Railway line Grünauer Kreuz – Berlin Airport BER

Grünauer Kreuz – Berlin Airport BER
Entrance into the tunnel under the taxiway at BER Airport. Left the S-Bahn from Schönefeld, right the long-distance line from Glasower Damm.
Route number (DB) :	6008
Route length:	13.6 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	750 V  =
Legend from Berlin (S-Bahn) 0.0 Grünauer Kreuz outer goods ring to Königs Wusterhausen (S-Bahn) Berlin – Görlitz Connection to the Berlin outer ring from Berlin-Grünau 1.9 Berlin-Altglienicke 3.4 Berlin Grünbergallee to Diepensee (1958–1963) to Teltow Berlin outer ring of Berlin 5.9 Berlin-Schönefeld Airport Berlin outer ring to Saarmund 9.8 Wassmannsdorf from Glasower Damm 13.6 Berlin Airport BER to Bohnsdorf Süd

The railway line Grünauer Kreuz – Berlin Airport BER is a railway line in the south of Berlin and in the adjacent areas of Brandenburg. It is used by the Berlin S-Bahn . The first, 5.9 kilometer long section of the route was opened in 1962 and served primarily to connect the Berlin-Schönefeld Airport and the associated long-distance train station . In 2011, a 7.7-kilometer extension went into operation that opens up Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER). Due to delays in the commissioning of BER Airport, this section is not yet used for public transport.

history

prehistory

Between the radial lines of the Dresden and Görlitzer Bahn leading from Berlin , there was only the Neukölln-Mittenwald Railway , also a radial line , until the 1930s . The latter also attached the village of Schönefeld . There had been plans for a tangential connection with the bypass railway for several decades, but they were only actually implemented west of the Anhalter Bahn . During the time of National Socialism , the outer goods ring was provisionally built, which ran eastwards from the Anhalter Bahn in the area of ​​the southern Berlin city limits. Shortly after the Second World War, passenger traffic was implemented here between Berlin-Grünau and Lichtenrade via Schönefeld, and later again between 1955 and 1958 from Grünau to Großziethen .

As a result of the division of Germany and Berlin, continuous rail traffic was interrupted by most of the surrounding areas (with the exception of the S-Bahn) and West Berlin in the early 1950s . The traffic was directed from the southern radial routes over the Berlin outer ring built in the early 1950s to the eastern part of Berlin . Since it was still largely possible to switch between the east and west within the city, control stations were also set up at the borders between East Berlin and the surrounding area, where travelers were checked before they left for Berlin. Such a control station was also built in Schönefeld. It was not used for public transport, but the trains stopping there are said to have been usable for air travelers to Berlin-Schönefeld Airport, which opened for civil use in 1955.

To improve the airport connection, an S-Bahn route to the airport was planned as early as 1958. There were also ideas to extend the route west to Rangsdorf or along the Berlin outer ring to Ludwigsfelde . With the construction of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, a rail link became even more urgent. Travelers from the areas south of Berlin to the south-east of Berlin should be able to switch to the S-Bahn in Schönefeld. Soon afterwards, the construction of the route began.

S-Bahn to Schönefeld Airport

Grünbergallee S-Bahn station heading east in 2000

Work on the line began at the end of September 1961. A second track was built between Altglienicke and Schönefeld (except under the Waltersdorfer Chaussee underpass), the facilities in the Altglienicke area had to be rebuilt, as a high-speed tram feeder was created next to the railway line. The road bridge over the tracks in the course of Germanenstraße was demolished and replaced by a pedestrian bridge with platform access. The Grünbergallee station (originally planned under the name Falkenhöhe ) was rebuilt, the former Schönefeld Siedlung am GAR stop was dispensed with. The facilities of the Schönefeld train station, which is now used for public transport, have been slightly expanded. A new S-Bahn platform and a pedestrian bridge were built, and a terminal building was built in 1962. Nevertheless, the station remained a temporary solution for a long time.

The line went into operation on February 26, 1962, the Grünbergallee station did not open until May 27, 1962. A possible extension of the S-Bahn along the outer ring towards Wuhlheide was prepared at the Grünauer Kreuz. The line was supplied with electricity from a temporary substation at Grünauer Kreuz , which was later replaced by a new building.

From 1985 to 1987 the section between Grünauer Kreuz and Altglienicke was also expanded to two tracks. This increased the performance of the route. The prospective goal was to enable a third train group (i.e. three trains in each direction in 20 minutes) in order to better connect new development areas in the Altglienicke area. However, this concentration of offerings did not occur. The last single-track section on the bridge under Waltersdorfer Chaussee was removed in 1991.

Extension to BER airport

Waßmannsdorf S-Bahn station

In the 1990s, the Schönefeld location prevailed on the question of where the new major airport for Berlin should be built. An area in the southern part of the existing airport was chosen as the location for the new terminal building. Various concepts for its connection to Berlin were examined. In the 1990s, two variants of an S-Bahn connection were favored: on the one hand, an underground connection from the existing Schönefeld train station under the runway, and on the other hand, an east-west connection from the Blankenfelde train station on the Dresdener Bahn via the airport train station and on to Görlitz Railway.

