Subway line 6 (Berlin)
The U6 line of the Berlin subway runs in a north-south direction (hence initially also called "North-South Railway") from the Tegel district via the streets Berliner Straße - Müllerstraße - Chausseestraße - Friedrichstraße - Mehringdamm - Tempelhofer Damm - Mariendorfer Damm to the district of Mariendorf . With a length of 19.8 kilometers and 29 stations, it is part of the large-profile network of the Berlin subway.
course
Starting in the center of Tegel, the route of the U6 runs underground to Borsigwerke station next to Berliner Straße in a southbound direction. The route appears shortly after the train station and leads along the embankment next to Seidelstrasse or later Scharnweberstrasse. Shortly after the Scharnweberstrasse station, the subway leads back into the tunnel and straight ahead follows Müllerstrasse, which then turns into Chausseestrasse and then into Friedrichstrasse. The U6 leads under this to Mehringplatz . Behind it, it crosses under the Landwehr Canal and swings onto Mehringdamm, which is called Tempelhofer Damm from the Luftbrücke square and after crossing the Teltow Canal it is called Mariendorfer Damm. The subway crosses the canal on a bridge that hangs from the bottom of the road bridge. The route ends at the intersection of Reißeckstraße / Friedenstraße / Mariendorfer Damm.
Line color and labels
The color purple has been used on this line since the U6 was built in the 1920s. This has been retained until today. The line names were initially C I and C II , each standing for the branch to Neukölln and Tempelhof. After the two branches were separated in 1966, the route with the Tempelhof branch was given line number "6". In January 1984, when the S-Bahn in West Berlin was operated by the BVG , there was another “U” in front of it.
history
Beginnings
As early as 1901, the city of Berlin had plans for a subway under Friedrichstrasse from north to south. Werner von Siemens also had plans for a line under Nobelstrasse. Since the city was of the opinion at the time that the transport company had to be in municipal hands, it refused Siemens the permit and built the subway itself. The construction work for the north-south line from Wedding to Tempelhof with the branch to Neukölln was carried out by the first World War difficult and finally came to a standstill. From this first construction phase before the end of the war in 1918, tunnel supports made of rolled steel can still be found today, such as B. in the Oranienburger Tor station with the Rombach rolling brand (a steel mill in Alsace-Lorraine ).
Construction work began again in 1919, but in 1921 , during the period of inflation , consideration was given to filling in the existing tunnels. Construction continued, however, so that on January 30, 1923, the first tunnel section between Hallescher Tor and Stettiner Bahnhof (since December 13, 2009 natural history museum , previously: Zinnowitzer Straße , before: Nordbahnhof ) could be opened. Another section was put into operation on March 8, 1923 between Stettiner Bahnhof and Seestrasse . At the station Seestraße a maintenance workshop was built.
At the intersection of Mohren and Friedrichstrasse there was the first intersection of two underground lines (north-south line and the so-called " Centrumslinie "). But the city of Berlin built its own train station 160 meters away with the name Leipziger Straße (today: Stadtmitte, previously: Friedrichstadt [Leipziger Straße] ), also because the principle of the tower station was not yet widespread. The consequence to this day is that when changing between the two lines, passengers have to go through a long pedestrian tunnel, which Berliners also call the “ mouse tunnel ”.
The branch station at Belle-Alliance-Straße was built as a three-track station. The trains to Tempelhof and Neukölln drove from the western track ( side platform ), the trains from Neukölln (middle track) and Tempelhof (eastern track) in the direction of the city center stopped at a middle platform . The station was completely redesigned in the course of the construction of the U7 and is now called Mehringdamm , previously: Franz-Mehring-Straße.
Due to disputes with Tempelhof, the branch to Neukölln was built first . Only in 1924 did work on the other branch of the route begin. Just two years later, on February 14, 1926, the Belle-Alliance-Straße - Kreuzberg branch line (today: Platz der Luftbrücke , previously: the airport ) was opened. A year later it went to the airport train station (today: Paradestrasse). To the east of the route is the site of the former Tempelhof Airport . When the airport was built in the mid-1920s, around 300,000 cubic meters of earth were needed to compensate for unevenness and the slight slope of the area to the south. 140,000 cubic meters of the filling floor came from the construction of the north-south railway, which was transported to the site via a specially constructed track.
