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Berlin was restored as the German capital right after the unification of the two German states in 1990 and has about 3.5 million inhabitants. The city has one of the oldest and most extensive metro networks in Europe. The rapid transit network actually consists of two independent systems, the U-Bahn with 9 lines, and the S-Bahn. In 1993 the Verkehrsgemeinschaft Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB) was founded to organize all public transport both in Berlin and the surrounding State of Brandenburg.

- The first U-Bahn line opened in 1902 between Warschauer Brücke (now Warschauer Straße) and Knie (now Ernst-Reuter-Platz), with a branch to Potsdamer Platz. This first line (see map) was mainly elevated. In the following years the network grew steadily towards the west (today's U2 west and U1 west) and branches were built to the south (now U3 and U4). The original line was also extended into the city centre from Potsdamer Platz as far as Spittelmarkt (U2). At the beginning of World War I in 1914, Berlin's U-Bahn network already had a total length of 37.8 km. The older lines belong to the small profile network (2.3m wide cars, 8-car-trains). (See Network map 1920)

- In 1923 the first section of a new north-south line opened (former Line C, now U6) between Seestraße and Hallesches Tor right through the city along Friedrichstraße. This was the first of the large profile lines (2.6m wide cars). From then on Berlin's U-Bahn grew again very fast until 1930 began. By then U1, U2, U3, and U4 existed as we know them today (then operated as Line A and B), U5 from Alexanderplatz to Friedrichsfelde (Line E), U6 Seestr.-Tempelhof, U7 (as a branch of U6) from Mehringdamm to Grenzallee, U8 Gesundbrunnen-Leinestraße (Line D) (See Network map 1940).

- After the war, the U-Bahn and S-Bahn kept running from one side of Berlin to the other until the Wall was built in 1961. Today's U2 was split into two lines, U1 was cut off at Schlesisches Tor and U6 and U8 began travelling through East Berlin skipping all stations on GDR territory (ghost stations). An exception was Friedrichstraße (U6) which was a border crossing for pedestrians and a transfer point to the S-Bahn.

- While Berlin was a divided city (See Network map 1961), on the eastern side only U5 was extended, mainly on the surface, towards the east to new residential areas (1973 Tierpark, 1989 Hönow). In the west a new line was added, a north-south link avoiding the historic centre: U9 (opened between 1961 and 1976). U7 turned out to be an important link between the southeast and the west. It reached its southern terminus at Rudow in 1972 and Rathaus Spandau in the west in 1984.

- After the Berlin Wall was torn down in Nov. 1989, all ghost stations were reopened as soon as possible, U2 was restored though partly rebuilt and reopened in 1993, and two years later, in 1995, also U1 returned to its original terminus at Warschauer Straße, across the traditional Oberbaum-Bridge.

- In the meantime U8 was extended towards the north to Wittenau (1994) and south to Hermannstraße (S-Bahn-Ring, 1996). In October 1998, a new station, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park, was added to line U2 between Gleisdreieck and Potsdamer Platz to improve access to the new Potsdamer Platz area. After some years of construction a short extension from Vinetastraße to Pankow was eventually opened on 16 Sept. 2000. The new terminus station is situated right under the S-Bahn station.

- After 9 years of existence, line U15 disappeared from the map, instead the number U3 was reintroduced on 12 Dec 2004, now serving the Nollendorfplatz - Krumme Lanke stretch.

Currently, Berlin's U-Bahn network is about 146 km long, U7 being the longest line with 32 km and U4 the shortest with only 3 km.

U-Bahn Detailed History

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Photos © R. Schwandl (UrbanRail.Net)

You can also visit André Loop's great U-Bahn Gallery (incl. many UrbanRail.Net pictures)

 Projects

Currently all U-Bahn expansion projects have been suspended because of lack of funds. There have, however, been some plans which are quite advanced:

In the city centre, around the Reichstag, new governmental buildings and a major railway station at Lehrter Stadtbahnhof were constructed. The overall project for Berlin as Germany's capital city included the construction of a western U5 extension: Alexanderplatz - Rathaus - Schlossplatz (Museumsinsel) - Unter den Linden (interchange with U6, replacing Französische Straße) - Brandenburger Tor (S-Bahn Unter den Linden) - Bundestag - Hauptbahnhof). The bored tunnels between Brandenburger Tor and Hauptbahnhof, as well as the station boxes at Hauptbahnhof and Bundestag were completed together with the government buildings, but the construction of Brandenburger Tor station only began in 2004, with the rest of the line to Alexanderplatz not having been started yet. According to the old 200-km masterplan, line U5 was to continue westwards from Hauptbahnhof via Turmstraße (U9) to Jungfernheide (U7) and Tegel Airport.
In early 2004, a temporary solution was decided upon. From 2006, there was to be a shuttle line, labelled U55, between Hauptbahnhof (Lehrter Bahnhof) and Brandenburger Tor (S Unter den Linden). Then by 2010, the city would start constructing the missing section between Brandenburger Tor and Alexanderplatz for completion by 2020. This way the city will not have to pay back the money already paid by the State. More info and photos here. In 2007, the complex station at Brandenburger Tor is still under construction, and the opening of the U55 shuttle is not likely before 2009.

At Potsdamer Platz a future station for a planned line is also incorporated into the new station complex for regional trains on the new north-south tunnel. This new line would run along Kurfürstendamm (now U1) via Potsdamer Platz and Alexanderplatz to Weißensee in the northeast.
After having reached Pankow, line U2 might eventually be extended by one more station to Pankow-Kirche.
U7 might be extended from its southern terminus Rudow to Flughafen Schönefeld, which is now projected as Berlin's major airport.

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The U-Bahn and the S-Bahn operate daily between 04:00 and 01:30. U-Bahn trains run every 3-5 minutes during rush hours and every 5-10 minutes off-peak. S-Bahn trains run every few minutes along the ring line and the other lines inside the ring, on branches within the city of Berlin a basic 10-minute headway is offered, outside Berlin trains run every 20 minutes.

All U-Bahn lines, except U4, run every 15 minutes all night long on weekends. Most S-Bahn lines also operate all night long on weekends, on outer branches every 30-60 minutes, and shorter intervals on some inner-city sections.

TICKETS AND FARES (2008)

The Greater Berlin area is divided into 3 zones, zone A covers everything within the S-Bahn ring line, zone B the rest of Berlin city, and zone C the surroundings included in the tariff system. Tickets can be bought for AB, BC or ABC. Prices shown here are in Euro for zones AB (Berlin city):

Single Ticket - 2.10 EUR (now only valid for trips in one direction, with transfer)
Short Trip - 1.30 EUR (up to 3 stations on U-Bahn or S-Bahn, no transfer)

Day Pass - 6.10 EUR
7-Days Pass - 26.20 EUR

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BVG (Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe - U-Bahn Official Site)

VBB Online (Tariff union Berlin-Brandenburg)

Untergrundbahn - André Loop's great U-Bahn gallery (incl. many UrbanRail.Net pix)

Die Berliner Untergrundbahn by Marcus Schomacker (incl. historic network maps)

Berliner Verkehrsseiten by Markus Jurziczek

Berliner U-Bahn Archiv by Axel Mauruszat

Berlin Transport Page by Ralf Müller incl. map and track map

Berlin U & S-Bahn Gallery incl. all underground and elevated stations

U-Bahn Opening Dates

U-Bahnbilder by Patrick Popiol

U-Bahn-Museum (at U-Bahn station Olympia-Stadion - U2)

Berlin U-Bahn Signals by Wolfgang Meyenberg

Short U-Bahn Videos

<<< Up | S-Bahn | Tram | Tickets & Fares | Books | Videos | Links

Schwandl, Robert: Schnellbahnen in Deutschland / Metros in Germany. U-Bahn - Stadtbahn - S-Bahn. - April 2007, Berlin, ISBN 978 3 836573 18 3

- Anything you need to know about German metro and light rail systems, with detailed maps and hundreds of colour photos; 192 pages; Text German and English - More details

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Prof. Knifflich fragt Berlin: Verstehen Sie Bahnhof? - 33 Rätsel um U- und S-Bahn. - 2007, GVE-Verlag

Andreas Biedl: Die Fahrzeuge der Berliner U-Bahn, Typ B. - June 2005, Neddermeyer, Berlin, ISBN 3933254566

