Subway line 55 (Berlin)

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Line Berlin U-Bahn large profileU55
Route of the underground line 55 (Berlin)
Route length: 1.8 km
Gauge : 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system : side busbar, painted below,
750 V  =
Legend
   
 Main station sweeping system
BSicon utSTR.svg
   
 Central station (HBF)Long-distance transport Regional line S3 S5 S7 S9
BSicon utSTR.svg
   
 Bundestag (BUN)
BSicon utSTR.svg
   
 Brandenburg Gate (BRT)S1 S2 S25 S26
BSicon utSTR.svg
   
 Continuation towards Alexanderplatz under construction
   
 Unter den Linden (ULU)U6 (from 2020)
   
 Museum Island (MIN) (from 2020)
   
 Red City Hall (RHO) (from 2020)
   
 Connection to the U5direction Hönow
Marking at the Bundestag train station
View of the the shield tunneling method established tunnel between the stations Brandenburg Gate and the Bundestag

The underground line U55 was a line of the Berlin underground between the Brandenburg Gate and the main train station , which operated from August 8, 2009 to March 17, 2020. The only 1.8 km long route used by the U55 is part of the extension of the U-Bahn line 5 from Alexanderplatz to the west, also known as the “Kanzler U-Bahn” . After the extension of the U5 line from Alexanderplatz to the Brandenburg Gate has gone into operation, probably from December 4, 2020, it will be on the route.

Planning history

The name Kanzler-U-Bahn is an allusion to the then Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl , as the construction of the line was regulated in the capital contract at the instigation of the then federal government . The original plans, however, come from the 200-kilometer plan of the West Berlin administration in the mid-1950s, which, in addition to many other projects, planned a western extension of the U-Bahn line E (today: U5) in the present day Provide for route guidance.

The U5 was the first major construction project among the underground line extensions and new lines planned in the course of German reunification . The existing plans from the 1950s were adapted so that the U5 extended from Alexanderplatz serves the newly planned main station and the new government district. A generous distribution level with direct access to the Chancellery and Paul-Löbe-Haus (Bundestag building) was planned for today's Bundestag . This also contributed to the spread of the term “Chancellor U-Bahn”. In the long-term plan, the U5 is to continue in the west from the main train station through the Moabit district ( connecting station to the U9 in Turmstrasse ) and via Jungfernheide ( connecting U7 , north ring of the S-Bahn ) to Tegel Airport . However, only the section Alexanderplatz – Turmstrasse was included in the urgent need and examined in more detail. This section was planned with the following stations:

Within the framework of the capital city contract, however, a financing agreement was only made for the section Alexanderplatz - Hauptbahnhof, although the cost-benefit study referred to the section up to Turmstrasse.

In view of the projected construction costs of around 650 million euros between Alexanderplatz and the main train station alone and the tram running parallel on this section , the necessity of this line is often called into question. The cost-benefit ratio of the route from Alexanderplatz to Turmstrasse was 1.79. Values ​​greater than 1 in this case mean that the benefit is generally greater than the costs and the project can therefore be considered economical. A separate calculation for the section only up to the main train station was not carried out.

Construction, construction freeze and temporary use

Construction began in 1995. In 2002 the Berlin Senate stopped the project for financial reasons. The shell of the main train station and Reichstag stations had already been completed. In order to avoid repayment of 170 million euros in federal funding, the Senate decided in 2003 to continue up to the Brandenburg Gate, which should be completed by 2006. A two-car train was then to commute on one track along the 1.47-kilometer route.

On October 27, 2005 it was announced that due to the high groundwater level at the Brandenburg Gate, completion could not take place by May 2006. Temporary operation in the 610-meter-long section between the main train station and the Reichstag building for the 2006 World Cup was discussed. These plans were ultimately not implemented. The Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe refused to bear the operating costs for the island operation on this short section. In addition, the police and fire brigade expressed concerns as to whether the short vehicles could handle the expected crowds. The Federal Ministry of Transport also waived the repayment of 70 million euros in subsidies that had been invested in the construction that had been completed by then and that should have been repaid due to the breach of the operating obligation.

Bundestag underground station as an opera venue, 2008

During the construction stop the finished in the shell station Bundestag as meeting and film location between use . For example, the world premiere of Angie (a play about Angela Merkel ), kart races and a party with Robbie Williams during his tour took place there. Parts of the horror film production Resident Evil and the science fiction film Æon Flux were also shot in the subway station. In April and May 2008, the completed station , which has now been renamed the Bundestag , served as a performance location for a production of Mozart's Magic Flute , directed by Christoph Hagel .

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research also used the vacant subway station from the end of October to mid-November 2008 for the “World Machine” exhibition, an exhibition on activities relating to the LHC particle accelerator at the international research institute CERN .

Partial completion as U55

Opening move on August 8, 2009
Introducing a cart through the material inlet port
Completed underground station Bundestag

When the federal government threatened to reclaim the financial aid that had already been paid because of the construction freeze, it was decided in 2003 to operate the already completed section as a 'mini-subway line'. In order not to confuse passengers, it should be called U55 . Under the SPD - Senator Peter Strieder should the station Brandenburg Gate, which was not yet completed, will be open only for short trains with an output. After the resignation of the senator and the assumption of the office by Ingeborg Junge-Reyer , these plans were changed: The Brandenburger Tor station should now be completely expanded. However, as this took much longer, the construction work lasted until summer 2009. Until October 2005, provisional operation during the 2006 World Cup was expected. However, due to groundwater problems, the construction was delayed, so that the complete inauguration of the 1.8 kilometer long line - but then with a 120 meter long Brandenburg Gate platform - did not take place until August 8, 2009. A previously announced island operation between the main train station and Bundestag stations from May 28, 2006 did not take place due to unprofitability.

