A FANTASTIC subway network! | Berlin U-Bahn & S-Bahn

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[@RMTransit]

This video is a reupload to fix some technical errors, I have set it so it should not go to your sub box or bother you with notifications, thanks for your understanding! Please see my recent community post for more details.

[@alexandergustafson599]

I swear you had a video on the Stoosbahn, the world's steepest funicular railway. Are you reuploading that too?

[@drdewott9154]

third time's the charm?

[@septiccryp3453]

could you do kuala lumpur metro nex thanks

[@RMTransit]

@@mfaizsyahmi yeah you’re right, the formatting the application I’m using defaults to is incredibly annoying I’ll try to sort that out. End of day either way for this one you’re probably going to have to copy a long string to get the url down, so it’s main role is to exist. That said I would not call it unreadable, looking even on my small phone screen I can get the url down.

[@RMTransit]

@@alexandergustafson599 I’ll probably remake it!

[@nikolausspoerel3835]

The one U-Bahn S-Bahn interchange you missed is the most unusual one: Wuhletal, with S5 and U5 on opposite sides of the same platform, allowing easy change - especially impressive if both trains enter the station exactly at the same time.

[@blueslime4103]

The same thing happened also at Mehringdamm (U6 and U7) or Wannsee (S1 and S7)

[@sophie6878]

@@blueslime4103 those are always the same type, the special thing about wuhletal is S-bahn and U-bahn on the same plattform

[@moba3362]

you missed one important thing! the timetable for s-bahn and u-bahn network of whole berlin is calculated from this station, where both trains arrive the same time!

[@moba3362]

and Lichtenberg is also missing, matching S5 and U5 again... a third time besides Wuhletal and Alexanderplatz

[@nicolasblume1046]

@@moba3362 they meet again a 4th time at Hauptbahnhof 😂 Must be the world record on most connections between two lines

[@berlindude75]

And in case you're wondering why there is no fourth interchange station called "Nordkreuz" (North Cross), that would be Gesundbrunnen station. In fact, the signs there bear the secondary name "Nordkreuz" in smaller font under the official name "Gesundbrunnen". When about 15 years ago they planned to rename the station (along with "Südkreuz" formerly known as "Papestraße"), local residents objected the move and eventually the historical name "Gesundbrunnen" ("Health Fountain") was kept.

[@MarioFanGamer659]

I can imagine two reasons for this: One, strictly speaking, Gesundbrunnen isn't a perpendicular intersection of a trunk line (the north-south-tunnel) and the Ringbahn and instead the north-south trunk approaches the latter with a parallel connection (a side effect is the cross platform transfer at the station), two, all the other crosses are located at the border of two neighbourhoods which often have their own station (i.e. Westkreuz at the border of Charlottenburg, Westend* and Hallensee, Südkreuz between Schöneberg and Tempelhof and Ostkreuz between Friedrichshain* and Rummelsburg), but Gesundbrunnen station is located right in the middle of Gesundbrunnen. *Though strictly speaking, Westend station also borders the neighbourhood while Friedrichshain hasn't got a station named after it and Ostbahnhof is in place of it.

[@berlindude75]

@@MarioFanGamer659 Uh, no. The reason the station is not called "Nordkreuz" (as originally planned by DB S-Bahn Berlin) but still "Gesundbrunnen" is simply because of local residents objecting the name change (as I already wrote above over three months ago). You can still find the local newspaper articles online that reported on this.

[@Balikon]

@@berlindude75 So typical for Germany and Berlin especially: It always has been "Gesundbrunnen", and therefore must be in the future for eternity. They call it tradition, I call it stubbornness.

[@cooltwittertag]

@@Balikonwhy not tho, Gesundbrunnen is a nice name

[@Balikon]

@@cooltwittertag Because naming an important connecting station after it's location on the Ringbahn is a sensible thing to do - like it has been done with Ost-, Süd- and Westkreuz.

[@janik6501]

As someone living in Berlin for a number of years now this was amazing to watch! I really liked the way you just went through the lines and gave a great overview. I learned quite a bit about my own city ;) Something I feel was missing / might be interesting is the BVG itself - the company operating the U-Bahn and also all the trams and busses. To Berlin people they are a bit of a cultural icon as they consistently create hilarious marketing acts where they very self-consciously mock themselves for being late, grubby, yet still an integral and therefore love-hated part of Berlin. One of their past ones were to apply for world heritage. There's all kinds of fun trivia around the BVG, including their patented seat fabric prints, weird merch and much more. I guess no one here would actually say they enjoy taking the public transport but everyone knows quite well how amazing it is in getting you wherever you need no matter the time of day.

[@jeremita0]

same :) learned a lot about my city

[@blueslime4103]

The BVG doesn't match for this video, because the S-Bahn doesn't belong to the BVG, but namely to the DB.

[@larrybrennan9700]

@@blueslime4103 I thought the VBB ran the S-Bahn.

[@Balikon]

@@blueslime4103 Well, the U-Bahn does, and it was topic for half of the video. S-Bahn was run by BVG from the eightees till reunification.

[@Balikon]

@@larrybrennan9700 The VBB is the transit organisation of Berlin and Brandenburg. The VBB does not run any transit, it is coordinating the transit companies and systems. The VBB also arranges fare zones and prices.

[@Bornevalesh]

The designs of the U-Bahn stations might not be fancy compered to international standards, but every U-Bahn station (in the undergound) is in fact unique. Some look similar on the first sight, but there is always something different to all the other stations in the network... f.e. the material, colour or pattern of the wall and design of the interior. The design refers often to the area around the stations or historical events. Great video by the way. :)

[@willaries4182]

Yes, its crazy to just think about that those underground stations already existed, when Hitler was in power. So, in fact, it couldn't be fancier in a historical and sometimes bit odd feeling way. I always liked them much more than modern ones in other international cities, just because of this flair and cause they are not "fake" or sterile. Also, you see a rasfarian dude rolling a huge joint on the one side and a snobby old lady on the other side of the rail, here and then, its hilarious and totally uncompareable. I kinda miss Berlin...