In 1929 the line reached the Tempelhof S-Bahn station of the Ringbahn . A large common station building was built there for the S-Bahn and U-Bahn (name: Tempelhof [Südring] ). Since the underground station had to be very deep, the depth could be used for a spacious hall.
To the north
Even at the time of the construction of Line C, it was planned to extend it to Tegel , for which 400 meters of tunnel were built in 1929. By extending the route from the existing Seestrasse station to the center of the Tegel district, it was possible to save some bus and tram lines . So it was decided to use this route as the first post-war new building in the western part of the city.
The first ramming took place on October 26, 1953 in Müllerstrasse north of Seestrasse station. The 6.9 km long route was to be built in two sections:
- Seestrasse - Kurt-Schumacher-Platz
- Kurt-Schumacher-Platz - Tegel
For cost reasons and because the very high groundwater level spoke against a cut track, a dam was built north of Kurt-Schumacher-Platz. There a ramp rises to a 15-meter-high embankment and reaches the first large-profile train station in Berlin, Scharnweberstrasse, located outside the tunnel . To the north of the Holzhauser Strasse station , the route runs through the tunnel again and follows Berliner Strasse to the center of Tegel.
As before the Second World War , the train stations were decorated very objectively with light, pastel-colored ceramic tiles. The embankment stations were built from the prestressed concrete that was often used at the time . These now only appear very bulky and do not exude the flair of the “suburban train stations”, such as on the southern U3.
A first section was opened on May 3, 1956, the second on May 31, 1958. With the opening of Line C, the northern BVG network was completely restructured. All tram lines in this area have been shut down.
Ghost stations arise
After the Wall was built on August 13, 1961, by order of the then GDR Interior Minister Karl Maron, all train stations on the U6 line in East Berlin between the West Berlin train stations Reinickendorfer Straße and Kochstraße were closed to passenger traffic. Only Friedrichstrasse station was excluded from this, where West Berliners could change to the S-Bahn or get to East Berlin via the border crossing set up in the station. With this order the closed stations became so-called " ghost stations ". As a replacement, the bus route 59 between Walter-Ulbricht-Stadion (later: World Youth Stadium ) and Leipziger Strasse was set up in what was then the Mitte district . It remained in operation until the closed stations were reopened in early July 1990.
During the division, the ghost stations were only entered by border or transport police officers.
Even the Schwartzkopffstraße station , which was renamed after in April 1951. newly built Walter Ulbricht Stadium, belonged to the ghost stations. On March 15, 1973, together with the sports facility, it was renamed the World Youth Stadium - which was only visible to passing (mostly West Berlin) subway passengers, as the ghost stations were not shown on GDR city maps.
The ghost stations were only reopened in mid-1990 after the monetary, economic and social union .
Completion of line 6
Similar to the extension to Tegel, it had been planned since the construction of Line C to extend this line to Alt-Mariendorf . The National Socialists also planned to build this line up to the Mariendorf trotting track . When the long-awaited extension was built, the cost was often discussed. B. proposed to build the route next to the Tempelhofer or Mariendorfer Damm as a cut track. The BVG resisted on the grounds that they wanted to connect the Tempelhof town hall and the important shopping street and that this would only be possible with an underground route.
The first ramming for the 3.5-kilometer route took place on March 6, 1961. It was opened to the Alt-Mariendorf train station on February 28, 1966. The line follows the Tempelhofer Damm in a straight line from the Berlin-Tempelhof S-Bahn and U-Bahn station to the south and then meets the Teltow Canal . Similar to the construction of today's U7 line in the direction of Rudow , this body of water was the biggest problem on the route. To overcome it, a construction that is rare for Berlin was chosen: the subway runs within the Stubenrauchbrücke over the Teltow Canal. This bridge consists of two different, side by side structures for the road crossing. Part of the eastern half of the bridge was constructed in such a way that the Ullsteinstraße underground station could be accommodated in it. However, since the passage height of 4.6 meters had to be maintained for the ships, ramps were built for the road. Due to this construction, the street level is 1.2 meters above the original level. The height of the bridge currently prevents further expansion of the Teltow Canal.
South of the Teltow Canal, the underground follows the Mariendorfer Damm to the Alt-Mariendorf terminus, which was built at the intersections of Alt-Mariendorf and Reißeck- / Friedenstraße. Several bus routes lead from this starting point to the more loosely populated area. With this expansion, today's U6 line was completed. Further extensions are not planned. The repeatedly discussed extension of the U6 to Lichtenrade or even Mahlow , came back to the public in December 2017 through two motions from the CDU parliamentary group in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district assembly . However, these were rejected in March 2018 by a majority of votes from the SPD and the Greens .
