Tiergarten tunnel

This article deals with the complex of several tunnels to cross under the Spreebogen and the Tiergarten in Berlin. For the medieval underground aqueduct in Blankenheim, see Tiergarten Tunnel (Blankenheim) .

Location of the traffic facilities in the central area

Tiergarten Tunnel refers to a complex of three tunnels that run under Berlin's second largest city park, the Tiergarten , and were built between 1995 and 2006. The three tunnels together cross under the Spreebogen in the triangle between the Berlin Central Station , the Chancellery and the Paul-Löbe-Haus , but are not connected to each other and serve different purposes:

• Tunnel Tiergarten Spreebogen (TTS): a road tunnel along the federal highway 96
• Tunnel north-south long-distance railway : a railway tunnel for long-distance and regional traffic
• Underground tunnel on the U55 line

The planned crossing under the Spreebogen for the S-Bahn ( route S21 ) does not belong to this complex .

The client was Deutsche Bahn AG and the responsible Senate Administration of the State of Berlin. The project company founded in 2002 for the transport facilities in the central area of ​​Berlin was responsible for carrying out the construction .

The railway tunnel is part of the Berlin node project .

Opening dates

• Road tunnel: March 26, 2006
• Railway tunnel: May 28, 2006
• Underground tunnel: 8./9. August 2009

Tunnel course

In north-south direction at Berlin Central Station, the tunnels cross under the high-altitude city ​​railway running east-west and the Spree to the south of the central station. South of the line between the Federal Chancellery and the Reichstag building, the three tunnels take a different route and pass under the Berlin zoo. The railway tunnel also crosses under the Landwehr Canal .

Road tunnel

→ Main article : Tunnel Tiergarten Spreebogen

The road tunnel begins in the north along Minna-Cauer-Strasse, bypasses the main train station to the west, has an exit to Tiergartenstrasse and ends on the north bank of the Landwehr Canal.

Railway tunnel

Northern end of the railway tunnel in the exit of Berlin Central Station

→ Main article : Tunnel north-south long-distance railway

The railway tunnel is 3586 meters long and has four tracks. The entrance to the north is at the level of Döberitzer Straße, the south end at Gleisdreieck .

The underground integration of the Potsdam trunk line in the event of its reactivation has been structurally prepared. For this purpose, the tunnel nozzles of the Landwehr Canal junction are available south of Potsdamer Platz station , and the associated switch sleepers are also already installed in the slab track .

Subway tunnel

For the route of the U55 line , only a small section was initially created in the Spreebogen and below the Spree .

construction

“Open Tunnel Day” on March 19, 2006

On October 13, 1995, the then Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl broke the first symbolic groundbreaking ceremony for the tunnel. The completion of the road tunnel was planned for 1999, that of the railway tunnel for 2002.

The road tunnel was constructed using the cut-and-cover method. Between 1996 and 1998 the Spree had to be diverted for the tunnel construction. With the exception of the crossing structure in the main train station, most of the tubes were completed in 2000 in the shell. Insufficient ventilation caused fungal attack in some areas .

Criticism of the construction project

The tunnel construction was already the subject of disputes and legal proceedings as well as public controversy during the planning from 1992 . In terms of content, the focus was on environmental compatibility, noise pollution for residents and the fundamental necessity and adequate dimensioning of the project.

In 1995 a nature conservation association (Berliner Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft Naturschutz e.V.) and several apartment tenants filed an urgent application for a construction freeze in the area of ​​the construction project, which the Federal Administrative Court rejected.

Another point of criticism is the enormous construction and maintenance costs of the road tunnel. The construction of the road tunnel cost around 390 million euros, the maintenance costs 750,000 euros annually. By way of comparison: Berlin spent 67.2 million euros on road construction and 115.4 million euros on road repairs and maintenance in 2006.

Exhaust air chimney of the road tunnel at Potsdamer Platz with the debis logo

The exhaust gases from the tunnel are emitted unfiltered through exhaust chimneys at the main station and at Potsdamer Platz. The installation of a filter technology for 5.4 million euros was waived.

literature

• Heiko Schützler: Tiergarten Tunnel: Between euphoria and breakdowns . In: Berlin monthly magazine ( Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein ) . Issue 7, 2001, ISSN  0944-5560 , p. 139–143 ( luise-berlin.de - report on tunneling).
• Justification of the judgment of the Federal Administrative Court on the rejected urgent procedure. BVerwG 11 VR 38.95 - Decision of November 28, 1995 No. 703.

Web links

Commons : Tiergartentunnel  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ German Bundestag (ed.): Transport investment report for the reporting year 2012 . Informed by the Federal Government (=  printed matter . No. 18/580 ). Bundesanzeiger Verlagsgesellschaft, February 18, 2014, ISSN  0722-8333 , p. 113–118 ( bundestag.de [PDF; 66.2 MB ; accessed on February 24, 2014]).
2. ↑ The Spree must move to one side . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , No. 11, 1995, p. 10.
3. ↑ Press release of the BVerwG No. 37/1995 of November 28, 1995
4. ↑ Die Welt , March 27, 2008
5. ↑ Small question from the MPs Claudia Hämmerling (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen) of January 11, 2006 and answer, Berlin House of Representatives

Coordinates: 52 ° 30 ′ 59 ″  N , 13 ° 22 ′ 14 ″  E