[@gtctv7000]

yeah i was boutta say that.

[@OnkelJajusBahn]

I actually do think they are quite fancy. Especially on lines 3, 7 and 8.

[@blueslime4103]

Some collection of beautiful U-Bahn stations: Heidelberger Platz (U3) Hermannplatz (U7) Rathaus Spandau (U7) Wittenbergplatz (U1,U2,U3,U4) Museumsinsel (U5) Paracelsus-Bad (U8) Rohrdamm (U7) Paulsternstraße (U7) Rathaus Schöneberg (U4) Platz der Luftbrücke (U6) Märkisches Museum (U2) Schlesisches Tor (U1)

[@OnkelJajusBahn]

@@blueslime4103 Very good overview. Thanks. I can recommend everyone visiting Berlin, to also explore the subway a bit.

[@hge437]

Came back from Berlin a few weeks ago. I got off the U-bahn at Bernauer Straße to visit the Berlin Wall Memorial and found out that it is actually one of the ghost stations (stations that were closed during the city's division). There is history everywhere you go. Berlin is such a cool place to explore

[@benjaminwilliams8030]

I love that little exhibit at Bernauer Straße U-Bahnhof, it’s so cool that Berlin has so many wonderful little memorials built into everyday life!!

[@matalata]

This was the first European city I ever visited and had no idea its transit system was this incredible. I credit Berlin for my love of transit now, and as a Los Angeles native, absolutely loathe cars.

[@niji.sateenkaari8835]

oh god I was in LA coming from Germany living in Frankfurt. I was shocked by the transit in comparison to LA's size

[@jevro]

Even with Berlins public transport being so extensive and thought out, at least 9 of 10 connections are still much faster by car.

[@Anson_AKB]

@@jevro you probably only looked at the time to get from one station to another and only outside of rush hour, but ignored all other effects like traffic jams and the time needed to find a spot for parking. one example from personal experience (thus probably not representative) is a route that i took for a decade, and i enjoyed the public transport more than going by car: - 15 minutes with S-Bahn, and max 2-3 minutes wait time (7 lines on the central track, each every 20 minutes, for an average of 20/7=2-3 minutes for any that i could use) - 20 minutes with Tram (two lines every 10 minutes, only different near one of the end stations, thus max 5 minutes wait time) - total time around 35-45 minutes (plus 2*5 minutes for walking from/to those stations), worst case at nighttime _when missing trains_ maybe 60-70 minutes in contrast to car (which costs quite a lot for fixed costs, fuel, parking, etc, and eg €30+ if you take a taxi for this route) - driving time varies between 20 and 70 minutes depending on time of day, and the 20 minutes happened with a taxi on empty roads at night (speed limit in town is 50 kph, thus for 17km should have been at least 20+ minutes with no single red traffic light), while during rush hour it usually took 50 to 60++ minutes - additional time for finding a space to park between 5 and 45(!) minutes, plus parking fees (more than a public transport ticket), or the high costs of a taxi - walking time would be the same as public transport on average, often even more, depending on luck with parking, or additional wait time for the taxi to arrive *summary: depending on time of day, it would be 50 minutes vs 25+ (and cost 30€) in the best case, or 50 minutes vs 70 (and also higher costs) in the worst case.* and when using a car, all that time would be "lost time", while on public transit i could watch several youtube videos like this one :-) or easily take a break to eat something, etc. the only connection that i personally would complain about would be eg the 1.5 km route that i often take, and where decades ago they had replaced one of two car lanes with a bus lane to make it really fast and usable, but recently replaced that bus lane with a bike lane so that now cars *_and_* buses on a shared single lane come to a crawl during rush hour while i am twice as fast when walking.

[@xuedi]

More pleasant surprise to me was the "walk-ability" in Berlin, every road all over the city has a nice pedestrian walk & bike lanes. I don't know anyone here having a car at all ...

[@duderRechthat]

@@jevro bullshit. Metro is just as fast or faster most of the times, and when you need to find parking in the middle of the city it takes you even longer

[@notthedroidsyourelookingfo4026]

You're consistent on it, but it still feels weird to me to hear the S-Bahn referred to as "suburban rail" - given that I almost exclusively take it inside the Ring :D

[@mx338]

I prefer calling it commuter rail.

[@notthedroidsyourelookingfo4026]

@@mx338 isn't commuter rail typically this north-american concept of just a couple trains in the morning and in the evening? No, the S-Bahn in Berlin is a metro with slightly increased stop spacing.

[@micbln8967]

The S un s-bahn means Stadt = for City and not suburban. Suburban rail are RB

[@notthedroidsyourelookingfo4026]

@@micbln8967 it might also be derived from "Schnellbahn", with schnell meaning fast, rapid. In some places it even meant "Stadt-Schnellbahn", and to really complicate things, the Stadtbahn in Hannover is not an S-Bahn ;)

[@manuelbreuer7074]

