History of the Berlin S-Bahn

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The history of the Berlin S-Bahn is a long process in which an inner-city, electrically operated local transport system was created in Berlin . The first line went into operation in 1924, after the essential prerequisites had been created with the introduction of a local transport tariff and the separation of local and long-distance rail traffic in 1891, i.e. more than 30 years earlier.

The first electrical test operations took place from 1900. In 1924, the first railroad line electrified with a lateral busbar painted from below and 750 volts DC voltage from the Szczecin suburb station (as the north station ) to Bernau went into regular operation.

After the Second World War , the S-Bahn network was quickly freed from war damage. At the end of 1947, with a few exceptions, the entire network was open to traffic again. The construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 led to a major cut in the operation and network of the S-Bahn. While the network in East Berlin was further expanded, the number of passengers in West Berlin fell due to boycotts, whereby the operation of the Deutsche Reichsbahn , which manages the S-Bahn, was further neglected and finally to about half the length of the route in 1980 after a strike by the employees was discontinued. In 1984 the West Berliner Verkehrs-Betriebe took over operations in the western part and began its renovation and full operation again. (In this context, the BVG began - instead of the so-called train group designation - to introduce line numbers for the first time on the three routes it operates, analogous to the subway.) After the fall of the Berlin Wall , the two S- Railway networks.

Prehistory (1838-1924)

Train guided by a T-2 locomotive in the direction of Grunewald at Savignyplatz (Charlottenburg) station of the Berlin light rail , around 1900
Berliner Ringbahn (“Hundekopf”) on a map from 1885

The first main lines were built from 1838 with the connection Berlin - Zehlendorf - Potsdam . By 1846, the city already had five terminal stations , from which routes led in almost all directions. Four more stations were added by 1882. In order to connect the lines with each other, the Berlin connecting railway was built in 1851 along the former city wall at ground level. It circumnavigated the urban area in a three-quarter circle from the Stettiner via the Hamburger , the Potsdamer and the Anhalter Bahnhof to the Frankfurter Bahnhof . The constant traffic, especially by the military, severely hindered passenger traffic on the road, so a new solution was considered.

The new Berlin Ringbahn was used as a bypass route around the city far beyond the settlement at the time. Due to the Franco-Prussian War , the first section in the east was initially opened for military traffic in 1870, and from 1872 also for passenger and freight traffic. Deutsch Wilmersdorf and the city of Charlottenburg were bypassed from the Schöneberg train station at that time . Via Charlottenburg-Westend (today Westend station ) the line reached the area of ​​today's Beusselstrasse station in Moabit at the end of 1877 , and the ring was closed. Because of its distinctive shape, the enclosed area is also called the dog's head or the large dog's head . This term has also found its way into the linguistic usage of Berlin politics and administration.

In February 1882, the Berlin Stadtbahn was finally put into operation, an 11.2 kilometer long elevated railway with an eight kilometer long brick viaduct , which created a connection between the Schlesisches Bahnhof (today Ostbahnhof ) and the Charlottenburg station .

Due to the rapid growth of the city, the suburban traffic increased immensely. Considerations to build special suburban tracks next to the existing lines arose early on, but it took until 1891 when the Potsdam suburban railway went into operation as the first separate suburban line in the Berlin area. In the following years, the other lines (e.g. to Bernau and Königs Wusterhausen ) were also provided with separate suburban tracks .

After Werner Siemens presented his electric locomotive in 1879 and the first electric tram began operating two years later , the Prussian Railway initially hesitated , but then started electric operation on various routes from 1900. The first trial operation was set up by Siemens & Halske between Berlin-Potsdamer Bahnhof and Zehlendorf with busbars painted on the side. Three-axle compartment cars converted into railcars were used. This operation was discontinued in 1902 after it had not produced any positive results. The next trial operation, this time with equipment from the UEG, began in July 1903 between Berlin Potsdamer Bahnhof and Groß-Lichterfelde Ost . Busbars painted from above and a direct voltage of 550 volts were used here ; the railcars were made up of four-axle compartment cars. It worked so well that it was subsequently kept as regular operation until the line was integrated into the S-Bahn service in 1929. A third trial operation with single-phase alternating voltage of 6 kV and 25  Hz between Niederschöneweide-Johannisthal and Spindlersfeld in 1903 and 1904 was not maintained in Berlin, but it led to the electrification of the Hamburg-Altona urban and suburban railway and the Altona port railway with the same system .

Around 1910 it was decided to electrify the light rail, the ring line and numerous suburban lines using overhead lines. Electric locomotives and six-axle passenger cars were planned as rolling stock because this would have resulted in lower maintenance costs and less wear and tear on the rails. The total costs for the necessary 690 passenger cars, 557 electric locomotives, depots, the overhead line and two rail power stations in Berlin and Bitterfeld would have amounted to 53.3 million marks .

The "Great Electrification" (1924–1933)

Plan of the "Great Electrification" around 1930

In 1879 the first electric locomotive was exhibited at the trade fair in Berlin. As early as 1881, the first electric tram drove from Berlin-Lichterfelde station to the cadet institute . At that time, the development of electric trains had only just begun. It was all completely new, and many unknown problems that had yet to arise had yet to be identified and resolved. Here are the years in which the solutions were worked out: Above-ground power supply lines 1881, underground power supply lines 1889, power supply via the running rails 1881 or third power rail 1900, the type of pantograph , roller pantograph (shuttle) 1892 or current collection with the bracket 1888 - simple bracket or scissor shape 1896, the suspension of the motors, the transmission of torque to the axles, the sealing of the motors against moisture and dust and the type of car body .

On April 1, 1895, the reorganization of the Prussian State Railways came into force. All long-distance lines that were under the administration of the Kingdom of Prussia, as well as the city, ring and suburban railways that flowed into Berlin until then, were merged into the Berlin Railway Directorate .

After the Berlin elevated railway , which was powered by electricity, opened in 1902, it was recognized that steam operation was not suitable for a large city in the long term. In order to keep pace with technical developments, the Prussian Ministry of Public Works had been dealing with electrification since the late 1890s (at that time the term “electrification” was common).

Shortly before the start of World War I in 1914, the project was nearing completion. After the end of the war in 1918, the Reich and the Reichsbahn suffered from the consequences of the war, the devaluation of money and the global economic crisis in the early 1930s. Nevertheless, the electrification of the northern suburban lines was taken up again.

In 1926, at a meeting in Hamburg, the administrative board of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft accepted the submission of the main administration for the electrification of the Stadt- und Ringbahn and the subsequent suburban lines.

The development of the Berlin city, ring and suburban railways up to the great electrification in 1926/1928

At that time, all of the long-distance railway lines leading to Berlin ran into Berlin's railway tracks. The routing of the city, ring and suburban railways was largely determined by the location of their terminal stations.

At the end of the 1870s, there were eight terminal stations on the long-distance railway lines that were connected by the Ringbahn: Anhalter , Dresdener , Potsdamer , Hamburger , Lehrter , Stettiner , Frankfurter (Schlesischer Bahnhof) and Görlitzer Bahnhof .

Initially, the suburban railway lines were the carriers of suburban traffic. Then they started to equip them with additional train stations, which also contributed significantly to the fact that the city from now on expanded beyond the ring line into the suburbs.

The electrification bill from 1912/1913

At the end of 1911, the Prussian Ministry of Public Works applied for funds for the establishment of electric train transport on Berlin's city, ring and suburban railways in the draft of the Railway Loans Act for 1912.

The reason for the proposal was submitted with memorandum 239 B of the House of Representatives (21st legislative period, fifth session).

The electrification was to extend to the entire network of urban, ring and suburban railways, which was 429.3 kilometers long at the time. The reason was based on the increase in traffic in the following years. In 1911 there were already 328.3 million travelers who were transported. City and ring rail traffic more than doubled from 1895 to 1909.

EB 2 motor frame, around 1911

To increase the operating performance, three variants were examined: steam operation with leader, electrical operation with locomotive hauled trains and electric multiple units. The state railway administration suggested the operation with electric ( engine frames ). It was believed that the continued use of the existing fleet of vehicles would ensure operation and also save costs. The trains should run as full or half trains. One motor frame should run at the head and one at the end of a train.

With regard to the drive frames, it was an idea that had not yet been tried and which should be put into practice here. Catenary operation with 15 kV single-phase AC voltage and a frequency of 16 23  Hz was planned in accordance with the agreement on the execution of electrical train transport . The energy was to be drawn externally from two power plants. The state railway administration did not want to burden the bill with the costs of a power station, which at that time amounted to 90 million marks.

In the years between 1899 and 1916, seven estimates were made. For the electrification 123.35 million marks were estimated, 73.35 million marks were planned for the procurement of engine frames and the equipping of passenger cars with high-voltage equipment and driver's cabs. In addition, 132 larger passenger cars were to be purchased. 50 million marks were earmarked for the stationary electrification with the changes to the platforms and track system. The purely structural work was supposed to cost 12.55 million marks, 9 million marks for new parking facilities, 2 million marks for sheds to park the drive frames and 1.55 million marks for raising the platforms.

In the case of electrical systems, 17.64 million marks were estimated for the overhead lines , 880,000 marks for a transformer station and 10.68 million marks for protective devices for the low-voltage lines of the railways and post offices, and 7.25 million marks for improvements to the signaling equipment. One million marks was calculated for the repair works.

A decision about the type of current and voltage still had to be made, which at that time was in the direction of single-phase alternating current. The state railway administration had the experience of the trial operation Niederschöneweide - Spindlersfeld , the light rail operation in Hamburg-Altona on the route Blankenese - Ohlsdorf and the long distance operation Dessau - Bitterfeld . In addition, there was the experience of foreign experts in the electrification of the English railways London - Brighton and the New York - New Haven railway, who spoke in favor of single-phase alternating current.

The experiences from the trial operation of 1901 with railcars on the Wannsee Railway, which were created from three-axle compartment cars, and the electrical operation on the suburban line to Lichterfelde Ost, which was retained after the test phase of 1903, spoke in favor of direct current . In addition, there was also the experience of the Berlin elevated railway, which opened in 1902. Their operation gave no cause for an unfavorable assessment. The subways in London and Paris also ran with direct current.

For the alternating current spoke again the simple supply of the traction current with high voltage, the saving on substations and the simpler speed control. On the other hand, the equipment of the wagons became heavier, which in turn affected the track maintenance in elevation and lateral position, and overhead lines also impaired the cityscape.

At that time, direct current made high demands on the converter plants, which had to transform low-voltage traction current from the high-voltage three-phase current and rectify it. In addition, the conversion brings about voltage losses.

What was new was the idea of ​​choosing a variant between railcars and locomotives as the driving force, namely the motor frame. Precisely this thought was risky and contributed significantly to the critical treatment in the state parliament and in the public. Drive frames with two or three drive axles should be built. The continued use of the existing wagon fleet should ensure the profitability of the locomotive or motor frame operation. Technically, the idea was cited as the easy accessibility of the electrical equipment and the savings that can be achieved by not combining the engine equipment with the car to form a vehicle with heavy axle pressure and correspondingly high stress on the superstructure. A train sequence of 40 trains per hour was assumed.

