Berlin-Karow – Fichtengrund railway line

Berlin-Karow - Fichtengrund
The listed clinker harbor bridge , built in 1986, is the largest engineering structure on the route.
Route number (DB) :	6500
Course book section (DB) :	209.27
Route length:	29 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	C4
Legend from Berlin 45.5 Berlin-Karow to Bernau (b Berlin) Panke A 10 State border Berlin / Brandenburg 51.2 Schönerlinde (since 2002) 52.4 Schönerlinde (until 2002) 54.4 Schönwalde (Barnim) formerly Schönwalde Hp from Berlin-Wilhelmsruh 54.8 Abzw Schönwalde (Barnim) 58.3 Basdorf to Groß Schönebeck 61.2 Zühlsdorf 63.9 Wensickendorf (formerly Bf.) to Liebenwalde 68.3 Schmachtenhagen 69.8 Schmachtenhagen 72.1 Clinker Harbor Bridge 74.4 / 73.4 Fichtengrund Berlin Northern Railway

The Berlin-Karow − Fichtengrund railway line in the northeast of Berlin was built after the Second World War and was mainly used to bypass the western sectors of Berlin . It consists of two newly built sections and a middle section that was built as a section of the Heidekrautbahn at the beginning of the 20th century . It is often referred to as the northern outer goods ring because it connects to the original outer goods ring (GAR) and has also taken over its kilometrage. However, the route was created clearly after the GAR under different social conditions and has nothing in common with its originally planned route.

From 1961 to the present day, the eastern section of the line has an important role in passenger transport as a feeder line to the Heidekrautbahn, while the western section was used almost exclusively for freight traffic and became largely dispensable after 1990. The section from Schmachtenhagen to Fichtengrund has been closed and partially dismantled, from Wensickendorf to Schmachtenhagen there is still passenger traffic on weekends.

The most important engineering structure on the route is the clinker harbor bridge over the Oder-Havel Canal , which was built in the 1980s and is a listed building.

history

prehistory

Projects to bypass Berlin had existed since the end of the 19th century. The reasons were, among other things, capacity problems on the routes in the city or military considerations. After the Berlin Ringbahn around 1870, several sections of the bypass line west of the city between the Oranienburg station in the north via Nauen , Wustermark shunting station , wildlife park , Michendorf to Jüterbog and Großbeeren in the south were implemented. Further plans for the route in the east of the city were not implemented.

During the National Socialist era, the outer freight ring was built as a temporary measure in the south and east of Berlin . With it and the bypass railway, a connection had been created almost around Berlin, only between the Berlin Northern Railway and the Szczecin Railway there was no bypass route. At the time, it was planned to extend the GAR from Berlin-Karow in the northeast to a route near the city to the north around the city. This did not happen again as a result of the Second World War.

After the end of the Second World War, the looming division of Germany and Berlin made a quick solution necessary to bypass the western sectors of the city. For this purpose, a largely newly built line was built between Zossen and Mittenwalde by the beginning of 1949 , which connected the Dresden Railway (and from Jüterbog also the Anhalter Bahn ) with the Görlitz Railway . In the east of the city, the GAR, which was dismantled in 1947 as a reparation payment between Biesenhorst (south of the Biesdorfer Kreuz ) and Karower Kreuz, soon proved necessary again, so that the reconstruction of the dismantled line began soon afterwards.

To the west of the Karower Kreuz, the original plans had provided for the GAR to run over West Berlin. This is why these plans were not pursued any further. Instead, a comparatively short new line was designed, which began in Berlin-Karow , reached the Heidekrautbahn in the Schönwalde area , then used its route to Wensickendorf and met the northern line at Fichtengrund station north of Oranienburg . The last section from the east bank of the Großschifffahrtsweg (today Oder-Havel Canal) to the Northern Railway used the route of a connecting railway to the Oranienburg clinker works that was dismantled after the end of the war .

