The Berlin S-Bahn () is a hybrid rapid transit and suburban rail system in Berlin. The modern incarnation of the system opened in December 1930, succeeding the special fare area ('Berlin city, orbital, and suburban railways'). It complements the Berlin U-Bahn and is the primary transport link to many suburban areas, such as Berlin Brandenburg Airport. As such, the Berlin S-Bahn blends elements of a commuter rail service and a rapid transit system; in doing so, it lends its name to the pan-European family of S-Bahn urban transit systems.
In its first decades of operation, the trains were steam-drawn; even after the electrification of large parts of the network, some lines remained under steam. Today, the term S-Bahn is used in Berlin only for those lines and trains with third-rail electrical power transmission and the special Berlin S-Bahn loading gauge. The third unique technical feature of the Berlin S-Bahn, the automated mechanical train control (works very similar to the train stop at New York City Subway), is being phased out and replaced by a communications-based train control system specific to the Berlin S-Bahn.
Today, the Berlin S-Bahn is no longer defined as this special tariff area of the national railway company, but is instead just one specific means of transportation, defined by its special technical characteristics, in an area-wide tariff administered by a public transport authority. The Berlin S-Bahn is now an integral part of the , the regional tariff zone for all kinds of public transit in and around Berlin and the federal state () of Brandenburg.
Introduction The brand name S-Bahn chosen in 1930 mirrored U-Bahn, which had become the official brand name for the Berlin city-owned rapid transit lines begun under the name of ('Berlin elevated and underground lines'), where the word of mouth had abbreviated to , in parallel to formed from ('undersea boat' – submarine). Ironically, S-Bahn's S is not easy to name, it may stand for ('rapid rail') or ('urban rail'; not to be confused with the , a railway viaduct through central Berlin on which some Berlin S-Bahn lines run, or , the German term for light rail).
Services on the Berlin S-Bahn have been provided by the Prussian or German national railway company of the respective time, which means the after the First World War, the state-owned East German (in both East and West Berlin) until 1993 (except West Berlin from 1984 to 1994, the BVG period) and after its incorporation in 1994.
The Berlin S-Bahn consists today of 16 lines serving 166 stations, and runs over a total route length of . The S-Bahn carried 478.1 million passengers in 2018. It is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system. Unlike the U-Bahn, the S-Bahn crosses Berlin city limits into the surrounding state of Brandenburg, e.g. to Potsdam.
Although the S- and U-Bahn are part of a unified fare system, they have different operators. The S-Bahn is operated by , a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, whereas the U-Bahn is run by Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), the main public transit company for the city of Berlin.
Operation
Network
The S-Bahn routes all feed into one of three core lines: a central, elevated east–west line (the ), a central, mostly underground north–south line (the ), and a circular line (the ). Outside the , suburban routes radiate in all directions.
Lines S1, S2, S25, and S26 are north–south lines that use the north–south tunnel as their midsection. They were equally distributed into Oranienburg, Bernau, and Hennigsdorf in the north, and Teltow Stadt, Lichtenrade, and Wannsee.
Lines S3, S5, S7, S9, and S75 are east–west lines using the cross-city railway. The western termini are located at Potsdam and Spandau, although the S5 only runs as far as Westkreuz and the S75 to . The eastern termini are Erkner, Strausberg Nord, Ahrensfelde, and Wartenberg. The S9 uses a connector curve () at to switch from the to the south-eastern leg of the . Another curve, the to the north-eastern , was originally served by the S86 line, but it was demolished in preparation of the rebuilding of station and was not rebuilt afterwards. Both connector curves were heavily used in the time of the Berlin Wall, as trains coming from the north-eastern routes couldn't use the West Berlin north–south route and the Southern leg of the pre- and post-Wall was in West Berlin.
Lines S41 and S42 continuously circle around the , the former clockwise, the latter anti-clockwise. Lines S45, S46, and S47 link destinations in the southeast with the southern section of the via the tangential link from the to the via Köllnische Heide.
Lines S8 and S85 are north–south lines using the eastern section of the between and Treptower Park via Ostkreuz, using the in the South.
Formerly, there existed four curves at and allowing to go to a northern ring () and to a southern ring () using central tracks of . and are common terms, but never scheduled routes as separate rings. One curve of at left over for internal use, the other one is mentioned connector at .