External supply with a contingent contract was chosen for the power supply. This enabled the costs to be reduced by 90 million marks. There were purely financial reasons that moved the state railway administration to do this. The administration was able to acquire the power plant for the first time in ten years.

The printed matter 800 was discussed in several sessions in the Prussian House of Representatives and in the Prussian Manor House . The manor was unanimously in favor of electrification. On April 22, 1913, the draft law was approved in the form adopted by the commission: “The state government is authorized to prepare for electrical operation on the Berlin city, ring and suburban railways with a temporary restriction to those used by the city and ring railways To use routes 25 million marks. "In contrast, the application of the state railway administration had read:" The state government is authorized to use 50 million marks to set up electric trains on the Berlin city, ring and suburban railways. "

The electrification of the northern suburban lines 1924–1926

In the economically and politically difficult times after the First World War, the Minister of Public Works of Prussia commissioned the electrification of the northern suburban lines in December 1919.

This was the route Berlin Stettiner suburban train station via Gesundbrunnen to Bernau and Gesundbrunnen - Hermsdorf in the direction of Oranienburg . This line was chosen because it was closed, because the line to Bernau had had special suburban tracks since 1916 and the one to Oranienburg to Hermsdorf had also been expanded to four tracks and further expansion had already been decided. The lengths of these routes were 22.08 km and 9.8 km, together 32.78 km.

At first it was planned to use alternating current with a voltage of 15 kilovolts . The moves should consist of two units, i.e. two half-moves. Each half-train was to be moved by a driving frame and consist of six three-axle cars.

In the first compartment behind the drive frame and in the last compartment of the last car in the half-train, as in the planning from 1912, a driver's cab should be installed. The pantographs were located in the car behind the drive frame. The driver's cab weighed 62.32  t , a motor frame 34 t, the maximum speed should be 65 km / h. The drive frames were supplied by AEG.

At the same time, attempts were made with a multiple unit train from Siemens-Schuckert-Werke. The train was completed in 1929. It consisted of two half moves. Each half train received two railcars, three sidecars ran between the two railcars.

The type of current was finally decided in favor of direct current. In the last profitability calculation, the decisive factor was that the old rolling stock, which had been worn out after the war years and which caused safety concerns due to the wooden construction of the car bodies, had to be replaced after all. Cars with sliding doors were chosen, the execution should have 569 seats and its curb weight was 281 t.

Later, after the decision to use direct current, the tracks were equipped with a third rail (conductor rail) and a voltage of 800 volts was supplied. In contrast to the test farms and the subway's small-profile network, however, the decision was made to use a power rail coated from below. On bridges in particular, where the necessary clearance expansion for the pantographs was not possible, side-painted bridge guide rails were provided, so the pantographs had to be pivotable about two axes.

The Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG) ordered six test railcars from the industry , which were spelled out from A to F. The test trains were initially hauled by steam locomotives before the electrical equipment was installed. The northern routes were ideal for test operations due to their lower level of operation and being separate from the rest of the suburban traffic.

On August 8, 1924, the first electric train ran on the suburban railway to Bernau. The first electric timetable was set up on June 5, 1925. On October 4, 1925, electrical operations began on the route from Hermsdorf to Oranienburg (16.3 km). On the third northern route to Velten, branching off at Schönholz-Reinickendorf from the Gesundbrunnen – Oranienburg route, electrical operation (21.5 km) began on March 16, 1927. The electricity was drawn from the public grid via 30 kV cables and converted into direct voltage of 800 volts in six transformer stations. Railcar sheds were built at the four endpoints of the three routes. The cost of electrifying the northern lines was 13 million gold marks. The second track from Tegel to Velten cost around 10 million marks. Some of the first payments were due during the inflation period.

The first regular series of the "Bernau" type - the later DR series ET 169 - was designed more for test operation than for continuous use. Between two long, four-axle railcars, there were three shorter, two-axle sidecars, a very unusual arrangement that was already used on the test trains A to E. Just one year later, the type “Oranienburg” ( ET 168 ) was divided into a wagon that has been in place to this day: All wagons run on two-axle bogies ( motor , control and trailer cars ) are almost identical in length. In operation, a railcar was always permanently coupled to a control car or a trailer, this combination was called a quarter train. Two quarter moves made up a half move, three a three-quarter move and four a full move. The length of a half train corresponded to a five-car unit of the "Bernau" type. But even the trains of the type "Oranienburg" could not completely convince those in charge of the German Reichsbahn.

The great electrification of 1926/1928

The smoke and soot nuisance has always been a problem in steam operation. The electric operation not only benefits the traveler, but also has a beneficial and economical effect in operation. According to an expert judgment, however, any change in the composition of the air after electrification could not be detected. From the point of view of the time, the prevailing opinion was that the large power plants gave off such large amounts of smoke and soot into the air that the influence of the steam train operation, on the other hand, was classified as negligible.

With electrical operation, the view of the signals is unimpeded, so that light signals could now be used. The route protection and thus inevitably also the braking of the train can be achieved more reliably. Greater cleanliness reduces the maintenance costs of halls and bridges. The noise of the approaching trains was much lower. The lighting of the car is more convenient to solve.

The inevitable elevation of the platforms made it possible to process passengers more conveniently and more quickly.

Technical requirements

As recently as 1920, thought was initially being given to the implementation of the plans from 1912 to electrify the lines with alternating current and to cover the existing car trains with motor frames. However, the poor condition of the wagons after the extended operating time caused by the war and inflationary period also required new purchases in view of the competition with urban transport. The decision was made in favor of powerful motorized multiple units. An operating cost calculation for AC and DC operation with multiple units turned out to be in favor of direct current. The operating voltage of 800 volts was tested on the northern suburban lines. It turned out to be useful for reasons of simple and safe insulation and the availability of technically proven motors and converters. For the rectification of the traction current , however, mercury vapor rectifiers were provided instead of the rotating single-armature converters that were customary up to that point .

At that time, light rail operations required an average of 50 watt hours (Wh) of electrical energy for one tonne-kilometer , 46–49 Wh in summer and up to 59 Wh in winter due to the heating being switched on. The contract price for the electricity was then confidential and not known to the public.

When choosing electricity, it was necessary to decide whether to build one's own power plant or whether the electricity should be obtained from external suppliers. The Reichsbahn, at that time the buyer of around 300 million kilowatt hours, was first-rate customer recruitment for the energy supply companies and at the same time a lucrative business, because around 300 tons of coal had to be delivered to the Klingenberg power station every day by rail. The electricity was obtained from two suppliers, BEWAG and EWAG. Both shared the need in half. The incoming three-phase current with 110 kV was transformed to 30 kV in the two switching stations in Halensee and Markgrafendamm . The switchgear were independent of each other; in the event of a fault, each could cover the needs of the entire network. Two 30 kV cables were laid on each of the routes to feed the 48 rectifier substations . In the substations, the incoming AC voltage was first stepped down to 800 V, then rectified and then fed into the power rail network.

A new Reichsbahn repair shop was built in Berlin-Schöneweide to maintain the electric railcars . The new building was erected in one place to combine all maintenance work on the railcar units in a flow process. In this plant, the cars delivered by the manufacturers should also be equipped with electricity. The plant was connected to the route network via the branch line to Spindlersfeld from Berlin-Schöneweide train station. The entire track system had a length of 9.5 km, of which 4.34 km were available as sidings. Incoming trains first drove into the installation system. The quarter train units were first pushed into the car wash with a shunting locomotive and cleaned. In the second work step, the cars were uncoupled and brought into the hall. It consisted of three individual halls of 22, 22 and 25 m in length. In one of these halls, the car bodies were lifted off the bogies and moved to the car stands with cranes.

The repair shop was supplied with three-phase alternating voltage of 6 kV, this was transformed down in the factory and rectified if necessary. There was three-phase alternating voltage with 380 volts and direct voltage with 440 volts for power purposes as well as single-phase alternating voltage of 220 volts especially for lighting purposes and 24 volts direct voltage for the hand lamps.

The laying of cables on the free route along the Ringbahn and the suburban lines did not represent any particular requirement. Difficulties only arose on the light rail between the Silesian station and the Charlottenburg station. A free suspension of the cables along the parapet, as had previously been done, was out of the question. On the viaducts, the only option was to arrange the cable ducts on cantilevers. The traction current cables were on the long-distance railway side, the safety and telecommunication cables on the S-Bahn side. On the traction current side, two cables lay next to each other, on the security and telecommunication cable side there were about 40.

The storage of the wagons in the hangar was primarily a question of entertainment. The more wagons that could be parked sheltered from the weather, the more the paint was protected. In winter, the wagons were protected from icing up and they didn't have to be moved for cleaning. There were four railcar hangars on the northern lines and one on the Lichterfeld line. Some of the existing locomotive sheds were rebuilt, and some of the halls were new buildings.

A quick change of passengers was a decisive condition for the planned short train sequence. It was planned to limit the holding times to 15 to 17 seconds. For the step-free entry, the platforms at a total of 93 stations had to be raised to 960 mm above the top of the rails.

A large number of building construction measures were necessary. New reception buildings, two large switchgear, 48 switchgear and rectifier plants, the new car sheds and the high-rise buildings of the Schöneweide repair shop. Some train stations have also been rebuilt and relocated. The former station exhibition (renamed Westkreuz around 1930) was the first station of the Reichsbahn to be equipped with two escalators.

With the previous, guard-operated block stations from 1889, a five-minute cycle could be run on the tram, in 1892 a train sequence of three minutes was possible. After the introduction of electrical operation, an average speed of 50 km / h should be achieved with a train sequence of 90 seconds, so that 40 trains per hour and direction could run.

For the first time, light signals were used for signaling in the German railway network. With the dense train sequence it was necessary to set up a complete pre-signaling. In order to avoid signal accumulation, the industry developed the Sv signal system . The dense sequence of trains also required the introduction of a train control system that prevented the crossing of stop signals. Based on the model of the Berlin subway, the “Bernauer Fahrsperre ” was created.

The increase in speed required the curvature of the superstructure to be worked through. The superstructure in the area of ​​the train stations and stops had to be adapted for the accelerated arrival and departure .

Requirements for economy

In none of the plans for electrification was the electrification of the entire network immediately considered. Given the economic situation at the time, it was all the less possible to think about converting all urban, ring and suburban rail lines to electrical operation. Electrifying only the city and ring lines would have contradicted the basic requirements of traffic and operation, since the suburban lines are operated following the traffic flows beyond the city and ring lines. Therefore, a limit corresponding to the economic situation and the necessities of economic success could be found for the suburban lines connected with the light rail line. The separation of the suburban line to Spandau from the long-distance tracks of the Stadtbahn allowed the introduction of two lines from the west from Potsdam and Spandau and three lines from the east from Kaulsdorf, Erkner and Grünau into the city tracks of the S-Bahn. This selection comprised a distance of 157 km with the Ringbahn.