Route in GDR times

Soviet forces had already started construction of the line in 1948. On May 6, 1950, the line to Oranienburg went into operation, with the last section running parallel to the northern line. The existing section of the Heidekrautbahn between Schönwalde and Wensickendorf was expanded to become the main line . The rebuilt GAR between Biesenhorst and Karower Kreuz was opened on April 1st of the same year. On May 23, 1950, the connecting curve followed from the Canal Bridge junction to the Fichtengrund junction, heading north. 1951/52 crossing stations were built in Schönerlinde and Schmachtenhagen.

Listed signal box in Fichtengrund station, which was rebuilt in 1964. Right the junction of the route from Karow.

Initially, the route was used exclusively for freight traffic, but there were individual special trains for the Whitsun meeting in Berlin in 1950, although the timetable arrangement for trains in the direction of Neustrelitz provided for a headache in Oranienburg and therefore no trips over the northern connecting curve. The course book 1951/52 contains a pair of express multiple units between Warnemünde and Berlin Ostbahnhof that did not stop at Oranienburg station when coming from Fürstenberg . After in May 1952 no more passenger trains of the GDR internal traffic with the exception of the S-Bahn were allowed to use West Berlin train stations, the entire express and express train traffic of the northern railway was briefly shifted to the new route.

As early as the end of 1952, a section of the Berlin outer ring (BAR) went into operation between Karower Kreuz and Birkenwerder on the northern line, and in the following years the BAR was extended to the west. This means that the route from Karow to Fichtengrund lost its importance after just a few years. However, it was still needed as a relief and diversion route and for strategic military reasons.

At the beginning of the 1960s, the northern line was expanded to two tracks , especially for the construction of the Rostock overseas port . In this context, a new track diagram signal box was built in Fichtengrund station . The junctions of the line from Berlin-Karow were rebuilt. The two branches now flow into the south and north head of the Fichtengrund station. The branching from the direction of Wensickendorf was also controlled from the new central signal box and was given the name Fichtengrund Ost. The new systems in Fichtengrund station went into operation at the end of September 1964. The old southern connection of the line past the Sachsenhausen stop in the Oranienburg station remained in operation as a siding.

Clinker harbor bridge from the east with track

After the construction of the Berlin Wall , the Heidekrautbahn lost its connection with downtown Berlin, as its starting point, the Berlin-Wilhelmsruh train station , became inaccessible due to the border location. Therefore, from December 24, 1961, passenger traffic was conducted on the route between Berlin-Karow and Basdorf. First of all, a temporary platform for the Heidekrautbahn trains with separate access was built in Berlin-Blankenburg station. Since 1976, passenger trains have been using a connecting track to reach the S-Bahn platform in Berlin-Karow station. New stops were created in Schönwalde and Schönerlinde .

Between 1976 and 1980 there were plans to expand the line to include the Heidekrautbahn from Berlin-Karow to Wandlitzsee for electric S-Bahn operations. A previously drafted proposal by the Berlin comrades took place on the IX. Party congress of the SED approval and came to a decision. The project would have involved extensive expansion of the facilities, including the expansion of the section from Basdorf to Wandlitzsee to the main line and the associated requirements, increasing the line speed to 80 km / h, increasing the platform edges to 960 millimeters platform height and the Electrification of the tracks. Difficulties would have arisen in particular with the compliance with the clearance profile , since the main department I of the responsible Reichsbahndirektion Berlin required a track center distance of 1725 millimeters to the platform edge, but the S-Bahn operation allowed a maximum of 1625 millimeters. The power supply was to be ensured via four substations . A 40-minute cycle was planned, with train group L coming from Berlin Alexanderplatz to travel on the route Monday through Friday, while train group U from Berlin-Schöneweide was supposed to travel on Saturdays and Sundays . The calculations showed annual cost savings of 867,000  marks , in contrast to investment costs of 48.342 million marks. The costs would have amortized after around 55 years . In view of the low profitability and other reasons, the project was abandoned after 1980. The only visible measures were the preparation of the sleepers for the attachment of the conductor rails and the consideration of the Basdorf and Wandlitzsee destinations when the Pragotron destination displays for the S-Bahn network were delivered.