@@notthedroidsyourelookingfo4026 The "S" may be interpreted in two ways. It stands for "Stadt" (city), which in Germany includes not only the city, but also most suburbs or the metropolitan area, as well als for "schnell" (fast).  The "S-Bahn" (originally operated by the state railway) and "S" brand has to be seen as a direct marketing counterpart to the "U-Bahn" and "U" brand, first created by the Berlin municipal transport authority in the mid 1920s. The Berlin S-Bahn has a typical headway of 10 mins during daytime, 20 mins in off-peak hours and some stretches on the outskirts, with overlapping lines in the city creating a shorter headway.  The RB and RE system is a comprehensive nationwide network connecting small towns in the countryside as well as connecting big cities (in German proportions) like Munich and Nuremberg (appr. 170 km / 110 mi) with several access points all over the line and commercial speeds of up to 200 km/h (125 mph). Regional trains (RB = Regionalbahn - local service calling at every stop, and RE = Regionalexpress - regional express service with fewer stops but line lengths of sometimes 200 or 300 km or even more) cannot be considered as suburban services in Germany due to the settlement structure of Germany. But both services can be considered as "express services" in urbanized areas and are integrated in the local ticketing systems (one common ticket for buses, streetcars/trams, U-Bahn, S-Bahn, RB, RE and even ferries, including changing).  RB trains typically have headways of 60 or 120 mins, in urbanized areas sometimes 30 mins (from early morning to late evening). RE trains have headways of 30 or 60 mins, in urbanized areas sometimes 20 mins.   There is nothing like north american "commuter rail" in Germany. All RB and RE services all over the nation are running on synchronized timetables from early morning to more or less late evening in each direction, many of them about 20h on weekends.  Just one Example: The first RE train in the morning from Frankfurt (Oder)* to Berlin starts on weekdays at 3:43, the last RE train on weekdays from Frankfurt (Oder) to Berlin starts at 23:24. On weekends, the last train starts at 0:24. In the opposite direction, the first train from Berlin Central to Frankfurt (Oder) starts at 4:11, the last train starts at 23:56 on weekdays, but at 02:27 (!) on weekends. Maximum headway is 60 mins, down to 20 mins in peak hours. Almost around the clock on weekends. There are as many as 39 trains per day on weekdays in each direction. * Frankfurt upon Oder is located 100 km (70 mi) east of Berlin at the border to Poland, appr. 60,000 inhabitants, and is not to be confused with Frankfurt upon Main, which may be well known to foreign visitors due to its biggest airport in Germany and its US Army facilities. Obviously, these services are not aimed just to commuters - they are useful for everyone all over the day and for example are making it possible for people from a large area around Berlin to enjoy cultural events and nightlife in Berlin without the need of driving a car. And you can start your trip with local trams and buses in Frankfurt (Oder) - yes, Frankfurt (Oder) with its "only" 60,000 inhabitants also has a tram system of its own with several lines - and countless other locations all around Berlin, and continue your trip in Berlin with S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams or buses, all with the same ticket. It's a complete "no-brainer". It's not "commuter rail", it's an integrated system useful for any purpose and at (almost) any time, that completely merges into everyday life.  "Fun fact": Very many of the tram lines in Berlin provide real 24/7 service with only 30 mins headway during nighttime, one line with only 15 mins headway all night on weekends (M 10). I just used that one this night before writing this comment. Just walk out to the next stop and board without ever considering timetables. This is so good. Headway during daytime may even be as short as 3 mins. Just walk out and go (and never run for a tram ;)

[@itzalphaslime2053]

Even as a native Berliner who was born here, its still pretty Interesting how the Transport Network is designed but also how other people who don't live here see the Network. Nice Video

[@thedavidj1996]

I was in Berlin at the end of May 2022 and we rode the tram, S-Bahn, and U-Bahn system everyday and let me tell you it is so easy to navigate.

[@gerardvermaat6944]

Havent seen this video, but just on my way home from Berlin by train to Rotterdam and public transport in Berlin is fantastic! Currently its possible to pay 9,- for a month to use all public transport.

[@marcusrosenberg9088]

Hey, just a small thing: Whenever you know that you will be back in Berlin, in between May and October - try to get a tour of abandoned train stations in Berlin. You will see it is much larger than you expected. and as some sort of trainnerd, you would love it. They are suitable for English speakers as well.

[@bi0530]

Hey, if you come back to Berlin, try to join one of the underground tours they do in open carriage trains on part of the subway network. Its a great experience for public transit nerds like you (and me). 😀

[@RMTransit]

I will need to next time I am in town!

[@benjamindally2397]

Of course you can say that East Germany didn’t have enough money for tunnelling. On the other hand, they were not needed as the surface tracks of nowadays line 5 were integrated into the urban design process. The housing complexes of eastern Berlin therefore are an example of Transit Oriented Development. You can of course find that in other cities as well, e.g. Stockholm (Kista, …), Nürnberg (Langwasser) …

[@mx338]

Also it wasn't like west-Berlin was much richer, parts of the U2 and other lines in west-Berlin were built on bridges through dense areas, as the districts couldn't afford a tunnel back then. To the credit of the east-Berlin administration the U5 only surfaces in areas that really aren't dense and all, where a tunnel would even be a waste. I would even say the east-German government integrated transit better in general, as they planned every aspect of many districts.

[@cehaem2]

@@mx338 Large parts of the Western U-Bahn system doesn't even run through tunnels. They are literally in a ditch covered by concrete.

[@xfel5913]

@@mx338 The U2 was built before WW2, so the east/west argument doesn’t apply there.

[@micbln8967]

@@mx338 it was not for the money, u2 is the oldest, built at a time they were thinking tunnels would not ne possible to work in the sandy grounds

[@manuelbreuer7074]

@@xfel5913 In fact, all lines of the "narrow" system (U1 - U4) have been constructed way before WW 1, except for very few extensions. Also construction of the first stretches of today's "wide system" U6 and U8 had been started about the beginning of WW 1 and then have been completed in the 1920s. The first stretch of U5 and todays interchange station Alexanderplatz (U2, U5 and U8) were built in the late 1920s.

[@Sceduush]

I was stunned by your pronouncation of the plattforms connecting U-Bahn and S-Bahn...very very good!

[@xuedi]

Waking up on S7 after falling asleep post party night, can be very scary, you are suddenly in the middle of nowhere ^_^

[@zugiii1086]

Since the timetable change at the 10th of December 2023, The S Bahn lines S26 and S85 have switched the northern parts of their lines. When the lines meet at Bornholmer Straße, S26 now goes to Pankow and S85 goes to Waidmannslust. Before that, it was the other way around.

[@mozismobile]

Mor Trainz! It does kind of seem as though Berlin is a rail network that people happen to live in. Build it and they will come? But that's a lot better than the usual "cities are for cars, people get in the way" approach in many other countries.

[@mikeblatzheim2797]

Well, part of the reason why the network is so extensive is that up until the 2nd World War, the city had a population similar to Paris and London at the time with over 5 million. It's likely Berlin would be a similar size to those two cities today if not for the War and Cold War, at which point such a rail network would have been desperately needed.