Initially, the Wannseebahn could not be included in the electrification because extensive renovation work at the transfer stations such as B. Großgörschenstraße and Schöneberg had to be made, which were associated with high technical effort and renovation costs.

Likewise, the long-standing desire to separate the Ostbahn to Strausberg from suburban traffic by expanding it to four tracks and to continue electrification beyond Kaulsdorf had to be postponed for the time being. Finally, through the agreement with the city of Berlin, it was possible to finance the four-track expansion to Mahlsdorf.

Trial operation had started in June 1928. The success was shown in a significant increase in the number of trips. From 1927 to 1928 they increased by 34 million journeys, from 379 to 413 million. A similar increase was expected for 1929 and the following years.

A judgment on the absolute amount of the costs and the proportionate amount to the estimates of 1899, 1907, and 1912 will be imperfect in many respects, since the technical implementation according to type of electricity, power generation and vehicle procurement as well as the length of the route in the individual estimates turned out differently. Nevertheless, such a comparison should be carried out, since one has to rely on conclusions for the subway structures under construction in 1928, which go back to the construction of the light rail and are used to estimate and justify the high costs of new buildings at that time. You had to switch on the inflation factor, which was assumed to be 1.7. The fact that it may be much higher in the branches of the electrotechnical industry around 1928 is compensated for by the fact that other partial versions may contain lower inflation values.

The following conclusion was reached around 1930: The electrification cost 958,000 marks per kilometer of route without the conversion of the Spandau route, the construction of the exhibition station (Westkreuz) and the conversion of the Wannsee, i.e. 563,000 marks when the price increases. In contrast, there are the estimates for 1899, 1907 and 1912, but all compared without power plants, 485,000, 388,000 and 289,000 marks.

If one were to add the operationally necessary expenses to the first two estimates (1899 and 1907), which were found to be directly related to the project during the great electrification, such as B. heightened platforms, widened sidewalks on the light rail, minor modifications to the parking stations, improvements to the superstructure and other expenses that cost millions together, one would arrive at a similar unit rate for kilometers. In any case, the comparisons showed that under the same conditions, electrification would not have been cheaper before the First World War. However, a round sum of one million Reichsmarks for one kilometer of the route should always be expected for every further project.

After the great electrification

Historical "Stadtbahner" (ET 165) at Gesundbrunnen station

In 1927 the first “Stadtbahn” ( ET 165 ) trains were delivered; by 1932 a total of 638 quarter trains had been delivered. The trains were first used on the light rail when it was handed over to electrical operation on June 11, 1928, which is where its name comes from. Automatic track blocks with light signals and automatic track vacancy detection were introduced on particularly densely populated sections of the route, starting with the light rail . The special Sv signals , which are only used on electrically operated S-Bahn lines, combined the main and distant signals for the next signal, the first AB 28 design could be recognized on signal screens with up to ten signal lamps. The travel lock , which was introduced at the same time, prevented the crossing of stop signals. In return, at the beginning of the 1930s, one could boast of having one of the most modern means of transport in the world. In 1928 alone, the year of the "Great Electrification of the Stadtbahn", over 115 km of route went into operation. On December 1, 1930, the suburban railways were finally combined with the Berlin Stadt- und Ringbahn under the name "S-Bahn"; The symbol should be a white “S” on a green background, as a counterpart to the white “U” on a blue background of the subway .

By 1930, all suburban lines except for the Wannseebahn were electrified, in 1933 this first Berlin suburban line followed twice: In addition to the suburban tracks, the long-distance tracks to the Potsdam train station were also provided with a power rail, and 18 quarter trains of the type were built especially for this "Express S-Bahn" Bought in 1935 (test train type 1934), which differed from the older cars in their more pleasing rounded fronts and larger windows, but were mainly equipped with more powerful engines and a reinforced braking system (from 1941: ET 125 ). With that they reached a speed of 120 km / h. The new trains were now known as "banker trains". Behind the Zehlendorf train station , they continued as a normal S-Bahn to Wannsee and Potsdam .

The first phase was thus completed. By the end of 1933, the following sections of the route were converted to electric S-Bahn operation:

date Route section Length
(in km)
0August 8, 1924 Szczecin suburban train station - Bernau 22.676
0June 5, 1925 Gesundbrunnen - Birkenwerder 18.019
0October 4, 1925 Birkenwerder - Oranienburg 07.765
March 16, 1927 Schönholz-Reinickendorf - Velten 21,162
June 11, 1928 Potsdam - light rail - Erkner 57.168
July 10, 1928 Wannsee - Stahnsdorf 04.135
August 23, 1928 Charlottenburg - Spandau West 09.279
0November 6, 1928 Charlottenburg - Südring - Grünau 25,883
Neukölln - Warschauer Strasse 05.677
Schlesischer Bahnhof - Kaulsdorf 11.258
0February 1, 1929 Charlottenburg - Nordring - Baumschulenweg 25.755
Frankfurter Allee - Warschauer Strasse 00.580
Niederschöneweide-Johannisthal - Spindlersfeld 03,972
April 18, 1929 Potsdamer Ringbahnhof - Papestrasse 03,440
Potsdamer Ringbahnhof - Ebersstrasse 01.060
Halensee - Westend 02.713
0July 2, 1929 Potsdamer Ringbahnhof - Lichterfelde Ost 09,087
December 18, 1929 Jungfernheide - garden field 04,460
December 15, 1930 Kaulsdorf - Mahlsdorf 01.366
May 15, 1933 Potsdam Wannseebahnhof - Wannsee 18,988
Potsdamer Bahnhof - Zehlendorf Mitte (main railway tracks) 11,960
Connection main line - Wannseebahn Zehlendorf Mitte 01.040

The S-Bahn in the "Germania" planning (1933–1945)

Railcar ET 167 072 (type 1941)
Map of the north-south tunnel

In 1936 the general building inspector and later armaments minister Albert Speer was commissioned by Hitler to design a floor plan for the future “ world capital Germania ”, including the railway facilities. With an expected population of four to five million inhabitants, a powerful means of transport such as the S-Bahn was a must. The urban area should be enlarged by incorporations and supplemented by satellite and satellite cities . Among other things, the following were planned:

Some of these projects were tackled: The northern section of the north-south tunnel between Humboldthain and Unter den Linden was opened in July 1936 in good time for the Olympic Games ; the southern section to Schöneberg station followed in autumn 1939. An improved design of the automatic route block, AB 37, enabled smaller signal screens with fewer lanterns with switchable colored disks (“aperture relays”). In preparation for the Olympic Games in 1935, a new type of vehicle "Olympia" was developed (later the ET 166 series ). Another series followed, designated ET 167 from 1941 . Soon the trains of the types “Bankier”, “Olympia” and “Stadtbahn” shaped the image of Berlin. The audience should already guess the future size of the city. The following routes were added until the end of World War II :

date Route section Length
(in km)
July 28, 1936 Humboldthain - Unter den Linden 02.691
Heerstraße - Reichssportfeld 01.467
April 15, 1939 Unter den Linden - Potsdamer Platz 00.941
Priest path - Mahlow 11,595
0October 9, 1939 Potsdamer Platz - Großgörschenstrasse 04.243
0November 6, 1939 Anhalter Bahnhof - Yorckstrasse 01.571
0October 6, 1940 Mahlow - Rangsdorf 07.396
0September 8, 1943 Lichterfelde East - Lichterfelde South 02,668

In 1939 it was finally planned that the train groups in the final model should run like this. In addition to the train groups listed, there were also “Fern-S-Bahn” on the important routes, a further development of the “banker trains”.

Train group route Train stations Routes traveled Remarks
 1  Bernau / Oranienburg - Wannsee 31/35 Stettiner / Nordbahn , north-south tunnel , Wannseebahn
 2  Velten (Mark) - Ludwigsfelde 28 Kremmener Bahn , Tiergarten Tunnel, Anhalter Bahn
 3  Nauen / Wustermark - Wünsdorf 38/37 Lehrter / Hamburger Bahn , Tiergarten Tunnel, Dresdener Bahn
 A.  Stettiner Bahnhof - Vollring - Stettiner Bahnhof 44 Ringbahn , north-south tunnel via Südringspitzkehre
 B.  Jungfernheide - garden field 4th Siemensbahn
 G  Halensee - Strausberg 27 Stadtbahn , Ostbahn
 H  Spandau West - Grünau 29 Spandau suburban railway , Stadtbahn, Görlitzer Bahn
 J  Schöneweide - Spindlersfeld 3 Branch line Schöneweide – Spindlersfeld
 K  Königs Wusterhausen - Anhalter Bahnhof 18th Görlitzer Bahn, inner city tunnel further than ZGr. 1
 L.  Potsdam - Erkner 32 Wetzlarer Bahn , Stadtbahn, Frankfurt Bahn
 M.  Wannsee - Lichterfelde Ost 10 extended cemetery railway, Anhalter Bahn

The post-war period (1945–1961)

Destruction and reparation

Flooded north-south tunnel under the Spree, 1946
In 1952, seven sets of the former Peenemünder Schnellbahnzug came from the Soviet Union to the S-Bahn Berlin

As early as July 3, 1944, the Ringbahn traffic to the Potsdam Ringbahnhof ended and the station was even completely shut down. In the same year the connection between Charlottenburg and Witzleben went offline, although it was still operational.

The north-south tunnel , until then largely spared by bombs, was flooded on May 2, 1945 by a blast in the Landwehr Canal , which was primarily aimed at the nearby BASA bunker of the Reichsbahn (see also: The subway under water ). Affected were those seeking protection in the tunnel and its stations, as well as the evacuees from the Anhalter bunker , who were to be brought out of the danger area in the organized trek through the north-south tunnel to the Szczecin train station .

Initially, the S-Bahn drove through the four- sector city regardless of the sector and later state borders ; the first, as yet haphazard, operation began on July 6, 1945 between the Wannsee and Großgörschenstrasse stations . The remaining network was put into operation until February 1946, with the exception of the north-south tunnel, which was not reopened until November 1947 due to the water damage. Especially for this purpose, the long-distance tracks to the Potsdam and Stettin train stations were provided with power rails for a short time so that normal operation could be carried out. The operation of the high-speed "banker trains" was not resumed, the vehicles ran in normal circuits and were later adapted to the ET 166.

All measures were made more difficult by the reparation payments to be made to the Soviet Union , which in most cases meant the removal of one track each from the long-distance and suburban tracks. An exception was made on the route to Frankfurt (Oder) , as this was the connection to Moscow : the long-distance tracks were retained, but both S-Bahn tracks to Erkner were dismantled. In order to still be able to operate, a makeshift platform was set up in Köpenick , for example, in order to be able to travel at least with steam. It was not until January 1948 that the S-Bahn was able to travel as far as this, even if only on a single track, and in November of the same year Erkner was again the terminus. No fewer than 287 single wagons had to start their journey to the Soviet Union from the wagon fleet, which was already heavily decimated during the war (a small number of wagons returned in 1952).