In 1986 the clinker harbor bridge over the Oder-Havel Canal was replaced by a new building. This is the prototype of a two-story truss bridge with a maximum span of 66 meters, here with a span of 60 meters. It was the only completed bridge of this type and is considered to be a "unique technical and historical testimony". It is a listed building.

In 1984 electrical operation began on the Berlin Northern Railway , but the line from Berlin-Karow to Fichtengrund was not electrified. Nevertheless, individual express trains were still diverted along the route, so that a diesel locomotive was harnessed in Löwenberg (Mark) . In the summer of 1987, individual seasonal express trains even ran as scheduled via Basdorf; some passenger trains on the busy section between Karow and Basdorf have therefore been replaced by buses. Also in 1990 there were diversions of express trains over the route.

Development after 1990

Unused track between Oder-Havel Canal and Schmachtenhagen

In 2002 the Schönerlinde station was rebuilt and replaced a stop and a crossing station.

After 1990 the importance of the route for freight traffic decreased significantly. In addition, it was no longer necessary to drive around West Berlin. The route between Berlin-Karow and Wensickendorf was still used for passenger traffic, and there was also local freight traffic to Schönerlinde and the vehicle plant in Berlin-Wilhelmsruh on the Heidekrautbahn (now part of Stadler Rail ). The connection from Wensickendorf to Fichtengrund went out of service on May 28, 1995 and was closed on April 1, 1996. In 1998 there were again special railcar trips on the route. In May 1999 the Federal Railway Authority approved the permanent cessation of operations on the section.

In 1990 the Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) regained the Heidekrautbahn route network, which had been administered by the Deutsche Reichsbahn since 1950 . This also affected the section from the Schönwalde junction to Wensickendorf. On July 1, 2000, the NEB bought the section from Berlin-Karow to Schönwalde built by the Deutsche Reichsbahn and renovated it. Since December 11, 2001, the disused section from Wensickendorf to Schmachtenhagen has also been owned by the company, which reactivated it and built a new breakpoint in Schmachtenhagen. Since then, passenger traffic has been taking place here on weekends, primarily to connect to a farmers' market. The trains that otherwise end in Wensickendorf will then be extended to Schmachtenhagen.

The subsequent section to Fichtengrund is still closed and partially dismantled.

In 2001, most of the remaining route was connected to an electronic signal box in Basdorf. The crossing station in Schönerlinde was initially excluded. It was closed in 2002 and a new station was opened as a replacement in the area of ​​the Schönerlinde stop one kilometer to the south.

Until 2005, passenger traffic on the route was carried out by DB Regio , one of the rare cases at the time when Deutsche Bahn operated passenger traffic on routes operated by a private railway. After winning a tender, NEB Betriebsgesellschaft mbH , a subsidiary of Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn, took over passenger transport.

During the day, the trains between Karow and Basdorf run every half hour alternately to Wensickendorf and Klosterfelde / Groß Schönebeck. In addition, there are some amplifier trains in rush hour traffic that do not stop at Berlin-Karow station, but go directly to Berlin-Gesundbrunnen . Trains run every hour between Basdorf and Wensickendorf, and on weekends from morning to afternoon to Schmachtenhagen.

Route description

course

Berlin-Karow junction: left the S-Bahn tracks, right the tracks of the long-distance train.

The continuous single-track line starts at Berlin-Karow station. It continues the kilometrage of the outer ring of goods, which, however, no longer exists in this area. The zero point of the odometer is in Teltow station . The common section with the Heidekrautbahn from the Schönwalde junction to Wensickendorf was doubled. On the one hand, he kept the old kilometers of the Heidekrautbahn, on the other hand, he took over the new route.

From the Karow train station, the route initially leads in a north-westerly direction until it meets the Heidekrautbahn route north of Schönwalde. After separating from the Heidekrautbahn, the line runs almost westerly and reaches the Berlin Northern Railway at Fichtengrund station, where there were two branches in the north and south.