[@Adam-oe4id]

They actual build them while they are coming.. some lines are newly opend and some are extended.

[@Anson_AKB]

Everything is also related to the historic train connections 100++ years ago, where "real" trains (in those old times only or mostly steam) from all directions came to some big terminus stations near berlin, similar to a star without its center. all those stations around the city needed some connection to be able to continue traveling in some of the other directions and to the center, which later was provided by the S-bahn (eg the ring, and the east-west track right through where now the entire city is), together with "commuter trains" to towns and villages more than 25-50 km away in all directions (also S-bahn, and at first also steam powered). Another part is the history where Berlin was only one much smaller town (with the brandenburg gate as the town's border) with lots of separate villages and small towns around it in a radius of around 20-25 km (eg Charlottenburg which had its own town gate towards berlin, ~1 km west of the brandenburg gate, and with the kings hunting grounds between them which caused the name Tiergarten for that area which is not a zoo), and thus many of those towns already quite early (before the age of cars) had at least some connections or train lines or even subway connections in and from/to Berlin (first U-bahn through Berlin and to Charlottenburg in 1904!). and when all those towns and villages were joined with Berlin in 1920 to achieve the large city that it is now, lots of the base for those public transport systems was already done or at least planned. there were also lots of tram lines, but in the western part they were completely dismantled in the 60s and replaced by bigger roads and buses. only now are they once again finding the usefulness of public transport on separate tracks which are difficult to build and integrate now in such a large innercity area.

[@Anson_AKB]

with those details, mozismobile got it a bit right, but with a wrong timescale. this base of public transport was done before people started having cars, and they lived in separate villages (you can still see dozens of historic town centers in the current town) that were connected by or located at train lines. the appatment house and the entire street where i live was built in 1895/96, and even until last year our street lights were powered with gas. it was only decades later that we started getting more motor cars, and only in 1920 they suddenly all lived in the same large city of Berlin, thus turning existing trains into innercity transport.

[@Finnspin_unicycles]

While you can get around very well with trains, that doesn't mean the "cities are for cars, people get in the way" approach wasn't used at a lot of points in the city development as well.. Unlike american cities, you can get around just as well (or sometimes even better) without a car, but it's not the low traffic, pedestrian and bike friendly paradise a lot of people imagine good rail networks to yield.

[@_de_reve]

As a Berliner i really liked your overview. The BVG is an iconic company and has weird but also genius ideas and weven its own little magazine that is interesting to pick up. Since I lve inside the ring i just use the U-Bahn to get to work etc. and I am relieved that i know that our subway system will always bring me back home (not like other places i have been side eyes at Seoul tbh). This system is reliable and you don't need a car, which i love.

[@trumpsupporter7772]

The U% is not disconnected from the rest of the network. There is the single track "Waise' Tunnel which starts from just north of Heinrich Heine Strasse to just west of Alexander Platz, This was built as part of the original plans for the current U8 and has never been in passenger service. The U2 was built in this curving way through the centre between Potsdammer Platz and Alexander Platz because competition objections were raised by the preexisting tram companies who had a more direct route between these two locations.

[@CptFives]

The Waisentunnel is closed right now and will be restored in a few years but the U2 (Klosterstr) is also connected with the U5 (Alexanderplatz) and is still passable for trains. Most time this track will be used from work trains. The U2 has 2 connected tunnels where u can get from Kleinprofil (U2) to Großprofil (U5 and 7). The other passable track is between Richard Wagner Platz (U7) to Deutsche Oper (U2)

[@emil-245]

The door closing sound for warning is an essential point for rating the models. Unfortunately that sound is very annoying in the new brought in train models and the older ones are way more enjoyable.

[@Kgh-]

The U5 now expands to go to Hauptbahnhof (which is much appreciated)

[@sanluxi]

The Berlin metro is very interesting and versatile, I loved it! It is also very complete, allowing anyone to go to any part of the Capital. Congratulations from Brazil!

[@Schlumpftibumfti]

The most remarkable fun fact, shortly mentioned in the video: Some of the old East Berlin U-Bahns are running in North Korea... Grown up in East Berlin, I have been visiting Pyeongyang and using the trains I have probably already used years ago on the other sied of the world :D

[@BLACKSTA361]

@@arino253 wow interesant

[@karowolkenschaufler7659]

I've been living in berlin for a couple of years now... and you get used to how good it is really quickly and then only see the tings that don't work and wish for a second "Ring" on the boarder between zone B and C just like the one on the boarder between zone A and B. and then you visit family and old friends in the place you fled from to live in berlin and experiance the public transport you grew up with... and yep, when you return to berlin you are really glad.

[@MarekMichalakMusic]

Great video! Stayed in Berlin last autumn for 10 days and found the entire system very easy and convenient to use. Ticket barrier free public transport is a feature pretty much across all German cities and regions, not just Berlin.

[@moba3362]

15:10 this is not for preventing graffitis, but prevent scratchings! i can remember times where it was really rare to find a non-scratched window in s-bahn or u-bahn! 15:15 fun fact: narrow and wide trains have same track size. currently narrow trains are driving on wide train tracks, caused by a lack of wide trains

[@emjayay]

Other cities like NYC put the clear adhesive sheets on the windows to prevent scratching without the annoying Brandenburg gate drawings all over them that compromise the views out. They could at least cut down the number of gates buy about 75%.

[@MoLauer]

I'd love to see a video about Hamburgs U-Bahn and S-Bahn :)

[@marcelwiszowaty1751]

IIRC the Hamburg system is the second oldest in Germany and you should note that it is known officially as the "Hochbahn" (high-level railway) because a high proportion of it is above ground or elevated. Indeed the central Landungsbrücke station gives good views of the ocean liner docking areas. Originally the rolling stock bore a large similarity to that of the Berlin system but now they are very different in design.