The first Reichsbahn strike in 1949

Special train for holiday children at Friedrichstrasse station, 1947

After the end of the war, the Deutsche Reichsbahn continued to exist in all four zones of occupation in Germany. Order No. 8 of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SMAD) of August 11, 1945 had transferred all rail traffic in the Soviet Occupation Zone (SBZ) and Greater Berlin to the German railways - i.e. de facto the DR - the Western Allies had them Decision approved. On September 7, 1949, however, the name was changed to Deutsche Bundesbahn for the western zones, but in the Soviet Zone it kept the old name, as renaming would have led to the loss of the operating rights in West Berlin . The Deutsche Reichsbahn kept the operating rights for all rail traffic including the S-Bahn (this until 1984) in the western part of Berlin.

With the currency reform carried out by the Western Allies in the western zones and in the western sectors of Berlin, there were different currencies in both halves of the city in 1948, which were valid in both halves of the city. West Berliners paid costs such as rent, electricity and gas in East Marks , as both currencies quickly settled at 1: 4 in favor of the West Mark . The differences over currency reform in the Allied Control Council culminated in the Berlin blockade in June 1948 . After this was abolished, only the West Mark was the only valid means of payment in the western sectors . The Reichsbahner from West Berlin were paid almost exclusively in East Marks. Your bills for rent, electricity or gas, for example, had to be paid in West Marks.

On May 21, 1949, the UGO ( Independent Trade Union Opposition , later merged with the DGB ) called for a strike in the western sectors . Around 13,000 Reichsbahn employees residing in West Berlin stopped work, initially temporarily and then permanently. The Deutsche Reichsbahn declined talks to end the strike. She justified this attitude with the fact that she would only recognize the FDGB as the only union for the employees. In the GDR media, the strike was defamed as an "UGO putsch".

In order to get the traffic, which was completely still in the western part at a standstill at the time of the strike, East-Reichsbahner had to serve as strike breakers ; Accompanied by the railway police (later the transport police ) there were violent clashes. One person died, but the details have not yet been clarified. West Berlin's Lord Mayor Ernst Reuter then tried again to bring UGO and Reichsbahn to one table. The compromise finally agreed between the Reichsbahn and the FDGB to pay 60% wages in West Marks and 40% in East Marks (for the West Reichsbahner) was nevertheless rejected by the strikers. The reason given was the non-recognition of the UGO by the Reichsbahndirektion Berlin .

The problem was discussed further at the highest level in the days that followed. At the Paris Foreign Ministers Conference in 1949, Soviet city commander Kotikov assured American city commandant Howley that the strikers' demands would be implemented. A day later, however, the report was denied by the Soviets.

In a large round, the four city commanders of the Berlin sectors finally agreed that the strike should end by June 28, 1949. However, the Reichsbahn was granted the right to dismiss "loafers and saboteurs". On the other hand, the strikers' wage demands should be met. A few days after the end of the strike, however, 1372 West Berlin state railroaders were dismissed without giving any valid reasons, and around 4,000 railroad workers were reprimanded in other ways. In addition, the Western Allies withdrew from the Reichsbahn (DR) control of facilities that were not directly part of the operation and transferred them to the administration of the former Reichsbahn property (VdeR / T). This was subordinate to the West Berlin Senator for Finance, but was de facto an office of the Federal Railroad in West Berlin. This also meant less rental and lease income for the DR from West Berlin.

For this reason, the pre-war Berlin S-Bahn wagons did not bear any emblem of the DR during the entire existence of the GDR. The reason was that these wagons were part of the confiscated Reichseisenbahn assets of the four-sector city and were therefore not owned by the Deutsche Reichsbahn. Normally, the DR would have had to obtain approval from the Allies before moving S-Bahn railcars to a S-Bahn depot in another sector. Great care was taken with rail and other materials when they were moved elsewhere.

With the end of the strike, the Reichsbahn sold S-Bahn tickets in the western sectors only for western money . These tickets were printed in red from then until 1984. At the Düppel-Kleinmachnow station, which is located directly on the city limits, S-Bahn tickets were sold to GDR citizens for GDR marks until the Wall was built .

As agreed, the West Berlin S-Bahners were paid 60% in West Marks and 40% in East Marks. The Ostgeld was exchanged 1: 1 by a specially established Senate department. However, this did not apply to members of the SED and its predecessor organizations. It was not until 1962 that the full salary was in D-Mark.

New lines for a divided city

While the wagons were makeshift repairs, tracks were being dismantled and rebuilt, the first new line after the war could be recorded on March 7, 1947. From Mahlsdorf we went one stop to Hoppegarten in Brandenburg . About a year and a half later, Strausberg also came online. The construction could only be realized so quickly, however, since preparations for it had already been made in the Third Reich .

Since the end of the terminal stations in West Berlin, which had been badly damaged by the war, was planned, and in order to be able to better delimit the western half of the city, the Deutsche Reichsbahn switched long-distance lines to S-Bahn operations. These were the routes Jungfernheide - Spandau - Staaken / Falkensee, Lichterfelde Süd - Teltow, but also Grünau - Königs-Wusterhausen. Steam-powered suburban traffic was mostly withdrawn on the affected routes to the new terminus of the S-Bahn.

In order to enable a bypass of the western half of the city, the GDR built the Berlin outer ring in several sections from 1951 , which included parts of the former goods outer ring . From May 1953 until the completion of the outer ring in 1958, so-called “pass-through trains” ran on weekdays. They drove from Potsdamer Platz (north-south tunnel) to Oranienburg and Velten without stopping in West Berlin (i.e. between Nordbahnhof and Bornholmer Strasse , as well as Wollankstrasse and Hohen Neuendorf or Hennigsdorf ). There were also trains from Erkner to Potsdam (without a stop between Friedrichstraße and Griebnitzsee station ) and from Grünau to Falkensee (without a stop between Friedrichstraße and Albrechtshof ). Within the city, with the electrification of the Schönhauser Allee - Pankow freight tracks in 1952, a possibility was offered to travel to the northern districts within East Berlin without having to change trains in Gesundbrunnen beforehand.

The extension from Strausberg to Strausberg Nord in 1956 was necessary to better reach the local Ministry of National Defense.

Before the Berlin Wall was built , the following route extensions were recorded:

date Route section Length
(in km)
0March 7, 1947 Mahlsdorf - Hoppegarten 04,374
June 15, 1948 Zehlendorf - Düppel 02,300
0September 1, 1948 Hoppegarten - Fredersdorf 05,949
October 31, 1948 Fredersdorf - Strausberg 04,977
April 30, 1951 Grünau - Königs Wusterhausen 14.061
0July 7, 1951 Lichterfelde South - Teltow 02,700
July 30, 1951 Spandau West - Falkensee 06.614
0August 3, 1951 Spandau West - Staaken 03,470
August 28, 1951 Jungfernheide - Spandau 06.170
December 25, 1952 Schönhauser Allee - Pankow
(freight tracks)
02,942
0June 3, 1956 Strausberg - Strausberg Nord
(shuttle service until 1968)
09.136

The S-Bahn in West Berlin (1961–1989)

The slow decline of the S-Bahn

S-Bahn train at Gesundbrunnen station around 1980

On the night of August 12th to 13th, 1961, the National People's Army began to occupy the signal boxes in the border area and - as soon as the last train had passed the border - to cordon them off and to interrupt the tracks over them. Since the construction of the Wall fell on a weekend, many citizens of East Berlin and the GDR were visiting friends and relatives in West Berlin (and vice versa); they were surprised by the cordoning off, but on the same day citizens of the other half of the city were allowed to reach their homes by letting them pass the border without further ado.

Although meticulously planned, there were also breakdowns when sealing off West Berlin: For example, a train stood for days between Treptower Park and Sonnenallee that had been disconnected from the network due to scheduled track breaks. That night, the usual non-stop night traffic on the weekend ran. Since the traction current had been switched off in the areas of the sector boundary, the train was dead shortly after leaving Treptower Park. The driver stopped him at the makeshift control platform. Since the tracks were also interrupted at the designated places in accordance with the orders, the train, which had meanwhile been cleared of travelers, remained at this point for almost a week. Only after the laying of a provisional track could the train be transferred back to East Berlin.

The following routes were interrupted:

  • Spandau West - Albrechtshof
  • Heiligensee - Hennigsdorf
  • Frohnau - Hohen Neuendorf
  • Lichtenrade - Mahlow
  • Lichterfelde South - Teltow
  • Wannsee - Stahnsdorf
  • Wannsee - Griebnitzsee
  • Gesundbrunnen - Schönhauser Allee
  • Bornholmer Strasse - Pankow
  • Friedrichstraße (end point for the light rail trains from east and west)
  • Sonnenallee - Treptower Park
  • Köllnische Heide - Baumschulenweg
  • Humboldthain - Anhalter Bahnhof

In the north-south tunnel, operations began on the same evening, but the trains (with the exception of Friedrichstrasse) passed through the East Berlin stations that have now become “ ghost stations ” without stopping .

Fare and price level in West Berlin
from July 1, 1966 PS 2 0.30 DM
from September 1, 1972 PS 3 0.50 DM
from July 1, 1976 PS 4A 0.80 DM
from November 1, 1977 PS 5 1.00 DM
from November 1, 1979 PS 8 1.30 DM
from August 1, 1981 PS S 1.50 DM
from August 1, 1982 PS S 1.80 DM
from October 1, 1983 PS S 2.00 DM

Only four days later, on August 17, 1961, the DGB and the Governing Mayor Willy Brandt called for a S-Bahn boycott . Students, trade unionists and ordinary citizens were equipped with signs that read, for example, “No more penny for Ulbricht” or “Every West Berlin S-Bahn driver pays the barbed wire”, thereby exerting pressure on S-Bahn passengers .

One called for a boycott of the S-Bahn, among other things, because one hoped to be able to channel the anger in a dangerously explosive mood - one feared serious clashes at the wall and bloodshed. After all, neither government nor citizens, who were now separated from close relatives, could do anything else to counter the cordoning off. In addition, it seemed absurd to use the S-Bahn fare to supply the Reichsbahn and thus the GDR with additional foreign currency in the form of “ Westgeld ”. This also led to overreactions by simply branding employees of the S-Bahn, but also their passengers, as “Communist friends”, which sometimes even resulted in violent attacks.

At the same time, the BVG set up some new bus lines parallel to the S-Bahn lines, while others were extended. However, the short-term takeover of tens of thousands of S-Bahn passengers almost led to the collapse of the BVG, which had to use buses and drivers from German companies that had been hurriedly called for .