Operating points

Berlin-Karow

Berlin-Karow train station. The regional trains start at the S-Bahn platform, from the long-distance tracks (right) the route branches off in the background.

km 45.5

→ Main article : Berlin-Karow train station

The Berlin-Karow station was built in 1882 on the Szczecin Railway . Suburban and long-distance tracks have been separated since the 1910s, and the suburban tracks were electrified in 1924. The station consists of a passenger transport station on the S-Bahn tracks, which has also been used by regional trains to and from Basdorf since 1976, and a station on the long-distance tracks without platforms, which is only used for operational purposes. The outer freight ring has flowed here from the south-east since the early 1940s. This was replaced in the early 1950s by the Berlin outer ring, which does not serve the Karow station directly, but crosses the Stettiner Bahn south of it at the Karower Kreuz. Connecting curves lead from Berlin-Karow train station in both directions to the outer ring.

The route in the direction of Basdorf crosses the S-Bahn tracks north of the station. It can be reached from both the S-Bahn station and the long-distance train station. Regional trains beginning / ending in Karow to and from Basdorf use the southeastern track on the S-Bahn platform. In the southwest of the S-Bahn station there is a siding for waiting trains of the Heidekrautbahn. There is no connection from the S-Bahn platform to the long-distance tracks in the direction of Berlin, so that trains from Basdorf continuing in the direction of Berlin cannot stop at the station.

The station building is a listed building.

Schönerlinde

Train crossing in Schönerlinde station

km 51.1 (old stop) / 51.2 (current train station) / 52.4 (former junction train station)

Schönerlinde train station is about one kilometer west of the center of Schönerlinde north of Bahnhofsstraße. It went into operation in 2002 and replaced the Schönerlinde stop, which opened after 1961, on the other side of Bahnhofsstraße and the Schönerlinde junction station one kilometer to the north, which went into operation around 1952. While the original stop had only one edge of the platform, the new station was given two outer platforms. A siding leads south and is used for freight transport to a waste disposal company.

Schönwalde

Schönwalde stop

km 54.3 (stop Schönwalde (Barnim)) / 54.8 (junction)

The place Schönwalde had a train station on the old route of the Heidekrautbahn. About 500 m to the north, this route meets the route from Berlin-Karow at the Schönwalde junction. As a result of the discontinuation of through passenger traffic to Berlin-Wilhelmsruh after the construction of the Wall , passenger traffic between Basdorf and Berlin-Karow was started on December 24, 1961, the place Schönwalde received the stopping point that, in contrast to the old Schönwalde station (Kr Bernau) as Schönwalde Hp was designated. The old station on the Heidekrautbahn was served by a few passenger trains to Berlin-Blankenfelde until 1983 . It had a two-storey reception building with an H-box counter and an attached goods shed. After 1992, NEB leased the station building to an innkeeper who runs the Zur Heidekrautbahn restaurant here . In contrast, the original station roofing (as of summer 1995) is no longer valid.

After 1990 the breakpoint on the Karow route was renamed Schönwalde (Barnim) .

Basdorf

Basdorf station, 2001

km 58.3

The Basdorf train station went into operation in 1905 and became the operational center of the Heidekrautbahn, he received a depot and there were supply system for steam locomotives. The branches to Liebenwalde and Groß Schönebeck separate here. The depot was downsized after 1990, and the Heidekrautbahnmuseum was set up in some parts of the building in 1996 . During the construction of the line from Karow to Fichtengrund, the station facilities remained essentially unchanged. The Niederbarnimer Railway renovated the station after 2000. He has an island platform with two platform edges.

Zühlsdorf

km 61.2

The Zühlsdorf stop was also built in 1905 with the Heidekrautbahn. There used to be a stop with a loading platform. Its reception building is a listed building.

Wensickendorf

Train at the Wensickendorf stop.

km 63.9

The station south of the road to Wandlitz was also opened in 1905. After the construction of the line from Berlin-Karow to Fichtengrund, its facilities were expanded. The station received an approximately one kilometer long crossing track south of the station building. Like the previous loading track, this track is out of service. North of the level crossing across the street, the route to Fichtengrund branches off the main route of the Heidekrautbahn.