[@fjellyo3261]

Me too

[@nikibenji3220]

As someone who lives in Berlin it’s Amazing to see my local s- and I U-Bahn Station depicted in this video

[@Jonkatonka]

I love your videos, as I'm a public transport geek. And I love this one even more, as I've lived in Berlin all my life. A few small additions to your great content: 1. At 10:01 you stopped the green S2 line too early, it actually terminates further south at Blankenfelde. 2. You should add Gesundbrunnen on your list of major S-Bahn interchanges at 13:04 as well as Wuhletal, Spandau, Rathaus Steglitz and Wittenau on your list of major interchange points between S-Bahn and U-Bahn at 13:39. 3. Finally, the new S-Bahn tunnel track between Hauptbahnhof and the northern Ringbahn not only connects to Westhafen (as shown at 14:17) but also branches east to reach Wedding station. Hope these pointers help you in some way. Keep creating great videos!

[@blueslime4103]

Valid points. 👍 Maybe, I would add Yorckstraße, but it isn't not so crowded as compared to Gesundbrunnen or Rathaus Steglitz.

[@almerindaromeira8352]

You always speak about Berlin, but never make reference of the other systems in Germany. Hamburg U/S-Bahn network might not be bigger, but it is nevertheless interesting. The fast bus network (not a BRT) is also a strange alternative to trams (which were removed in the 70s)

[@RMTransit]

I’ve referenced a few systems haha!

[@deokletian96]

@@RMTransit Awsome video of the Berlin system! If you are going to do a munich publik transport overwiev, consider contacting me on the way. Greetings from a Munich S-Bahn driver, and transport enthusiast.

[@nathanieldaiken1064]

What about Munich's U-bahn?

[@blueslime4103]

A note: A main point for the extension for the north south tunnel which you didn't mention is the intersection with the north-south line S1 with the line U1, (U2,) U3 at Gleisdreieck.

[@LevelD1985]

spectacular view when you enter Hauptbahnhof from the north over huge bridges

[@MasterLeven11]

U Bahn belongs to BVG, the public transport company of berlin. Meanwhile S Bahn is technically a branch of Deutsche Bahn. Yet any S Bahn ticket is valid all over BVG and vice versa Also the new class 483 is luxrius compared to the older sbahns, but man the beeping whenever doors open or close is so unusual that is somewhat annoying :D

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

All public transport tickets in Berlin work the same way by a directive from the city government. Note: Tour buses are not considered public transit. Long distance trains (ICE) are also excluded. Therefore you can also use any U-bahn or S-bahn ticket on regional trains (RE and RB). There are also a small number of ferries that tickets are supposedly valid on. Recently the east-west Stadtbahn was blocked between Alexanderplatz and Ostbahnhof, but you could take any RE to cross this gap, as they stop at both stations, if you didn't want to use the replacement bus.

I really look forward to the tram part!

[@Arschkeks23]

I love the U6 line.

[@Bellasie1]

Berlin transport is one of the city's assets. No, it's not "a lot bigger than it probably needs to be". Just because it's not overcrowded (unlike in other major cities around the world) doesn't mean it's too big for the size of the city or population. The overground U-Bahn stations are usually the oldest in the network, and in the center, not the suburbs.

[@thebackyard7661]

berlin has so many disused/abandoned rail corridors, its truly fascinating with the history behind them. its a great city but it does act like a wet sponge in an otherwise desolate eastern germany...

[@arctix4518]

Desolate is definitely wrong. Cities like Dresden, Leipzig, Jena, Potsdam are booming and other cities like Chemnitz, Rostock,, Halle, Magdeburg, Erfurt or Schwerin are growing in a slow but healthy way after a long period of decline and consolidation. Sure the rural areas in East Germany are lacking behind and poor compared to standards especially in southern germany, but in Brandenburg for example the boom of Berlin's economy is now also having an impact on rural areas in small towns. Leipzig is a logistical center in Europe, Dresden a new hightech hub in Germany and besides that the chip production powerhouse of Europe.

[@JoelVChan]

Excellente vidéo! A documentaire de haute qualité.

[@eastbrecht]

The old A3 models were great. You could easily open the doors while the train was moving.

[@somerandomdude3810]

As a local I can also give evryone open to read this comment some facts. The first one is that during Rush-Hour Ther are 4 car BR Class 481/82 train sets running in a 20 Minute schedule between Zelendorf and Potsdamer Platz to increase capacity. The second one is that there are Express services on the S3. And the third one is that the BR Class 481/82 train sets are being modernised with the same paint sheme and interior design as on the Class 483/484 sets. There are a lot more but i think three are good enough for now.

[@Brera011]

Very helpfull video for my trip to Berlin next year. I've been in Berlin only once, in 1990 at the Roger Waters The Wall concert at Potzdammerplatz. Then we toured Berlin mostly on foot and dobledecker busses.

[@geraldwagner8739]

Meanwhile there are only a few double decker busses left. Bendy busses are now the standard busses in Berlin.

[@faisalbinmohammed3670]

Hi! I've been binge-watching this channel all week-- amazing stuff! For a fun video, I was wondering if you might look at the different 'Smart Cards' used by transit systems around the world. Many have a fun history behind them, like MBTA's Charlie Card referencing a popular Boston song. It would be cool to trace how systems went from using coin tokens, to magnetic strips, to contactless cards

[@derHutschi]

afaik the BVG (the company that's handling Tram, Bus and Subway services (S-Bahn is handled by Deutsche Bahn)) is trying to implement a system like Oyster Card(the thing in London I think?) with the caveat (Germany) that the amount of costs get taken from your debit account at the end of the month

[@FUZxxl]

@@derHutschi They have that but nobody uses it. People don't see the point in this sort of system when you can just pay for a monthly pass with predictable cost and no need to check in and out all over the place.

