. While the trains on the Görlitzer Bahn simply drove straight ahead in the direction of Ostkreuz station on the Ringbahn in the following years , the trains on the west side had to turn in Köllnische Heide. Only the northern track was used. The tracks were separated at Neukölln station.
Towards the end of the 1970s, the dam threatened to sag on the northern side. In order to continue operations, the Deutsche Reichsbahn built a track change to the southern suburban track in front of the end point and now led the trains over this into the station. However, this solution only lasted for a few years, as both the Ringbahn and its branch line to Köllnische Heide were shut down in September 1980 as a result of the 1980 Reichsbahn strike.
On the East Berlin side, the route was gradually dismantled. Initially, only the first 200 meters behind the border were affected in order to expand the border facilities in this area accordingly. On the remaining line, the Neukölln – Baumschulenweg track was retained, the track in the opposite direction was soon dismantled together with the separating switch. Shortly before the Baumschulenweg station there was a mobile substation on the remaining track track until the 1980s . The third platform track itself was sometimes also used to park trains. It was not until the end of the 1980s that the remaining tracks were also removed. Only the overpass structure remained.
Recommissioning after the fall of the wall
After the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe took over the operation of the West Berlin S-Bahn in 1984 , initially only a rump operation was maintained on the Stadtbahn and on the Dresden Railway . The line to Wannsee , the north-south tunnel and the Berlin Northern Railway followed later . Through several popular campaigns as well as a referendum in 1988, which 20,000 people signed, the S-Bahn became an election issue in January 1989. The referendum provided for two main points:
- Revision of the Senate's decision of March 31, 1987, which provided for the modernization of the existing trunk network and the expansion of the subway network, especially the U9 line, instead of recommissioning further S-Bahn lines,
- Movement of the start of construction on the Südring from 1991 to 1989.
While the majority of citizens, the opposition from the SPD and AL and the federal government were in favor of a restart, the Senator for Construction and Housing, Edmund Wronski , and the construction industry pushed the construction of the subway. After some quarrels, however, the Senate Department for Building and Housing decided in November 1988 to reopen the Südring.
After the elections for the House of Representatives on January 29, 1989, the black-and-yellow Senate, which was voted out, decided in favor of the expansion of the subway. The SPD-AL Senate, sworn in on March 16, 1989, chaired by Walter Momper, revised this decision as one of its first measures.
In the middle of the construction work, which initially only envisaged the section between Westend and Schöneberg in 1992 and only two years later to Sonnenallee , German reunification took place a few months later . This made it possible to immediately extend the ring line to the east in order to connect to an existing line. First of all, the traffic should be routed to the south via the connecting railway. The branch from Neukölln to Treptower Park on the Ringbahntrasse was to follow later, as the Treptower Park station had to be converted beforehand .
On the West Berlin side, it was relatively easy to put it back into operation, as most of the route and the facilities were still in place. Nevertheless, it was largely a new building, which was heavily criticized in public because of the costs. In the eastern part, large parts of the route were no longer available, as they were removed as a result of the construction of the wall and used for other purposes. The threading of the route into the Görlitzer Bahn also had to be completely rebuilt.
The restart of the S-Bahn traffic between Westend and Baumschulenweg via the Südring and the connecting line finally took place on December 17, 1993. About three quarters of a year later, the freight track also went back into operation. The traffic has now shifted in favor of the S-Bahn. Freight trains run on the route, if at all, mostly at night.
literature
- Berlin S-Bahn Museum: Line without End - The Berlin Ringbahn , GVE Verlag, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-89218-074-1 .
Web links
- Route description and history on stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de
- Berliner-Bahnen.de
Individual evidence
- ^ Mike Straschewski: The Neukölln - Baumschulenweg connecting railway. In: stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de. October 19, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2019 .
- ^ Berlin and its buildings . Volume I. Introductory - Engineering. Ernst & Sohn, Berlin 1896, p. 249-253 .
- ↑ Königliches Statistisches Landesamt (Ed.), Statistisches Handbuch für den Prussischen Staat 1898 , Volume 3, S. 57.
- ^ Ernst Biedermann, The extension systems of the Görlitzer railway between Berlin and Grünau. In: Zeitschrift für Bauwesen 55 (1905); Pp. 91-114, online copy