The number of passengers sank dramatically, the S-Bahn lost almost half of its passengers in all of Berlin, although the S-Bahn in the eastern half of the city has seen an increase over the years. Empty trains, run-down railway systems and a ramshackle fleet of vehicles shaped the image of the West Berlin S-Bahn over the next few decades. Although the BVG had higher fares, the number of its passengers increased and it was able to expand its network further. In the course of time, the Deutsche Reichsbahn gradually reduced its range of services and train lengths, and in 1966 increased the fare for West Berlin to 30 pfennigs per journey (standard tariff). There were no further increases in fares until the early 1970s. The loss-making business of the West Berlin S-Bahn became more and more unbearable for the Deutsche Reichsbahn, as the fare income by far did not cover the costs of the operation.

The construction of new subway lines , which ran more or less parallel to the existing S-Bahn lines and led to further significant passenger losses, then turned out to be devastating for the West Berlin S-Bahn . In addition, when building new underground stations, people often did not pay attention to inexpensive transfer routes to the S-Bahn, for example at Steglitz station . These building measures, which seem absurd today, were political consequences of the Cold War . The construction of the U-Bahn line 7 was particularly absurd, running parallel to the Ringbahn and its western extension to Spandau almost parallel to the S-Bahn to Spandau (which was already closed when it was completed) . Further examples are the then planned subway line 10 , which would have largely run parallel to the Wannseebahn at a distance of only a few 100 meters , and the one that was still planned during the time of the Wall and even after the BVG takeover of the S-Bahn (1984) and Partly even after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the northern extension of the U-Bahn line 8 , which ends today at the Wittenau S-Bahn station ( northern line ).

In the summer of 1979 the following groups of trains drove in the western part:

Train group route Train stations Routes traveled Remarks
 1  Frohnau - Wannsee 23 Nordbahn , north-south tunnel , Wannseebahn without stopping in East Berlin except Friedrichstrasse and Wollankstrasse
 2  SchönholzLichterfelde SüdHeiligensee 12 Northern line, north-south tunnel, Anhalter Bahn like train group 1,
with ZGr. 3 coupled
 3  Heiligensee → Lichtenrade → Schönholz 18th Kremmener Bahn , north-south tunnel, Dresdener Bahn like train group 1,
with ZGr. 2 coupled
 5  Zehlendorf - Düppel 03 Trunk line Two-man operation
 A.  Gesundbrunnen - Sonnenallee / Köllnische Heide 19
19
Ringbahn , connecting railway Baumschulenweg – Neukölln
 B.  Beusselstrasse - Gartenfeld 04th Ringbahn, Siemensbahn
 C.  Zoological Garden - Sonnenallee 14th Stadtbahn , Ringbahn
 H  Staaken - Friedrichstrasse 15th Spandau suburban railway , light rail
 L.  Wannsee - Friedrichstrasse 11 Wetzlarer Bahn , light rail
 N  Beusselstrasse - Spandau West 05 Hamburg Railway

The second Reichsbahn strike in 1980

View of the Südringkurve and the signal box in Halensee, which was occupied by Reichsbahn employees in 1980, 1986

1980 was the first step towards a turning point in West Berlin's S-Bahn history. The DR, plagued by the unloved child of the West Berlin S-Bahn, was forced to take further cost-saving measures. The annual deficit of 120 to 140 million marks was a high price to pay for the GDR's presence in the western half of the city. In January, 78 railway workers were fired from the Tempelhof and Grunewald rivers. In the spring, the Deutsche Reichsbahn initially wanted to let the train groups run in West Berlin only every 40 minutes. After public protests, the Reichsbahn presented a new timetable in autumn that only allowed operation in West Berlin from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. The only exceptions were the Ringbahn, Stadtbahn and North-South Railway. This would have led to a loss of income for the employees due to the elimination of allowances.

The working conditions were below the standard of West Berlin. Among other things, the following was criticized:

  • The long working hours (including overtime)
  • a significantly lower wage than the Deutsche Bundesbahn ,
  • no free choice of doctor - basic medical care was provided in the DR polyclinic on Schöneberger Ufer in the former headquarters of the Reichsbahndirektion Berlin (today the European headquarters of Bombardier Transportation ),
  • the tutelage of the workers by the SEW and the FDGB ,
  • the declining trust in the DR as a secure employer due to 78 layoffs in January 1980,
  • lack of long-term prospects due to the poor location of the West Berlin S-Bahn,
  • the de facto reduction of the raised wages by eliminating other allowances.

On September 11, 1980, the Reichsbahndirektion first announced wage increases for the West Berlin S-Bahners, but these were very small. Four days later, however, the drastic cuts for the timetable change were announced. The first employees went out of work on the same day. The strike broke out openly on September 17th. S-Bahn trains that were still moving were emptied and parked. Freight traffic also came to a standstill on the same day. Berlin's governing mayor Dietrich Stobbe referred to the obligation to operate the S-Bahn, but was otherwise quite unable to act because he had to deal with the Garski building scandal .

On September 18, 1980, the central strike committee was formed, which resided in the container terminal of the Hamburg and Lehrter freight yards. In addition, signal boxes such as those in Halensee and from September 20 at the Zoo station were manned. After the S-Bahn traffic, transit traffic also came to a standstill. Trains that were already moving had to be pushed back into the Zoo or Friedrichstrasse stations. With its West Berlin subsidiary Bayern Express & P. ​​Kühn Berlin, DB organized a shuttle bus service to Hanover and Hamburg . She demanded the payment of a fare again. Only after protests by the recently founded passenger association “IGEB” was this practice abandoned. After all, the rail travelers were already in possession of valid tickets from Berlin, was the argument.

After the Deutsche Reichsbahn was able to bring the occupied signal boxes back under control with the help of Soviet soldiers on September 22nd, 1980, transit traffic got rolling again. The strikers accepted the takeover of the S-Bahn in West Berlin as an additional demand. One day later, the Berlin Hamburg container station and the Lehrter freight yard were cleared. The strike leadership now resided in the house of the GEW union . At a meeting on September 25, the western rail workers' union GdED recommended that the strikers leave their jobs with the DR. The strike collapsed. More than 200 railway workers received written notice from the DR. Although the GDR never paid unemployment contributions for its western employees, the now unemployed railroad workers received money from the employment office.

The effects on the West Berlin S-Bahn after the strike were devastating. With the timetable change on September 28, 1980, only the following lines were offered every 20 minutes:

  • Frohnau - Gesundbrunnen - Friedrichstrasse - Anhalter Bf - Lichtenrade (NI)
  • Heiligensee - Gesundbrunnen - Friedrichstrasse - Anhalter Bf - Lichterfelde Süd (N II)
  • Wannsee - Westkreuz - Charlottenburg - Zoological Garden - Friedrichstrasse (SI)

Was no longer served u. a. the Wannsee - Schöneberg - Anhalter Bahnhof line, which was only put back into operation in February 1985 by BVG as the S1 line.

The routes were also no longer served and only started up again after the fall of the Berlin Wall:

  • Gesundbrunnen - Jungfernheide - Westkreuz - Schöneberg - Sonnenallee / - Köllnische Heide
  • Westkreuz - Olympic Stadium - Spandau

These routes have been closed and are no longer in operation for the S-Bahn:

  • Spandau - Staaken (only served in regional traffic)
  • Jungfernheide - Gartenfeld ( Siemensbahn )
  • Jungfernheide - Spandau (route served by regional traffic; only intermediate station Siemensstadt-Fürstenbrunn closed)
  • Zehlendorf - Düppel

A total of 72 kilometers of S-Bahn lines were closed on that day - almost half of the West Berlin S-Bahn network. The unused sections fell into disrepair due to the entertainment that was also no longer taking place and also due to vandalism .

The late new beginning

The S3 of the BVG, Wannsee June 1984 (ET 165 "Stadtbahn")

Only with the drastic reduction of the network did the S-Bahn regain awareness among the West Berliners. Various transport initiatives, especially the IGEB, took up the topic and called for the integration of the S-Bahn into the West Berlin local transport network and a transport association with the BVG . Because of the special role of the S-Bahn in the big politics and interests of the U-Bahn construction lobby and the functionaries of the "BVG union" ÖTV , there was often more polemic against the S-Bahn than a factual discussion on transport issues. The Deutsche Reichsbahn was still tasked with maintaining the S-Bahn traffic, but the network had shrunk considerably after the 1980 strike, as had the number of passengers.

In 1981 there were elections for the Berlin House of Representatives , the SPD and CDU both tried to collect votes through the S-Bahn. After the CDU won the election with the later Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker , the most varied of proposed solutions came up one after the other. Ultimately, an agreement was reached according to which the operating rights of the S-Bahn were to be transferred from the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) to the BVG . As early as December 13, 1983, after the four occupying powers had given their consent , both sides signed the agreement, which came into force on January 9, 1984 at 4 a.m. The presence of the GDR in West Berlin did not end there, however, because the Deutsche Reichsbahn continued to carry out long-distance rail and freight traffic.

The S-Bahn in BVG administration

ET 165 interior with seat cushions, Westnetz 1984
Lichtenrade station to reopen

On January 9, 1984, the BVG took over operations from the DR at exactly four o'clock in the morning. The previous evening, wreaths were laid to symbolize mourning. Initially, the route sections Friedrichstrasse – Charlottenburg were only used as S3 and Anhalter Bahnhof – Lichtenrade as S2. The rest of the network in West Berlin was thus out of order. The Wannseebahn and the Charlottenburg – Wannsee section were retained as the operating route to the only operating workshop in Wannsee. Because the BVG did not have enough trained drivers (there was no Reichsbahner from East Berlin), drivers of the similarly operated S-Bahn Hamburg had to help out. Operational management by BVG ended at Lehrter Bahnhof, here DR drivers from the eastern section took over the trains for the onward journey through the heavily secured border area to Friedrichstrasse station.

As early as May 1, 1984, the sections between Charlottenburg and Wannsee, as well as the north-south tunnel between Anhalter Bahnhof and Gesundbrunnen could be used again. On October 1st of the same year it reopened as far as Frohnau. The section between Wilhelmsruh and Frohnau had to be completely closed again in 1986 because the BVG had decided to rebuild the second track on the section. The trains on the now called S2 line could, after the south branch to Lichtenrade was also expanded in 1988, run continuously at ten-minute intervals. On February 1, 1985, the Wannseebahn could also be opened to passenger traffic; this line between Anhalter Bahnhof and Wannsee was named S1.

The final concept of the Berlin Senate envisaged a network of around 117 kilometers in which the entire West Berlin network was to be reactivated except for the following sections:

  • Neukölln - Kölln Heath
  • Jungfernheide - garden field
  • Jungfernheide - Spandau
  • Schönholz - Heiligensee
  • Zehlendorf - Düppel

Before it was even possible to think about the routes still to be renovated, the BVG began to bring the remaining "shrinkage network" to a uniform standard with the underground stations. In the first few days, among other things, ticket machines and validators were removed from the underground stations and reassembled at the S-Bahn stations. In the trains, the partially built-in wooden benches should be removed as soon as possible and replaced with upholstery similar to the upholstery taken over from the DR in some trains. An adjustment to the underground standard should be achieved as quickly as possible. Not all passengers agreed with the direction taken by the BVG of an adaptation to the West U-Bahn.