Christoph Brachmann: Licht und Farbe im Berliner Untergrund. - Oct. 2003, 292 p. - Mann (Gebr.), Berlin, ISBN 3786124779

Robert Schwandl: BERLIN U-BAHN ALBUM. - All 192 Underground and Elevated Stations in Colour. - 144 p., 240 colour photos, map, German/English; July 2002, Berlin, ISBN 3-936573-01-8 More info

Verkehrsgeschichtl. Blätter e.V.(ed.): U5. Geschichte(n) aus dem Untergrund. Zwischen 'Alex' und Hönow. - 2003, GVE, ISBN 3-89218-079-2

Susanne Hattig, Reiner Schipporeit: Großstadt-Durchbruch. Pioniere der Berliner U- Bahn. Fotografien um 1900. - 2002, 176p, Jaron Verlag, ISBN 3897730642

Jan Gympel: U-Bahn Berlin. Geschichte(n) für unterwegs. - 256p., b/w, Verlag GVE, April 2002, ISBN 3892180725

Sigurd Hilkenbach, Uwe Poppel: Ein Jahrhundert Berliner U- Bahn in Streckenplänen und Fotos. [A century of Berlin U-Bahn in network maps and photos] - 80 pages, - Jaron Vlg., Berlin, 2002 ISBN 3897730499

Gauglitz, Gerd and Holger Orb: BERLINS S- UND U-BAHNNETZ. EIN GESCHICHTLICHER STRECKENPLAN. - 2001, Edition Gauglitz, ISBN 3-933502-09-8
Similar to London's Diagrammatic History, this huge map shows all opening (and closing) dates of all Berlin transit routes and stations.

Jürgen Meyer-Kronthaler, Klaus Kurpjuweit: Berliner U- Bahn. In Fahrt seit hundert Jahren. - 2001, bebra Verlag, Berlin

Hardy, Brian: THE BERLIN U-BAHN. Capital Transport, 1996. - Well illustrated handbook.

Domke, P. und M. Hoeft: TUNNEL, GRÄBEN, VIADUKTE. - 100 Jahre Baugeschichte der Berliner U-Bahn. - Kulturbild-Verlag, 1998. A good book that illustrates the history of Berlin's underground with lots of color and black and white photographs.

Meyer-Kronthaler, J.: BERLINS U-BAHNHÖFE. - Die ersten 100 Jahre. - be.bra Verlag, 1996. Illustrates the history of all Berlin underground stations in the first 100 years.

Gympel, Jan: U4 - DIE SCHÖNEBERGER U-BAHN - Gesellschaft für Verkehrspolitik und Eisenbahnwesen e.V, 114 pages, Nov. 2000 ISBN: 3892180903

U2. Geschichten aus dem Untergrund. - GVE e. V., 1998

U1. Geschichten aus dem Untergrund. - GVE, 1998

Lemke/Poppel: BERLINER U-BAHN. - 175 p., Alba, Düsseldorf, 1996. Well illustrated survey of the history of the Berlin Subway and Elevated Railway. Black & white and colour photographs.

Gottwaldt, Alfred: DAS BERLINER U- UND S-BAHNNETZ. Eine Geschichte in Streckenplänen. - Argon, Berlin, 1994. Excellent book showing all Berlin Network maps from 1888 until 1990 in full colour.

Papst, Martin: U- und S-Bahn-Fahrzeuge in Deutschland. München: GeraNova, 2000. ISBN 3932785185 German metro and suburban rail rolling stock, 160 pages

Günther Bellmann: Durch Berlin mit der U- Bahn. Wittenbergplatz bis Schönhauser Allee. 2001. bebra , Berlin

Handke, Stephan: BERLIN UND SEINE U-BAHN - 1994

Horst Bosetzky, Uwe Poppel: Tegel, Zurückbleiben bitte! - 135 p., Jaron Vlg., Berlin, 1999, ISBN 3897730006

Andreas Biedl, Norbert Walter: Die Fahrzeuge der Berliner U-Bahn, Typ E - 2001, ISBN 3933254175

VIDEOS

Berliner U-Bahn Linie 1 - Führerstandsmitfahrt: Krumme Lanke - Warschauer Straße
A view from the driver's cabin on U1 (PAL colour system, 50 min)

Great Metros of the World: Berlin and Madrid (PAL colour system)