[@derHutschi]

@@FUZxxl I agree but since April 2020 I've been cycling to work (except when it's in for inspection) so this would be a gould solution for that but in Germany (especiallly in Berlin) things always got adapted later ;-) so this would be good way for some who only need public transport in some cases

[@JiisuriG3]

Well-researched video. Good job! I do however have a little addition on the S-Bahn trains. BR 481/482 usually feature two interconnected cars (Viertelzug) which have to be connected to another set to be able to run due to only one cab per "Viertelzug", thus becoming a four-car "Halbzug". However, there are three prototype trains from 2002 still in service which have four interconnected cars with a cab on each end making them their own independent "Halbzug". Those sets are: Set1 (481 501 + 482 501 + 482 601 + 481 601) Set 2 (481 502 + 482 502 + 482 602 + 481 602) Set 3 (481 503 + 482 503 + 482 603 + 481 603) Set 1 and 2 received a special livery in 2014 celebrating 90 years of electric S-Bahn in Berlin. They still wear this livery to today. As for BR 483/484 it's a bit similar. BR 483 trains are two-car interconnected "Viertelzug" trains with a cab on each end. BR 484 trains are four-car interconnected "Halbzug" trains, again with a cab on each end. Also one of the reasons the U-Bahn's signalling is quite primitive is because the U-Bahn is not classified as a railway. It operates under law regulation BOStrab which is also used for trams and not the EBO which is the railway law regulation and MUCH stricter than BOStrab. Kind regards from Berlin~

[@emjayay]

I have a BVG mug with the U Bahn network (London schematic style) on it I bought in the store at the Zoo station I found at random one day - it's in a random location down some underground hallway, not with other stores. I think it was only a few Euros. Still there along with a couple others but no online shopping.

[@thenumber1]

This is great! Can you do the Munich network?!

[@maximanuelotuffatz1341]

the S-Bahn Berlin has the most beautiful (S-Bahn) trains.

[@cehaem2]

Domäne Dahlem mentoned at 2:45 is more of a museum/educational facility and of course it's not served by the train stop exclusively. It's still a suburb of Berlin (although a rather wealthy one) plus FU has a few facilities there

[@jam1960us]

Good job on the pronunciation Reese. Greetings from Berlin

[@christopheder7751]

Are you planning a video about the Transit system in Hamburg anytime soon? Thanks for all the great content, frequent bingewatcher here 😊

[@sebspinel]

You should do one on Munich's transit system! I also find it impressive.

[@oPlazmaMC]

I live in Berlin. Our system sucks. Here is why: The S-Bahn thinks a 20 minute frequency is enough. Both S-Bahn and U-Bahn have a lot of maintence where no train service exists. The S-Bahn strikes every second day, literally STOPPING all of the service

[@vomm]

I always find it so funny when you hear the fairy tale again, like in this video, that the Berlin network actually has too much capacity. And then you stand squeezed in a commuter train like in a sardine can and fight for every oxygen atom. The Berlin network is a disaster, trains are constantly failing, it's overcrowded, and when the trains do run, they often creep because of train traffic jams because something is going on again. At least 50% of all journeys have some kind of problems and you can be happy if you arrive at all, and if so, then only thanks to redundancy, because you can usually switch to another system when something fails again. Anyway, I always plan an extra 15-30 minutes when I have an appointment, because of the certainty that problems will arise again.

[@oPlazmaMC]

@@vomm well, right now nothing goes

[@jonson856]

2 years ago I got myself the driver‘s license, so I could drive a car… just to finally experience the frustration of finding a parking spot. This made me question again why I got myself the driver’s license in the first place, since I live in Berlin…..

[@brainsolution1690]

I'd love to see a Cologne Transport breakdown, I'd say it's a very interesting system. I could provide footage as well.

[@Supermatsch]

Why do you find the Cologne Transport system interesting? I live in Cologne and think it's ok but is far behind the systems of Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. Cologne doesn't have a real underground system, it's just light rail with streetcars that are also going underground. But no line is independent from the streets what makes it so prone to failure.

[@user-wx2cn4oe7y]

U8 has become a meme in Berlin as it has all the crazy people on it!! Heheheh

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

It's well-known as the party train.

[@petrfedor1851]

i wonder if we ever get some video on Prague. It´s tram network would definitly deserve some and maybe one for metro with city regional trains?

[@boahneelassmal]

I'm sorry, but S1 is pink not green :'D nicknames of S-Bahn trains; 480 = toaster (it went up in flames twice running in the north south tunnel after which it was not being used there anymore, also those slits in the top.) 485 = Cola Dose (Coke Can; they used to be bright red) 481/482 = Taucherbrille (diving goggles, due to the very large window in the front that looks like a pair of, well diving goggles) 483 = rasendes iPad (speeding / racing iPad, S-Bahn CEO mentioned this name due to that very flat and clean face)

[@MarioFanGamer659]

The 480s are still used, though they should be gone in the next year.

[@boahneelassmal]

@@MarioFanGamer659 yes, they are being used. Never denied that. After the fires in the tunnels they haven't been used in the North south axis anymore

[@MarioFanGamer659]

@@boahneelassmal Ah, right, I misread your message then. :D

[@MatzeOnTrack]

One side note. Most of the S-Bahn lines coming from the suburbs and 'ending' on the Ringbahn stations (i.e. S46 at Westend) do not actually end there. These trains change their name an continue as Ringbahn. That means if you need to continue your ride on the ringbahn you often don't need to change the train. On the other Hand all S41and S42 changes after one round at a certain point their names and leave the ring to a suburb. This migth be confusing for tourists but is very useful for comuting.

[@kupferdrachevideosfurdich8733]

There are some news you could not have mentioned. The U-Bahn gets a new series of Trains the 'J' and 'JK' series starting delivery now up to 2024. Similar to the I-series but with some newer features. Source: BVG PLUS 06/2022 Page 4.

[@FR13DRICH]

Respect for the almost correct pronunciation of the stop names =]

[@carljo002]

NIce!! Maybe you could d a video about all the big terminating atations that once existed in Berlin.

[@Gensys0]

Just a week ago all S-Bahn service towards the city center got cancelled for a period of time because of a political state visit. After the initial shock I realized how many other options there were towards my destination. I was only a few minutes late for my appointment lol. The interconnectedness in Berlin is great.