Despite the extensive renovation of the lines, the potential of the S-Bahn in West Berlin could not be fully exploited; the existing trains, almost exclusively of the Stadtbahn type from the early 1930s, were too old to operate efficiently. Therefore new trains had to be purchased. In July 1986 the first four prototypes of the 480 series were presented to a joint venture between AEG , Siemens and Waggon-Union . Since the trains were delivered as double multiple units, the quarter train was the smallest operational unit. Two quarter trains were given a crystal blue color scheme, the other two a color scheme based on the traditional colors. In a survey, a large part of the West Berlin population spoke in favor of the traditional colors. All cars could be delivered by 1992 - there were a total of 41 double railcars.

The S-Bahn in East Berlin (1961–1989)

Unlike the S-Bahn in the west of Berlin, the main means of transport fared in the east of the city. The formerly continuous light rail line had become a heavily loaded branch line with a terminus at Friedrichstrasse that was completely undersized for these loads; the northeast part of the ring line became the central connection between the lines in the north and southeast. As a result, separate S-Bahn tracks had to be laid between Schönhauser Allee and Pankow, the northern lines at the now closed Bornholmer Strasse station had to be disentangled and the line to Oranienburg was connected to the line to Bernau via the outer ring. The external routes to Rangsdorf and Potsdam, which were initially operated as island operations, were converted to operation with long-distance vehicles a few weeks after the separation due to a lack of maintenance options for the vehicles. Only the Hennigsdorf – Velten line could continue to be operated permanently (until 1983) due to the existing railcar hangar in Velten . In later renovations, particularly in the area of Schönhauser Allee - Pankow , Gesundbrunnen - Schönholz and Treptower Park - Schöneweide , the interrupted connections were hardly taken into account. On the light rail, possibilities had to be created for turning trains in regular operation. It was not possible to lead all train groups approaching these to Friedrichstrasse. A sweeping system was built at Alexanderplatz station at the expense of a long-distance railway track , and that at Warschauer Strasse station was later expanded.

The first problem to be overcome with the now independent subnetworks was to connect the sections in the GDR districts of Frankfurt (Oder) and Potsdam that were cut off from the rest of the network. However, since only the sections from Oranienburg to Hohen Neuendorf or from Hennigsdorf to Velten had workshops, the rest (including to Falkensee) were discontinued until October 9, 1961. In order to connect the line to Oranienburg to the power rail network, the long-distance tracks of the Berlin outer ring between the Karower Kreuz and Bergfelde were electrified . It was not until 1984 that the S-Bahn and long-distance trains were separated on this section in preparation for long-distance electrification. To bypass the Bornholmer Strasse train station , which is located directly on the sector boundary, a pair of tracks was laid as a new connection between Schönhauser Allee and Pankow, which was derided as the "Ulbricht curve".

The line from Hennigsdorf and Velten remained in place until electrification with overhead lines by the Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1983, after which it was switched to locomotive-hauled operation. Many residents of East Berlin were not even aware of this island operation. The clock schedule was abandoned in favor of a connection schedule, that is, the trains ran at the times when there were connections to the trains on the outer ring.

In the first few years it was comparatively quiet around the S-Bahn, in 1962 Schönefeld Airport was connected to the network, but it stayed that way until 1976. In 1959, the proven German Reichsbahn the ET 170 series , which became known as the "Blue Wonder" in the Berlin S-Bahn history. The name was meant twice, because in addition to the blue color, the delivered vehicles had several technical problems, so that one of the two half-trains was parked as early as 1963 and the other was rarely used until it was retired in 1969. In 1973/1974 both half-trains were dismantled.

The 8th party congress of the SED decided on a housing construction program in 1971 , the public transport such as S-Bahn and tram should be integrated by new lines. Although the first prefabricated housing estates in Marzahn could only be moved into with the creation of an independent city ​​district in 1979, the S-Bahn was already three years earlier. The reason was simple: In this way, the construction workers could already benefit from the means of transport and the construction proceeded faster.

The following years were characterized by residential construction - prefabricated buildings more and more shaped the cityscape. In addition to Marzahn, satellite cities also emerged in Hohenschönhausen and Hellersdorf . A settlement should also be built in Malchow by the year 2000, but this was not realized due to the change in the GDR. You could still get to Hohenschönhausen by S-Bahn, similar to Marzahn, the S-Bahn went ahead , after Malchow it was to be extended. A large long-distance station was planned here, the regional platform in Hohenschönhausen should be closed for this. The construction of an S-Bahn line to Hellersdorf was not possible because the light rail to the west of Berlin-Lichtenberg station could no longer accommodate an additional group of trains. Instead, the E underground line was extended from the Tierpark to Hönow . In total, more than 40 kilometers of the S-Bahn line had been put into operation by the fall of the Berlin Wall:

date Route section Length
(in km)
November 19, 1961 Hohen Neuendorf - Blankenburg 17.839
December 10, 1961 Schönhauser Allee - Pankow
(own pair of tracks)
02.075
February 26, 1962 Grünauer Kreuz - Schönefeld Airport 05.804
December 30, 1976 Friedrichsfelde East - Marzahn 03.808
December 15, 1980 Marzahn - Otto-Winzer-Strasse 01.759
December 30, 1982 Otto-Winzer-Strasse - Ahrensfelde 01.724
December 20, 1984 Springpfuhl - Hohenschönhausen 04,747
December 20, 1985 Hohenschönhausen - Wartenberg 00.962
Berlin (GDR) urban transport ticket, around 1985

As early as 1980 the DR ordered ten prototypes of the 270 series (today's 485 series). A total of 166 quarter trains had been delivered by 1991. In contrast to the BVG , the usual division of railcar-sidecar-sidecar-railcar (Tw-Bw-Bw-Tw) was retained. In contrast, the BR 270 only partially matches the color scheme. The trains of the so-called "pilot series" were still delivered in the DR design, but instead of the usual red / ocher, the DR used a significantly darker Bordeaux red with ivory. The newer trains, however, had a striking carmine-red car body with an anthracite-gray ribbon of windows. In the meantime, however, the trains have been repainted in the traditional colors.

The attractiveness of the S-Bahn (and urban transport in the GDR as a whole) was also due to the state's subsidy policy. The fares were constant until the fall of the Berlin Wall and amounted to 20 pfennigs for the inner-city area and 30 pfennigs within the borders of East Berlin.

There have been various attempts to escape .

The S-Bahn in reunified Berlin

Reunification of the city and the network

The political events of 1989/1990 did not stop at the S-Bahn. With the opening of the borders on November 9, 1989, the BVG was faced with a huge number of visitors, the staff had to work overtime, and in the first few days after that, continuous night traffic was set up on lines S2 and S3 crossing the borders. For the first time in a long time, there were also full trains on the western light rail. With the reunification, the operating rights were returned to the DR, which has been operating under the name " Deutsche Bahn " since 1994 after being merged with the Deutsche Bundesbahn . On January 1, 1995, the S-Bahn was spun off and is now, as S-Bahn Berlin GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DB.

The CDU , re-elected as the strongest party in 1991, made the decision to restore the network to the state it was in before 1961, even before the election to the House of Representatives. However, not all routes were suitable for S-Bahn traffic, for example the section between Spandau and Jungfernheide, as otherwise there would have been parallel traffic with the U7 . In addition to this, it was integrated into the long-distance railway concept. In addition to the existing north-south tunnel , a second S-Bahn line ( planning name S21 ) is planned.

First of all, almost all the lines in the former eastern part of the city had to be renovated, especially the light rail . After the fall of the Berlin Wall, everything was done to close the inner-city gaps (continuous light rail traffic on July 2, 1990), followed by the first routes from west Berlin to the state of Brandenburg. By 1992 the West Berlin sub-network had been reconnected to the surrounding area at three points. The first major inner-city section followed on December 17, 1993 with the reopening of the Südring between the Westend and Baumschulenweg stations .

The light rail was started in 1994. The S-Bahn was relocated to the long-distance tracks especially for this purpose, but since the Tiergarten, Bellevue and Jannowitzbrücke stations do not have a long-distance platform, the S-Bahn ran through here. For the Hackescher Markt S-Bahn station only a temporary platform in the direction of Alexanderplatz was put into operation. Gradually, the other lines followed with their reopening or renovation. In 1998 Spandau went online again, and in 2002, after several years of delay, the inner ring was finally closed. The symbolic goal was largely achieved.

Although the companies in both halves of the city acquired new vehicles in the 1980s, a new, uniform series was needed for the reunified capital. The Adtranz plant in Halle-Ammendorf therefore produced a prototype of the 481 series as early as 1993 , which was first presented in 1995. The success of the series should be expressed in the fact that the S-Bahn Berlin GmbH ordered another 400 shortly before the first delivery of 100 quarter trains was completed. At the same time, with the commissioning of the new series, the old trains of the series 475 , 476 and 477 were phased out. In 2004 the 500th and thus the last quarter train of the class 481/482 was delivered. The average age of the vehicles fell from over 60 to about six years. The passage between the two sub-wagons is by no means a novelty; even the trains of the decommissioned ET 170 series (“Blue Wonder”) were continuously accessible. In 2003, three continuously accessible half-trains were delivered.

In 1999, the S-Bahn celebrated the 75th anniversary of DC operation with a large parade of vehicles in the Olympiastadion station . In addition to the vehicles from the other S-Bahn companies in Germany, such as the 420 , 423 or 474 series , the company also presented a vehicle intended for tourist purposes: the “ Panorama S-Bahn ”.

Plans by the Senate to merge the S-Bahn with the BVG to form a new transport company and thereby save 800 million marks annually  were heavily criticized in mid-2001.