With the exception of Alt-Tempelhof station, all stations were designed by Rainer G. Rümmler . As with the southern section of the U7 line , he used large rectangular ceramic tiles here .
reopening
After the fall of the wall , the platforms and tunnels were renovated and rebuilt. All closed stations were reopened on July 1, 1990.
At the time of the construction of today's U6 from 1912 to 1923, the First World War and the hyperinflation that began in 1919 resulted in a tight budget situation, which meant that the city of Berlin, as the builder, had little financial leeway. While the previously built small-profile stations were decorated ornately, the stations of the U6 only got white plaster as a cladding. The only distinguishing feature was the color code of the pillars and station signs. The length of the platforms has also been reduced. While platforms of 110 to 120 meters were common in the later new constructions, at that time only 80 meters long platforms were built. The first capacity problems arose as early as the 1970s, as only 4-car trains could be used. Therefore, in the 1960s and 1970s, the West Berlin underground stations were rebuilt and the platforms lengthened so that longer trains could stop there. However, since renovations were not possible at the three border stations at Friedrichstrasse , Kochstrasse and Reinickendorfer Strasse (no trains stopped at the other stations) or a lot of money would have to be paid to the GDR, the U6 remained with four cars . Instead, the trains ran every 3 minutes during rush hour .
In order to be able to take up traffic with 6-car trains after German reunification , the Berlin Senate decided to spend 250 million marks (adjusted for inflation in today's currency: around 179,263,000 euros) for the extension of the platforms at Kochstrasse, Stadtmitte, and Französische Strasse , Friedrichstrasse, Oranienburger Tor, Zinnowitzer Strasse (today: Natural History Museum), Schwartzkopffstrasse and Reinickendorfer Strasse. The renovation with ongoing operations took over four years from July 1992 to September 1996.
Crossing with the U5 line
As part of the extension of underground line 5 along the Unter den Linden boulevard, the Unter den Linden underground station will be the new crossing station at the intersection with the U6 line by 2020 . The Franzische Straße station will then be closed due to the fact that it is too close. During the construction period, the U6 line in this area was interrupted from June 30, 2012 to November 17, 2013 in order to build a new tunnel section for the crossing station.
Current construction plans
An electronic signal box was put into operation in September 2017 for the southern section of the U6 between Hallesches Tor and Alt-Mariendorf . It is installed in the tunnel north of the Hallesches Tor underground station and also controls a section of the U7 underground line.
A fundamental renovation of the above-ground section between the Kurt-Schumacher-Platz and Borsigwerke stations is planned from 2020. The earthworks have to be stabilized and the worn track and cable duct systems renewed. A new building is planned for the Seidelstrasse bridge due to construction-related material failure. The listed platforms and roofs of the Scharnweberstrasse and Holzhauser Strasse stations are being renovated. In addition, the Borsigwerke and Holzhauser Straße train stations will be made barrier-free and equipped with elevators.
In connection with the Alt-Mariendorf storage group, the BVG is planning an underground rectifier substation that will be necessary for the compression of the cycle. The BVV Tempelhof-Schoeneberg has expressed reservations about 2,019 in October. At a meeting in November 2019, BVV even called for the U6 to be extended in order to better connect the outskirts.
A feasibility study from 2020 proposes a branch route to today's Berlin-Tegel Airport or the future technology location Urban Tech Republic. Under the working title U65, a length of 2.9 to 4.4 kilometers is achieved, depending on the variant of the U6 threading. The cost estimates are between 275 million and 607 million euros. Two variants ran out on an elevated railway. If it is expanded as a tunnel, operations on the U6 would have to be restricted for longer. An estimate of the demand is only available for one of the five variants: 15,000 passengers per day.