The federal government funded the section of the U55 with 170 million euros, the total cost was 320 million euros.

The naming of the Bundestag underground station (the original planning name was "Reichstag") goes back to an initiative of the Council of Elders of the German Bundestag , which wanted it to be named after the current name of the German parliament. This name also does better justice to the location of the station, as it is not in front of the Reichstag building , but in front of the Paul-Löbe-Haus of the Bundestag.

The route has been in shuttle operation since August 9, 2009. The train ran between 4:45 a.m. and 12:45 a.m. (Sundays from 5:45 a.m.) every ten minutes at minute 0 from the Brandenburg Gate and at minute 5 from the main station. The trip took 2 1 ⁄ 2   minutes, with only one driver on duty per shift. Special features of the U55 line were the lack of a connection to the Berlin subway network and a manually operated switch system at the main train station. For the single-track route with only one train, there was a simplified train protection system without main signals.

Originally eight F79 cars were used on the route, which were adapted for the route. The plan was for four cars to be on the way as a passenger train and four cars to be in reserve in an auxiliary workshop without work pits at the main station. In fact, mainly two of the six existing cars were used. On average, the U55 transported around 6200 passengers per day, 6400 were expected. The "workshop" consisted of two side platforms on gratings for cleaning the cars and a vehicle lifting system. Due to the lack of a connection to the Berlin subway network, the cars were lowered onto the track with a crane on July 23 and 24, 2009 through the material inlet opening on Minna-Cauer-Straße. Two cars were lifted out of the tunnel in mid-January 2013 for deadline work. On March 24 and 25, 2017, the remaining F79s were exchanged for type D vehicles from the 1950s that had already been disused . These were modernized in terms of vehicle technology. Your interior design corresponds to the original state with green artificial leather seats.

Due to the low number of passengers, no escalators were initially installed at the Bundestag station ; the areas provided for this next to the staircases were provisionally clad with metal sheets. Retrofitting took place in the second half of 2018.

From June 4 to December 10, 2018, the U55 was out of service due to construction work in preparation for closing the gap with the U5.

In connection with the COVID-19 pandemic , the U55 was temporarily suspended on March 18, 2020. At the beginning of May 2020, it was decided not to reopen the line before it was connected to the U5 line, which is due to open on December 4, 2020.

business

line Mondays to Saturdays
(5:00 a.m. to 0:30 a.m.) 		Sundays and public holidays
(6:00 a.m. - 0:30 a.m.)
Central station ↔ Brandenburg Gate 10 min 10 min

Web links

Commons : U-Bahn line U55 (Berlin)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Klaus Kurpjuweit: The long way to the short underground. In: Der Tagesspiegel . August 5, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2012 .
  2. ↑ Peter Neumann: U5 extension So nice you will soon be waiting in Mitte. In: Berliner Kurier . January 11, 2020, accessed January 28, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Thomas Fülling: The Chancellor line U5 will be more expensive and will come later. In: Berliner Morgenpost . December 1, 2014, accessed December 1, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Thomas Fülling: Chancellor Line - Stummel-U-Bahn for 250 million. In: The world . August 7, 2009, accessed May 3, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b Chancellor U-Bahn starts on August 8, 2009. In: Berliner Morgenpost . October 19, 2008, accessed January 23, 2012 .
  6. ↑ a b Berlin: Tragedy about the U55 . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 12, December 2005, p. 560 .
  7. ↑ No subway to the World Cup . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 6, June 2006, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 272 .
  8. ↑ a b Kerstin Marquard: From the mountain to the valley in two and a half minutes. (PDF) In: plus_08 The BVG customer magazine. August 2009, pp. 14-16 , accessed August 19, 2009 .
  9. ↑ Peter Neumann: What will take a long time will finally be the U 55. The rail network is growing - but only very slowly / Brandenburger Tor from 2009 with subway connection. In: Berliner Zeitung . November 7, 2008, accessed November 7, 2008 .
  10. ↑ Peter Neumann: Small ideal world in the underground. The U 55 underground line in Mitte is one year old. Driver Diego Wegner explains why he likes to work there - much better than on other routes. Berliner Zeitung , August 6, 2010, accessed on December 30, 2017 .
  11. ↑ News in brief - U-Bahn . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . No. 5 , 2013, p. 92 .
  12. ↑ "Dora" floats to her workplace. (No longer available online.) In: morgenpost.de. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017 ; accessed on March 28, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / live.morgenpost.de
  13. ↑ The U55 takes a break! In: BVG Projekt GmbH. May 31, 2018, accessed June 6, 2018 .
  14. ↑ BVG returns to the regular timetable on Monday. In: RBB. May 1, 2020, accessed May 3, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Berlin "Kanzler-U-Bahn" (U55) stops operating. In: Bahnblogstelle. May 1, 2020, accessed May 3, 2020 .