New lines and reopenings (from 1992)

Reopening of the Westkreuz - Pichelsberg line with the then Transport Senator Jürgen Klemann ( CDU ) and the then managing director of S-Bahn Berlin GmbH Axel Nawrocki
date Route section Length
(in km)
comment
0April 1, 1992 Wannsee - Potsdam city 08,968 Lasted until August 13, 1961
May 31, 1992 Frohnau - Hohen Neuendorf 04.176 Lasted until August 13, 1961
August 31, 1992 Lichtenrade - Blankenfelde 05.750 Lasted until August 13, 1961
17th December 1993 Westend - Baumschulenweg 18,344 Existing until September 28, 1980 (Westend - Köllnische Heide)

Existence until August 13, 1961 (Köllnische Heide - Baumschulenweg)

May 28, 1995 Schönholz - Tegel 06.846 Lasted until January 9, 1984
Priesterweg - Lichterfelde Ost 03,979 Lasted until January 9, 1984
April 15, 1997 Westend - Jungfernheide 02.227 Lasted until September 28, 1980
December 18, 1997 Neukölln - Treptower Park 03.358 Existing until September 28, 1980 (Neukölln - Sonnenallee)

Existing until August 13, 1961 (Sonnenallee - Treptower Park)

January 16, 1998 Westkreuz - Pichelsberg 04,774 Lasted until September 28, 1980
September 25, 1998 Lichterfelde East - Lichterfelde South 02,668 Lasted until January 9, 1984
December 15, 1998 Tegel - Hennigsdorf 08.302 Existing until January 9, 1984 (Tegel - Heiligensee)

Existing until August 13, 1961 (Heiligensee - Hennigsdorf)

December 30, 1998 Pichelsberg - Spandau 04,146 Lasted until September 28, 1980
December 19, 1999 Jungfernheide - Westhafen 03.146 Lasted until September 28, 1980
September 17, 2001 Pankow - Gesundbrunnen 02.648 Existing until August 13, 1961 (Pankow - Bornholmer Straße)

Existing until January 9, 1984 (Bornholmer Straße - Gesundbrunnen)

Schönhauser Allee - Gesundbrunnen 01,783 Lasted until August 13, 1961
Schönhauser Allee - Bornholmer Strasse 01.688 New building
June 15, 2002 Westhafen - Gesundbrunnen 03.463 Lasted until September 28, 1980
February 24, 2005 Lichterfelde south - Teltow city 02,880 500 meters existing until August 13, 1961, then new building

Failures since 2009

X-Wagen as additional traffic of the S-Bahn Berlin in the Berlin Ostbahnhof

In the winter of 2008/2009 there were, among other things, severe restrictions in S-Bahn traffic due to frozen travel blocks and defective doors. According to employee representatives, this was partly the result of savings in maintenance and in preparing the trains for low temperatures.

On May 1, 2009, the wheel of a class 481 car broke at Berlin-Kaulsdorf train station . The Federal Railway Authority (EBA) then demanded additional safety checks, the wheels should now be checked every seven days. Although the operator had promised to do so, the EBA determined during controls on June 29, 2009 that the tests had not been carried out to the required extent. It therefore ordered all trains that had not been checked in due time to be temporarily shut down from the following day. As a result, sometimes only 165 of the 632 quarter trains were still operational. On July 20, 2009, this led to an emergency schedule with massive restrictions on S-Bahn traffic; some lines were temporarily completely closed, and the S-Bahn traffic on the Stadtbahn between Bahnhof Zoo and Ostbahnhof was suspended for two and a half weeks. In particular, the repair capacities that had been dismantled under the direction of Deutsche Bahn in the years before (closed workshops, laid-off employees) prevented the technical problems from being resolved quickly.

On September 7, 2009, damage to the brake cylinders of the trains was found, which again led to an emergency schedule from the following day, as only 163 of 634 quarter trains could still be used. Apparently, due to rationalization measures since 2004, maintenance work on the components had not been carried out to the necessary extent and maintenance logs had been falsified. The lack of vehicles meant that traffic on the light rail and on some outer branches had to be stopped again.

The entire network could only be used again from mid-October 2009, but on many routes with thinned timetables and mostly with shortened trains. The return to the normal timetable was announced by the S-Bahn GmbH in October for mid-December, but this could not be met. At the end of December 2009, a further 70 quarter trains had to be taken out of service due to malfunctions on the doors and drives.

At the end of December 2009, the Berlin Senate expected that the S-Bahn would not return to normal operations until 2013. On January 4, 2010, only 287 quarter trains were available, so that even the emergency timetable could not be maintained. In January 2010, over 100 quarter trains were canceled due to neglected maintenance and insufficient preparation for winter.

The railway initially hoped to be able to offer the normal timetable again by mid-2010 or at the latest by the end of 2010, possibly with shortened trains. For this purpose, the stock of operational vehicles should be increased from the current 317 to 500 quarter trains. However, that did not happen. On the contrary, the supply had to be further reduced in December 2010 after the onset of winter.

On July 2, 2009, the S-Bahn supervisory board decided to release the four-person management, headed by Tobias Heinemann, from their duties. He appointed Peter Buchner , who was previously the regional division manager of DB Regio AG , as the new management spokesman . Deutsche Bahn commissioned auditors and a law firm to investigate the suspicion of falsified maintenance protocols. The final report of the investigation at the S-Bahn Berlin was published on February 23, 2010.

Due to the lack of maintenance, the Federal Railway Authority initially only extended the operating license for the S-Bahn, which expired at the end of 2009, by one year, contrary to the usual 15 years. At the end of 2010 there was a further extension of three years. At the end of 2012, the S-Bahn received another 15-year extension of its operating license.

Train cancellations after the onset of winter, 2014

The economic damage to the company is considerable. Because of the damage to its image, the management was forced to issue several “compensation packages” for the passengers. For the benefit restrictions in 2009, the compensation payments comprised a volume of 35 million euros, in 2010 it was 70 million euros and in 2011 a further 38.5 million euros. In particular, the small size of the third package met with considerable criticism. In addition, a total of 400,000 euros were donated to four charities in 2009. At the beginning of 2010, the S-Bahn increased its maintenance resources. For this purpose, additional employees were called in and workshops that were already closed were reactivated. Due to the ongoing performance restrictions and quality deficiencies, the Berlin Senate withheld additional payments of 52.4 million euros for 2010, then 33.3 million euros for 2011 and a further 11.85 million euros for 2012 - subject to the final accounts. These funds were and will be used to improve public transport.

The new management under Peter Buchner announced (together with DB Group boss Rüdiger Grube ) in mid-2012 that they wanted to return to the full range by the end of the same year. However, this did not happen. The amplifier trains on the S1 line between Zehlendorf and Potsdamer Platz did not run again as ordered until September 2016 and had to be stopped again later.

In the second half of 2017 there were again major restrictions on supply. The cause was a lack of spare parts for the scheduled replacement of wheelsets on a large number of trains from the 481 series. As a result, up to 25 quarter trains were not operational.

For 2017, the compensation claim of S-Bahn Berlin GmbH due to failures, poor and poor performance was reduced by a total of 27.7 million euros. Compensation claims of 13.3 million euros for the provision of replacement transports, the price adjustment for energy costs, the compensation for disadvantages from the vehicle commitment and additional security payments were offset, so that around 14.4 million euros were withheld.

Furthermore, there are regular failures in circulation. More than half of all disruptions are caused by the S-Bahn Berlin GmbH itself, in particular due to a lack of vehicle reserves, a lack of staff and technical problems with vehicles. In addition, disruptions to the network occur frequently.

vehicles

Series

Since the start of electrical operation in 1924, a total of ten series have been used on the S-Bahn (not including conversions and renaming). As the war and reconstruction resulted in repeated renumbering, it is hardly possible to present a uniform scheme. Three series (480, 481/482, 485) have been in use since the early 2000s.


The table above gives an overview of the series of the Berlin S-Bahn from the first test vehicles in 1922 to the modern series 481/482.

From 1941 the DR introduced uniform designations for its electric multiple units, this scheme was replaced in 1970 by an IT-compatible system. In 1992 it was adapted to the DB series scheme .

Train formation

Separate close coupling of the 481 series

The smallest unit in the Berlin S-Bahn is a quarter train (short: quarter ). The name goes back to the strength of the train, so from the quarter train the half train (two quarters), the three quarters train (three quarters) and the full train (four quarters) emerge. The quarter itself consists of two single cars. All units built by the Berlin S-Bahn since 1925 have this division.

The quarter train can be divided into four categories, the tax district, the EMB district, the pass district and the Peenemünder district.

Tax district

The first S-Bahn ( type Oranienburg ) and type Stadtbahn cars were initially delivered with a control car (ES) instead of a sidecar (EB). This made it possible for a quarter train with multiple units and control cars to form the smallest operational unit. As a result of the brisk demand, the S-Bahn used almost exclusively half-trains or larger units. The control cars of the 168 series were therefore converted into sidecars in the mid-1930s while retaining the driver's cab. The electrical equipment obtained was used to obtain spare parts; in the future, switching elements and fuses were housed in the vacated rooms. The dismantling of the trams took place from 1942 until the end of the war. In May 1945 the Berlin S-Bahn no longer had control cars. Former control cars could still be recognized decades later by their typical three-part front wall, albeit without a window.

EMB district and pass district

Trial railcar of the Wannseebahn type (ET 165.8) as it was in the 1960s after being converted to EMB. The VHF antenna in front of the driver's cab window and the white EMB note on the head support, 2007 can be seen
Pass district of the class 275 (ex ET 165) at the Charlottenburg train station, 1987

The series that were delivered before 1959 (ET 165-169) had been designed for two-man operation up to this point. This means that the railcar attendant of the train picked up the clearance signal from the platform supervisor and then gave the driver the signal to close the doors and the order to leave.

For the introduction of the one-man operation (EMB) various modifications were necessary so that the driver could take over the tasks of the railcar attendant. This concerned the installation of a safety driving circuit (Sifa) and a radio intercom system to transmit the departure order. The radio antennas were on the front of the railcars. Since the radio signal was received via the rear antenna, the control lines had to be reassigned in order to be able to transmit the signal to the front railcar. Along with the renovation, the driver's cabs were enlarged by moving the rear walls in order to improve the working conditions of the train drivers. There were no four seats on the partition walls to the driver's cab. The conversion of the driver's cabs took place in individual quarter trains of the 167 series from the end of 1962 as a preparatory measure as part of a general overhaul.

The conversion began at the end of 1963 on the 167 series trains, and the first train was completed in 1964. From 1965 it extended to the classes 166 and 165. The trains of the class 165, which had been converted into EMB quarters, were given head and tail lights embedded in the front end, the classic superstructure lanterns were omitted. In the 166 series, the on-board electrical system voltage was increased from six to 24 volts as part of the conversion. Until the 1980s, the abbreviation EMB was written on the cross members of the main frame for identification .

In addition to all quarter trains of the 167 series, 32 quarter trains of the 166 series and 328 quarter trains of the 165 series were converted to one-man operation. The 168 and 169 series, which were retired in 1962, remained unaffected by the conversion. As planned, one-man operation began on February 25, 1965 on East Berlin train groups B and F between Friedrichstrasse and Erkner ; in the western section, train group H between Friedrichstrasse and Spandau West was switched to EMB from November 1, 1967. A year later, all train groups in the eastern part were converted, on October 1, 1969 in the west as well. Train group 5 between Zehlendorf and Düppel was an exception . Since the Düppel terminus and the Zehlendorf Süd stop, which opened in 1972, did not have a ticket issue , the railcar attendant was responsible for collecting the fare.

In the case of 127 quarter trains of the 165 series and six quarter trains of the 166 series, only an adjustment of the control lines took place, the wagon construction they remained unchanged. In one-man operation, they could only “fit in” in the middle of the train, that is, coupled between two EMB districts. They were partially retrofitted in the 1970s.