Passenger traffic from Wensickendorf to Liebenwalde was discontinued in 1998, so that Wensickendorf is the end point of almost all trains on this branch, with the exception of some trains on weekends.

Schmachtenhagen

Train at the Schmachtenhagen stop.

km 69.850 (old train station) / 68.4 (current stop)

In 1951/52 a crossing station was set up in Schmachtenhagen. It was north of the place west of the road from Schmachtenhagen to Friedrichsthal. With the expansion of the Berlin outer ring, train traffic on the route decreased and the station was no longer needed for its actual function. It was shown as "out of service" on Reichsbahndirektion maps as early as the late 1950s. The crossing track was later used for the test operation of a gauge change system to Soviet broad gauge (1524 mm). For this purpose, a gauge change system was installed in the middle of the 800-meter-long former crossing track, to which a track section with a 1524-mm gauge continued to the west, which again changed into a standard gauge track at the western head of the station.

In the 1990s, a large farmers' market established itself in the village, which is particularly popular with visitors on weekends. The Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn reactivated the disused section from Wensickendorf to a newly established stop at the farmers' market and served it on weekends with passenger trains. The trains from Karow to Schmachtenhagen, which would otherwise end in Wensickendorf, will be extended. The breakpoint is east of the town south of the road from Schmachtenhagen to Zehlendorf.

Spruce ground

Formerly Fichtengrund station. The northern curve of the route from Berlin-Karow is on the right behind the building.

km 73.4 / 74.4

→ Main article : Fichtengrund train station

Fichtengrund had a stop on the Berlin Northern Railway. To the south of the stop, the northern branch of the new line flowed into the northern runway, the southern branch ran parallel to the northern runway in the direction of Sachsenhausen. In the 1960s, Fichtengrund was expanded into a train station, its facilities expanded and the passenger stop moved south. The station facilities on the northern line with two through tracks and two passing tracks with platforms extended over a length of well over a kilometer. The two branches of the line from Berlin-Karow flowed out at the ends of the station. No passenger trains have stopped in Fichtengrund since 1994, and the station was also closed a few years later.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Bernd Kuhlmann: Bahnknoten Berlin. The development of the Berlin railway network since 1838 . Verlag GVE, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89218-099-7 , p. 99.
2. ^ ^{A b} Peter Bley: Berliner Nordbahn. 125 years of the Berlin – Neustrelitz – Stralsund railway . VBN Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-933254-33-7 , pp. 72-73.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Bernd Kuhlmann: Bahnknoten Berlin. The development of the Berlin railway network since 1838 . Verlag GVE, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89218-099-7 , pp. 100-101.
4. ^ Deutsche Reichsbahn, course book 1951/52
5. ^ Peter Bley: Berliner Nordbahn. 125 years of the Berlin – Neustrelitz – Stralsund railway . VBN Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-933254-33-7 , p. 75.
6. ^ Peter Bley: Berliner Nordbahn. 125 years of the Berlin – Neustrelitz – Stralsund railway . VBN Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-933254-33-7 , p. 97.
7. ↑ Bernd Kuhlmann: Electrically into the heather. Planned until 1980: S-Bahn to Wandlitzsee . In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter . Volume 3, 2001, pp. 62-68 .
8. ^ Jörg Raach, Matthias Baxmann: Fascination Railway. Railway culture in Brandenburg . L + H Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-39396-2921-4 , pp. 105-106.
9. ^ Deutsche Reichsbahn, internal traffic route book 1987/88.
10. ↑ Five cars of the D 524 derailed. In: Neues Deutschland , May 7, 1990.
11. ^ Peter Bley: Berliner Nordbahn. 125 years of the Berlin – Neustrelitz – Stralsund railway . VBN Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-933254-33-7 , p. 107.
12. ↑ Jürgen Opravil: The Heidekrautbahn. History of the Reinickendorf – Liebenwalde – Groß Schönebecker Railway, later Niederbarnimer Railway . Chronik Pankow , 1993, p. 118.
13. ↑ Various Reich Railway Directorate Maps between 1959 and 1991