[@seth_deegan]

Berlin is SO GOOD.

[@riga-fl4gc]

Will you ever cover the Milan public transport system?

[@Botan2908]

Would’ve nice to see our Tram too. It was used in east Berlin more often but perfectly extends the S and U Bahn network

[@MrJosch700]

A bit late to the party lol. But as someone living in Berlin I would say the extension of U7 mor into Schönefeld or maybe even BER would make a ton of sense. That are is littered with buses yes but considering the size of Schönefeld and the fact it's growing, an extension would be great. It takes a while to either reach the end of U7 with a bus or reach one of the S-Bahn stops.

[@Demokrat11]

There is no 24hour service of the S-Bahn or U-Bahn most stop around midnight only during weekends (Friday night and saturday night to be specific) they run through the night on a slow schedule (1 train about every 30 mins)

[@garygreant6223]

Ottawa has basically built a system similar to a s bahn network.

[@mikeblatzheim2797]

If you'd like to experience the S25 route, there is a DLC of it for Train Simulator classic. I can only recommend it, it's incredibly detailed, challenging to drive and gives you a good idea of the scale of the S-Bahn network.

[@s6scha]

i went on that line every single day almost to the end, lots of trees and small stations

[@kaipeter4409]

Wait, thats exactly my foto! 😱😂

[@arctix4518]

Fun fact: There is a very interesting history behind the shortness of U4. The U4, as is it known today, was opened in 1910 and titled as "The second underground railway system in Germany". So you might think "Well ok, the first was obviously U1 and because they haven't been connected until 1914, they called it the second U-Bahn system... but why in Germany? Both were built in Berlin, weren't they?" And here comes the plottwist... No! U4 connects neighborhoods in the district of Schöneberg. But until 1920 Schöneberg was an independent city and in addition to that very wealthy. So they built the "Schöneberger Undergrundbahn" completely themselves with 5 stations and opened it after two years in 1910. 4 years later the line merged with the three lines in Berlin into one big system. U4 is definitely something special because of its 4 years as an independent U-Bahn system :D

[@Demokrat11]

you forgot one important thing: one can ride trains that are meant for travel between cities with the same local transport ticket as long as one does not leave the area. these regional trains have different routes than the s bahn and usually only a few stops within berlin. so if you go from/to the BER airport, noone knowledgeable would use the S bahn, when you can use the Regional train. those drive a lot faster, have less stops and different track (sometimes shorter/underground routes). so instead of travelling 2-2.5h, one travels 1-1.5h

[@Adidas_der_schwanger_war]

very informative for me, even though I live in berlin, but I only drive car

[@Adam-oe4id]

You forgot north cross.. its known as gesundbrunnen. Buts its offical name is nord cross. And has regional trains.. s bahn .. u bahns and euro city trains. Also there is to each cross a secondary station like ostkreuz has Ostbahnhof.. its smaller but also connects different lines before you get to the cross

[@mr.meadow2135]

A little side note: the class 481 come in 2 car interconnected sets and can be paired up to 4-, 6- or 8 car trains

[@Bright2Shine]

Could you make a Transit Explained for Hamburg 😁

[@johnrassenfoss6079]

I still weep for the demise of Rostkreuz, so much charm packed in such a small place. I miss living off the Ring at Sonnenallee. Great video!

[@FruitingPlanet]

same with god ol Warschauer bevor the redid it, it had the appropriate charm for the area lol

[@Yasminh-]

Ostkreuz I guess lol Rost means rusty, so it would be something like a rusted holy kind of cross instead of "east transit" ~ : D

[@MW-mg3qf]

Ich bin froh, das dieses alte Scheißding weg ist, und einem modernen und sehr viel bessern Bahnhof gewichen ist. Viel funktonaler, besser verbunden mit anderen Stadtnahen Zentren ( RE und RB - Bahnen ) und sieht auch noch besser aus als dieses alte bröckelnde Ostkreuz. Derzeit wird auch noch an einer besseren Anbindung an die Straßenbahn gearbeitet. Also heul' leise.

[@christiank1251]

@@Yasminh- Spot on, that's just as intended. Happens when relics from the Kaiser's days are put to the treatment of 40 years of socialism. Like when Berlin was divided into Restberlin and Rostberlin (read: West and Ost).

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

At 16:17 you have a picture of a train on the U12 line, but you never even mentioned the line! U12 is a combination line using the west end of U2 and east end of U1, which is sometimes run during big stadium events because the U2 serves the stadium.

[@WORLD8NSH5KNIGHT1]

I am British. Just returned from 3 days in Berlin (Dec 2023) I was impressed by how frequent the trains are and the comprehensive size of the system I would caution though that the ticket machines don't accept notes - only coins or card so I had to break notes to make change for them Also, bear in mind tickets need to be validated - ie stamped in machines next to the ticket machine In the UK, when you buy the ticket it is valid but on the continent (I think the Netherlands is the same) it isn't valid until it is stamped by this machine - important to know. They are very easy to use though - just a case of slipping the ticket in the slot and it is done One more thing - Berlin's new airport (opened 2020) is not connected to the U-Bahn or S-Bahn directly so to get from there to the city you need to take the Deutsch Bahn

[@tommybest1978]

Two S-Bahn lines go directly to BER - S9 and S45.

[@flaviapunktexe6924]

Ein hoch auf die BVG. Weil wir dich lieben!😉

[@connorkenway6845]

Lichterfelde Süd, as well as Teltow both have dual Tracks.

[@larrybrennan9700]

I spent two months in Berlin and fell in love with the system. I lived near the U8 Weinmeisterstrasse station also the Hackescher Markt S-Bahn station. The Hackescher Markt station is an architectural delight (shown a couple of times in the video) and it's a miracle the East Germans didn't blow it up. I used the S-Bahn a lot more often because the East-West alignment goes to more places that are interesting to foreigners. I also had the chance to visit the Potsdamer Platz station while the new tunnel section was being built. There were giant concourses leading to new exits, with public art, and you could look down to the as yet unused platforms. I understand that the entrances to the Friedrichstrasse station that were in the middle of the street are no longer in use, which is sad because they were charming.