But it didn't come to that. Instead, a connection was created that bypasses the airport in a large loop to the north from the old Schönefeld train station and then reaches the new airport train station from the west together with the long-distance train in a tunnel. It uses two tracks on the Berlin outer ring on the line that was expanded to four tracks in the 1980s, for which there was no other need after reunification due to falling freight traffic and changed traffic flows to Berlin. Originally no stopover was planned, but the Schönefeld community financed the construction of the Waßmannsdorf stop . The new line has been in operation together with the long-distance railway since October 31, 2011. The Berlin-Brandenburg Airport was originally supposed to go into operation on this day. However, there were delays in its construction. The planned date for summer 2012 could not be kept either. At the beginning of 2016, the airport was not expected to be completed until the end of 2017 at the earliest. At the end of 2017, the airport company named October 2020 as the new "reliable opening date".

Since January 2012, route knowledge drives have been carried out for the train drivers on the new route, but these were canceled after the airport opening was postponed again. However, individual trips will continue to be carried out continuously to keep the route operational and to ventilate the underground airport station.

passenger traffic

S-Bahn in Altglienicke station

Shortly after the line was opened, two S-Bahn train groups, i. H. two trains in each direction at 20-minute intervals. In 1962, the train groups Bernau - Schönefeld Central Airport (during the entire operating time) and Friedrichstrasse - Schönefeld (in daytime traffic) ran on the route. The last-mentioned group of trains between the Berlin Stadtbahn operated just a few years later during the entire operating time. Since then it has been the main train group on the line. In 1990 it was extended to the western part of the city as far as Charlottenburg , and at times also to Westkreuz . Since 1991 it has had the line number S9. Because of the construction work on Ostkreuz , it has not been taken to the tram since 2009, but to Pankow or Blankenburg , but is to go back to the tram after the connecting curve has been completed.

The second train group to Schönefeld changed several times. For a long time there were continuous connections between Schönefeld and Oranienburg . Since the end of 2002 the S45 line has been running from Schönefeld via Baumschulenweg to the southern Berlin Ringbahn . The end of the line in 2016 is Südkreuz station , and in some cases also Bundesplatz station . These two lines will continue to run on the route after the BER airport is completed and then end at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport train station.

Route

View of the S-Bahn platform in the Berlin Brandenburg Airport train station

The route begins in the Grünauer Kreuz. There crosses Berlin outer ring , the range of Görlitz line . A large number of connecting curves enable journeys on the long-distance tracks from all in all directions. For the S-Bahn there is only the branch of the route to the airport from the S-Bahn along the Görlitzer Bahn in the direction of Grünau and Königs Wusterhausen. The route to the airport turns to the southwest and initially uses the former route of the outer freight ring . The Berlin-Altglienicke train station is located together with the motorway feeder in a cut between the districts of Altglienicke and Bohnsdorf . The route continues westwards and reaches the Grünbergallee stop . On the street of the same name there is one of the few restricted level crossings within the S-Bahn network in Berlin's urban area.

The route crosses the Berlin city limits and reaches the Berlin outer ring again. The Berlin-Schönefeld Airport station has a central platform for the S-Bahn with two S-Bahn tracks and formerly three central platforms for the long-distance train. Originally, no continuation of the S-Bahn line was planned. Therefore, the extension of the S-Bahn line continues in the axis of the former long-distance tracks of the southern central platform, which was therefore taken out of service. The outer ring was expanded to four tracks in this area in the 1980s. The new S-Bahn line uses the two southern outer ring tracks. It follows the ring for several kilometers and turns south in the village of Waßmannsdorf . There is the Waßmannsdorf stop , which was built on a dam. The line meets the long-distance tracks of the Glasower Damm Ost – Bohnsdorf Süd railway at Selchow (Schönefeld) and runs together with this first in a trough, then in a several kilometer long tunnel to the east or northeast to the Berlin Brandenburg Airport train station . This is where the S-Bahn line ends, while the long-distance tracks continue to the Görlitzer Bahn. The airport train station is just 2.5 kilometers as the crow flies from Schönefeld train station, while the S-Bahn route between the two stations is 7.7 kilometers long.

With the construction of the route extension, a new sweeping system was created in Schönefeld station. There are no plans for the new airport station, the trains turn at the platform. The airport train station is controlled by an electronic signal box in Selchow .

Web links

Commons : Railway line Grünauer Kreuz – Airport Berlin Brandenburg  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Bernd Kuhlmann: The Airport S-Bahn , on stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Bernd Kuhlmann: Schönefeld near Berlin. One office, one airport and eleven train stations. GVE, Berlin 1996. ISBN 3-89218-038-5 , pp. 53-56.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Bernd Kuhlmann, Die Flughafen-S-Bahn , on stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de, accessed on February 4, 2016.
3. ^ Bernd Kuhlmann: Schönefeld near Berlin. One office, one airport and eleven train stations. GVE, Berlin 1996. ISBN 3-89218-038-5 , pp. 96-97.
4. ↑ BER should go into operation in October 2020 . In: Zeit Online , December 15, 2017, accessed on July 24, 2019.
5. ↑ Various course books.
6. ↑ Chronicle of the train groups of the Berlin S-Bahn from 1945 on kibou.de, accessed on February 4, 2016.