Timetable
| line | Mon-Fri (HVZ) (7 am-9:30 am and 3 pm-6:30pm) |
Mon-Fri (NVZ) (6 a.m. to 7 a.m .; 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.) |
Sat (10 a.m. - 9 p.m.) |
Sundays and public holidays (12:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.) |
Off-peak time (Mon-Fri 4: 30-6 pm; Mon-Sat from 21 pm and Sun 19-0: 30 pm / Sa 5: 30-10 pm and Sun, 6: 30-12: 30) |
Night Fri / Sat and Sat / Sun as well as on the nights before public holidays (Fri / Sat 0:30 am-5:30pm and Sat / Sun 0:30 am-6:30pm) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alt-Tegel ↔ Alt-Mariendorf |
4 min | 5 min | 5 min | 5 min | 10 min | 15 minutes | |
| On the nights from Friday to Saturday and Saturday to Sunday, the U6 trains run every 15 minutes from 0:30 a.m. to around 4:30 a.m. between Alt-Tegel and Alt-Mariendorf. On the other nights, the N6 night bus takes over the tasks of the U6 line. | |||||||
Clock compression
In the Berlin Senate's 2019-2023 public transport plan, the frequency is planned to be compressed to 3.3 minutes during rush hour by 2023.
Opening dates
- January 30, 1923: Stettiner Bahnhof (today: Natural History Museum) - Hallesches Tor
- March 8, 1923: Stettiner Bahnhof (today: Natural History Museum) - Seestrasse
- April 19, 1924: Hallesches Tor - Belle-Alliance-Strasse (today: Mehringdamm)
- February 14, 1926: Belle-Alliance-Strasse (today: Mehringdamm) - Kreuzberg (today: Platz der Luftbrücke)
- September 10, 1927: Kreuzberg (today: Platz der Luftbrücke) - Airport (today: Paradestrasse)
- December 22, 1929: Airport (today: Paradestraße) - Tempelhof (Südring)
- May 3, 1956: Seestrasse - Kurt-Schumacher-Platz
- May 31, 1958: Kurt-Schumacher-Platz - Tegel (today: Alt-Tegel)
- February 28, 1966: Tempelhof (Südring) - Alt-Mariendorf
literature
- Friedrich Krause : The urban north-south railway in Berlin. In: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung , Volume 43, No. 27/28 (April 4, 1923), pp. 157–163 , No. 31/32 (April 18, 1923), pp. 181–188 , No. 33 / 34 (April 25, 1923), pp. 199-202 .
- Hermann Hahn: The Berlin North-South Railway / On its opening at the end of January 1923. In: Verkehrstechnik , 4th year, No. 16 (April 20, 1923), pp. 121-138.
- Alexander Seefeldt: U6 - The "North-South Railway" through Mitte. Robert Schwandl Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-936573-34-3 .
Web links
- Detailed history of the Berlin subway
- Information and pictures on the extension of the U5 from Alexanderplatz to the Brandenburg Gate at bastellen-doku.info
- The subway to Tegel was inaugurated 50 years ago
- Online timetable information from the BVG
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Description of the U6. ( Memento of the original from July 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) 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. untergrundbahn.de
- ^ Laurenz Demps, Carl-Ludwig Paeschke: Tempelhof Airport. The story of a legend . Ullstein, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-550-06973-1 , pp. 29 .
- ^ Teltow Canal: Berlin accepts the judgment of the federal judges. In: The world . April 19, 2002, accessed July 14, 2012 .
- ↑ Printed matter - 0478 / XX vision and necessity - extension of the U6 to the south (request of the CDU parliamentary group)
- ↑ Printed matter - 0479 / XX U 6 to extend to Lichtenrade or to Mahlow (request of the AfD parliamentary group)
- ↑ Interruption U6. Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe , accessed on November 21, 2013 .
- ↑ Good news for all U6 passengers. Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe, November 17, 2013, accessed on November 21, 2013 .
- ↑ News in brief - U-Bahn . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . No. 9 , 2017, p. 182 .
- ↑ Printed matter 18/12380. (PDF) Berlin House of Representatives, October 17, 2017, accessed on November 3, 2017 .
- ↑ Newsletter from people-Tempelhof-Schoeneberg@tagesspiegel.de from October 1, 2019
- ↑ Newsletter for Tempelhof-Schöneberg /. November 26, 2019, accessed November 27, 2019 .
- ↑ New underground lines cost up to 607 million euros. In: Berliner Zeitung . March 17, 2020, accessed April 14, 2020 .
- ↑ Thomas Loy: This is how BVG and S-Bahn should run in the future . In: Der Tagesspiegel . February 26, 2019 .: "Additional lines are to be given a ten-minute cycle, on underground lines 2, 5, 6 and 8 a 3.3 minute cycle is to be introduced by 2023."
- ↑ Appendix 8 to the Berlin public transport plan 2019-2023 "Framework timetable" . Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection of Berlin. February 25, 2019.