[@randuru]

Pre-war name of Hackescher Markt station was Bahnhof Börse - Stock Exchange Station because the then main german stock exchange building was located there. This probably gives you an explanation why this station was build in such a rich and beautiful way.

[@wanderschlosser1857]

Why would the East Germans have blown it up. It's a useful structure, no matter how it looks. In fact they renovated it in the 80's when it was called Marx-Engels-Platz.

[@Crustenscharbap]

The class 481 is also called swimming goggles. I think I don't have to explain why. The S-Bahn in Berlin stands for city-train = Stadtbahn. The S-Bahn in other cities stands for speed-train = Schnellbahn. Its exactly the same but you can not use it with a short trip ticket. In Berlin you can. And you can use 5 tram station instead of 3 like in other German cities with a short-trip. Also the ticket zones in other cities are really really complicted. My network has 209 zones and sometimes the zones can be devided. It matters where you start and stop your journey. It also depends wich train you take for the same destination. If you have bad luck 5 S-Bahn-station can cost you 13€.

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

This is why I don't hope for electronic tickets in Berlin. They will make the pricing so much more complicated. Right now you pay one price for a short trip, and a bigger price for any trip within the city that is not short, and a bigger price for a trip outside the city. This is extremely simple to understand - as long as you don't also need a bicycle ticket.

[@Crustenscharbap]

@@thewhitefalcon8539 Dont worry. This wont happen. If this will be planned many Berliners will be demonstrating. The goal from the German Gov is to reduce CO2 and less driving. Maybe in NRW they plan to manke 1 zone

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

@@Crustenscharbap Berlin is run by the conservative party

[@SiqueScarface]

18:00 This is slightly incorrect. The oldest still running model on the Berlin S-Bahn is the 485, introduced as Baureihe 270 by Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) in 1980. The 485 was introduced in 1986 by Berliner Verkehrsgesellschaft (BVG), which operated the Western part of the Berlin S-Bahn since 1984.

[@andrewhazelwood8604]

It looks like the Berlin U-bahn doesn't need much extra capacity, so I think they should build the Tegel extension and redevelop the old airport there and have a congestion charge to pay for a reduction in fares.

[@mx338]

U5 does not run above ground because of budgetary constrains. But because the area U5 runs through was centrally planned and only developed by the East-German government, so there was just no necessity for the rail to be run underground.

[@AironExTv]

Not bad. Always something to learn about your backyard rail. Living in easy walking distance to U/S-Bahn stations is highly desirable here in Berlin. Parts of my family live in the far north of the city. It's 40 minutes of book reading away for a journy that would take about 30 minutes of fast highway travel with the car, if it all goes smoothly. If you're taking the "Regional Bahn", the regional express trains, you're a lot faster too. In and out of the city centre to the edge in less than 20 minutes. The 49 Euro Germany-wide ticket, and the local 29 Euro variant for in-the-city travel makes it even more affordable, though folks who are out of work get it a lot cheaper still. Very decent mobility, and the tram system, which West Berlin dismantled by 1968, is even better than any bus imho. At least one extension of the M10 now runs in to the western part of the city again. They're sure to build more of those.

[@mariansiegel6570]

The printing on the windows are not against graffiti. The foil is on the inside, to protect the windows against scratches

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

I would have to stop my BVG subscription if they started seriously being against graffiti! Graffiti is an iconic part of Berlin. You can see how much Deutsche Bahn hates fun when you sometimes see an unusually artistic S-bahn train, and paper notices taped to it, saying there will be a reward for information leading to the arrest of whoever drew the decoration.

[@christbaumer]

19:09 The logos are only standardized within Germany. Austria uses a completely different S(chnell)bahn logo-nowadays azure with a slightly radiused letter-and an equally colored & encircled U-Bahn logo; the S-Bahn Salzburg-serving both Salzburg & southern Bavaria-uses an intermediate variant (azure background, but swung letter). Switzerland does not have common S-Bahn brand and the only U-Bahn is called Metro (francophone). 8:14 By the way: Analogous to most other German words containing “st” (within the same syllable), Stadtbahn is pronounced “SHTAHT-baan” (not “STAHT-baan”-English respelling); same with e.g. 13:37 Hermannstraße being “HER-mahn-shtra-ze” (not “HUR-mahn-stra-ze”).

[@klauszeuge7923]

At 1:29, notice the famous "Dog Head".

[@rogercasoliva1571]

Please, can you make a BARCELONA metro explained, sadly I can’t send you pictures or information by tweeter, but I would appreciate your channel doing this sistem Thank you!!🙏🏼

[@leon8908]

Please do a Video about Nuremberg 🙏🏼😄

[@BloxikGames]

Could you please make a video on Budapest metro and or trams?

[@johnanders2739]

When do you do Berlin trams?

[@lucabennert1100]

You forgot to mention the incredible amount of people talking to themselves you encounter on the U-Bahn

[@ickeausberlin36]

As far as I know U55 has always been planned as an extension for U5. It has been a joke of a line until the connection was made. I never used it as it made absolutely no sense unless you are a tourist or a politician maybe. I also wanted to add that the trains on the ring lines 41/42 do not operate there all day but rather continue as other 4* lines leaving the ring and returning some time later. Thus it is not possible to ride the ring all day long without changing trains. The 483 is my least favourite model. The warning sounds when the door is opening or closing are extremly annoying and the doors close after a few seconds. So if you are entering a train at the start of the line you can listen to a lot of noise before the train finally leaves the station.

[@arsalansiddiqi8968]

very nice video

[@Patrick-on2ty]

der Pilzkopf fehlt... Gesundbrunnen, Bornholmer, Schönhauser ! aber 👍👍👍

[@nathanieldaiken1064]

Do one on Munich's U-bahn!

[@oskarsrode2167]

Do you have a link to the video about the division?