Peenemünde quarter

From 1929 onwards, the older S-Bahn vehicles were only supplied with multiple units and sidecars as quarters. The converted cars of the Peenemünder Werkbahn , which came to the Berlin S-Bahn after the war, were an exception . These trains were delivered consisting of a motor car and a control car. This made it possible to use quarter trains instead of the usual half trains on less frequented routes (e.g. Siemensbahn Jungfernheide - Gartenfeld). The vehicles were incorporated into the ET 167 series (EB 167 242–243, ET / EB 167 284–292), although they had lost the incompatible control current couplings ( piano ) with different occupancy when adapting to the Berlin conditions and not with the car the original BR ET 167 could be coupled. As a result, they were renumbered in 1965 to the ET 166 series , then in 1970 to the 276.0 series (276 065-078). It was not until the reconstruction that seven of the nine Peenemünder quarter trains in Berlin were adjusted while retaining the 277 series control cars . Here they formed the special number group 277 293–295, 404… 421, after the 1992 redrawing 477/877 601–608.

Development of the number of passengers

Passenger numbers rose continuously after the political change in 1990. The main reasons for this were the reopening of previously closed lines in the western part of Berlin and the surrounding area as well as the linking of the networks in east and west, creating new direct connections through the entire city. The increase in population in the surrounding area and suburban areas as well as the removal of ideological barriers to use in the western part also had an effect.

Temporary high points were reached in 2006 with the soccer world championship - which ran around the clock for a month - and in 2008, the year before the start of the S-Bahn crisis. The decline during the height of the S-Bahn crisis in 2009 is only very slight, however, when the core sections of the S-Bahn network were sometimes not served for weeks. The upward trend began again in the following year. In 2012, despite the still limited supply due to the crisis, a new high was reached. For several years, new records have been reached, most recently in 2019 with 485 million passengers.

The number of S-Bahn passengers must also be seen in relation to the other public transport modes. In 1925, a total of 1.4512 billion passengers used the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, tram and bus. The S-Bahn had a share of 29%. In 1939 there were 1.726 billion passengers (33% in the S-Bahn), in 2001 1.2 billion passengers (34% in the S-Bahn) and in 2016 1.5117 billion passengers (28% in the S-Bahn).

Passenger numbers on the Berlin S-Bahn (million passengers per year)
year Passengers per year
1906 170 million
1925 420 million
1939 569 million
1950 469 million
1974 188 million
1991 193 million
1992 214 million
1993 218 million
1994 237 million
1995 245 million
1996 264 million
1997 264 million
1998 270 million
1999 280 million
2000 291 million
2001 296 million
2002 305 million
2003 315 million
2004 318 million
2005 357 million
2006 376 million
2007 371 million
2008 388 million
2009 371 million
2010 376 million
2011 383 million
2012 395 million
2013 402 million
2014 413.9 million
2015 416.8 million
2016 430.7 million
2017 436.2 million
2018 478.1 million
2019 485.0 million

Disused routes

The following list shows the 73.873 km of routes which, due to various events, are no longer part of the Berlin S-Bahn network.

date Route section Length
(in km)
comment
July 28, 1938 Szczecin suburban train station - northern tunnel mouth of the north-south railway 00.174 replaced by north-south S-Bahn
0October 9, 1939 Potsdamer Wannseebahnhof - Schöneberg 03,918 replaced by north-south S-Bahn
0November 6, 1939 Potsdam Ringbahnhof - Yorckstrasse 01.430 replaced by north-south S-Bahn
0July 3, 1944 Potsdam Ringbahnhof - Südring-Spitzkehre (East and West) 03,500 partly planning stage 4 of the S21 ( Cheruscan curve )
February 1945 Potsdamer Bahnhof - Zehlendorf Mitte 11,960 Banker trains (long-distance railway tracks)
Connection main line - Wannseebahn 01.040 Banking trains
1945 Charlottenburg - Westend 03.008 Westkreuz (north curve)
August 13, 1961 Wannsee - Stahnsdorf 04.135 Wall construction; Reconstruction desired
Spandau - Falkensee 06.614 Wall construction; Reconstruction planned
Blankenfelde - Rangsdorf 04,843 Wall construction; Reconstruction desired
City limits (500 meters behind Lichterfelde Süd) - Teltow 02,200 Replaced by a new building to Teltow city
0December 9, 1961 Schönhauser Allee - Pankow 02,942 Freight tracks replaced by "Ulbricht curve"
17th September 1980 Jungfernheide - garden field 04,460 1980 strike
Zehlendorf - Düppel 02,300 Strike in 1980; Reconstruction desired
Spandau - Staaken 03.829 1980 strike
Spandau - Jungfernheide 06.170 1980 strike
Charlottenburg - Halensee 01,822 Strike in 1980; no planned traffic (only single track)
20th September 1983 Hennigsdorf - Velten 05,873 after the wall was built, electrical direct-current S-Bahn island operation until 1983; Reconstruction desired
2001 Schönhauser Allee - Pankow 02.075 “Ulbricht curve” replaced by a new line
May 27, 2006 Ostkreuz (north curve) 00.580 Conversion of the Ostkreuz

If one proceeds from the existing plans and demands of various associations in the Berlin area, a total of 30.544 kilometers of these routes could be reactivated.

literature

  • Andreas Janikowski, Jörg Ott: Germany's S-Bahn. History, technology, operations . transpress, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-613-71195-8 .
  • Berlin S-Bahn Museum: The Ringbahn. Track without end . GVE, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-89218-074-1 .
  • Berlin S-Bahn Museum: The light rail. A building history from 1875 until today . GVE, Berlin 1996, 2002, ISBN 3-89218-046-6 .
  • Berlin S-Bahn Museum: August 1961 - S-Bahn and construction of the Berlin Wall . GVE, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89218-080-6 .
  • Bernhard Strowitzki: S-Bahn Berlin. Story (s) for on the go . GVE, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89218-073-3 .
  • Bernd Kuhlmann: Railway node Berlin. The development of the Berlin railway network since 1838 . GVE, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89218-099-7 .
  • Ekkehard Kolodziej: Electric locomotives of the Berlin S-Bahn . EK-Verlag 2007, ISBN 978-3-88255-225-6 .
  • Karl Remy: The electrification of the Berlin city, ring and suburban railways as an economic problem . Published by Julius Springer Berlin 1931.
  • Léo Favier, Aisha Ronniger, Andrea Schulz, Alexander Schug (eds.): Ring free! Exploration tour Ringbahn Berlin . Past Publishing, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-940621-04-7 .
  • Wolfgang Kiebert: The Berlin S-Bahn 1924 until today . transpress, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-613-71242-3 .

Web links

Commons : History of the Berlin S-Bahn  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : S-Bahn Berlin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Michael Müller: Line numbers on the Berlin S-Bahn. (pdf) Michael Müller from the Berlin S-Bahn Museum on the route assignments (page 10). s-bahn-berlin.de, April 24, 2018, p. 32 , archived from the original on April 27, 2018 ; accessed on April 27, 2018 .
  2. Clean air plan. Retrieved August 1, 2011 . Berlin city center within the S-Bahn ring ("Großer Hundekopf")
  3. ^ Proposed electrification of the Berlin Stadtbahn . In: Electric Railway Journal , Vol. XXXIX, No. 18, May 4, 1912, pp. 731 f. McGraw Publishing Company (English)
  4. ^ Rudolf Kerger: The S-Bahn tunnel in Berlin destroyed and rebuilt . In: Der Verkehr , Volume 1, No. 2 (July / August 1947), pp. 59–66
  5. Waltraud Süssmuth: In the bunker . Ullstein, Berlin 2004, pp. 188 ff. ISBN 3-548-25870-0 .
  6. a b c Erich Preuss: The Reichsbahn Report 1945-1993. Facts - legends - background . 2nd Edition. transpress Verlagsgesellschaft, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-344-70789-2 , p. 162 ff . VdeR / T managed 470  hectares of land with 2321 apartments, 1332 storage areas, 435 storage rooms, eight shops, 43 garages, 22 private siding , 167 service companies and 3750 allotments.
  7. a b c Erich Preuss: The Reichsbahn Report 1945-1993. Facts - legends - background . 2nd Edition. transpress Verlagsgesellschaft, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-344-70789-2 , p. 172 ff . The conflict commissions called declared the dismissals of 30 West Berlin railway workers to be invalid. The Rbd Berlin then appealed to the Berlin-Mitte district court. De facto , workers from Berlin (West) were subject to the Labor Code of the GDR and the jurisdiction in Berlin (East).
  8. Crazy plan: First kidnap an S-Bahn and then drive to the West Andreas Förster in: Berliner Zeitung , January 26, 2020
  9. ^ Berlin merger plans . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 10/2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 431.
  10. Restriction to 6-car trains because of the shortened platform for the S-Bahn in Hennigsdorf
  11. ^ Anne Vorbringer: Because trains continue to fail, the SPD demands that the transport contract be terminated if necessary . In: Berliner Zeitung , January 9, 2009
  12. Employees had warned of chaos in winter . In: Berliner Morgenpost , January 18, 2009
  13. EBA orders the temporary decommissioning of further S-Bahn vehicles. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved July 2, 2009 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.eba.bund.de  
  14. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: S-Bahn completely stops operations between the zoo and Ostbahnhof. ) Rbb online, July 16, 2009.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.rbb-online.de
  15. ^ Black Monday for the S-Bahn . In: Berliner Zeitung , July 20, 2009
  16. a b Bahn determined because of incorrect protocols at the Berlin S-Bahn. Reuters, accessed November 7, 2009 .
  17. Deutsche Bahn press release on the new emergency timetable
  18. ^ Again chaotic days at the S-Bahn In: Der Tagesspiegel
  19. Information from the BVG including special web spider ( Memento from September 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  20. Klaus Kurpjuweit: How the S-Bahn got into trouble. In: Der Tagesspiegel . December 13, 2009, accessed May 30, 2017 : “Your decline in such a short time is unprecedented. Even the Reichsbahn had not sunk that deep in the GDR's economy of shortages. "
  21. S-Bahn Berlin GmbH : S-Bahn Berlin expands timetable offer from October 12th. In: s-bahn-berlin.de. Retrieved December 22, 2009 .
  22. Gerald Dietz: Operations remain limited due to wagon malfunctions / reserve trains are missing . ( Memento from December 23, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) In: Märkische Allgemeine , December 22, 2009
  23. Klaus Kurpjuweit: S-Bahn will not run normally again until 2013 at the earliest . In: Der Tagesspiegel , December 28, 2009
  24. Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH (ed.): 2010 begins with further restrictions on the S-Bahn - VBB boss: Weather is not the only cause . ( vbbonline.de [PDF; accessed on January 4, 2010]).
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This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on January 10, 2006 .