Since 9 January 1984, all the West Berlin S-Bahn routes are labelled with an "S" followed by a number. This system had been in use with other West German S-Bahn systems (such as Hamburg) for years. On 2 June 1991 this was extended to the East Berlin lines as well. Internally, the Berlin S-Bahn uses (literally groups of trains) which normally run every twenty minutes (S41/S42 are an exception to this as their run every 10 minutes). Some lines, e.g. the S85, are made up of only one , while others, like S5, are actually multiple combined. Some do not run the entire line and terminate at intermediate stops. are called by a (radio designator), which is derived from the German spelling alphabet. Some are not used in regular service, such as Heinrich, Baikal, Jaguar, Gustav, or Saale (being used for special soccer service trains, usually running for fans under the line S3 between and ). Line Zuggruppe Terminus Route Terminus RoutingP Paula PI Panther
PII PastorOranienburg Oranienburg – Lehnitz – Borgsdorf – Birkenwerder – Hohen Neuendorf – Frohnau – Hermsdorf – Waidmannslust – Wittenau (U8) – Wilhelmsruh – Schönholz – Wollankstraße – Bornholmer Straße – Gesundbrunnen (U8) – Humboldthain – Nordbahnhof – Oranienburger Straße – Friedrichstraße (U6) – Brandenburger Tor (U5) – Potsdamer Platz (U2) – Anhalter Bahnhof – Yorckstraße (Großgörschenstraße) (U7) – Julius-Leber-Brücke – Schöneberg – Friedenau – Feuerbachstraße – Rathaus Steglitz (U9) – Botanischer Garten – Lichterfelde West – Sundgauer Straße – Zehlendorf – Mexikoplatz – Schlachtensee – Nikolassee – Wannsee WannseePrussian Northern Railway, Berlin-Szczecin railway, Nord-Süd-Tunnel, Wannsee Railway Z Zeppelin ZI ZebraGesundbrunnen Gesundbrunnen (U8) – Wedding (U6) – Hauptbahnhof (U5) HauptbahnhofBerliner Ringbahn, S21 W Wulff WI WespeBernauBernau – Bernau-Friedenstal – Zepernick – Röntgental – Buch – Karow – Blankenburg – Pankow-Heinersdorf – Pankow (U2) – Bornholmer Straße – Gesundbrunnen (U8) – Humboldthain – Nordbahnhof – Oranienburger Straße – Friedrichstraße (U6) – Brandenburger Tor (U5) – Potsdamer Platz (U2) – Anhalter Bahnhof – Yorckstraße (U7) – Südkreuz – Priesterweg – Attilastraße – Marienfelde – Buckower Chaussee – Schichauweg – Lichtenrade – Mahlow – BlankenfeldeBlankenfeldeBerlin-Szczecin railway, Nord-Süd-Tunnel, Berlin-Dresden railway V Viktor Hennigsdorf Hennigsdorf – Heiligensee – Schulzendorf – Tegel – Eichborndamm – Karl-Bonhoeffer-Nervenklinik (U8) – Alt-Reinickendorf – Schönholz – Wollankstraße – Bornholmer Straße – Gesundbrunnen (U8) – Humboldthain – Nordbahnhof – Oranienburger Straße – Friedrichstraße (U6) – Brandenburger Tor (U5) – Potsdamer Platz (U2) – Anhalter Bahnhof – Yorckstraße (U7) – Südkreuz – Priesterweg – Südende – Lankwitz – Lichterfelde Ost – Osdorfer Straße – Lichterfelde Süd – Teltow Stadt Teltow StadtBerlin-Lichterfelde Süd–Teltow Stadt railway, Anhalt Suburban Line, Nord-Süd-Tunnel, Berlin-Szczecin railway, Prussian Northern Railway, Kremmen Railway VI VampirWaidmannslust Waidmannslust – Wittenau (U8) – Wilhelmsruh – Schönholz – Wollankstraße – Bornholmer Straße – Gesundbrunnen (U8) – Humboldthain – Nordbahnhof – Oranienburger Straße – Friedrichstraße (U6) – Brandenburger Tor (U5) – Potsdamer Platz (U2) – Anhalter Bahnhof – Yorckstraße (U7) – Südkreuz – Priesterweg – Südende – Lankwitz – Lichterfelde Ost – Osdorfer Straße – Lichterfelde Süd – Teltow Stadt Teltow StadtBerlin-Lichterfelde Süd–Teltow Stadt railway, Anhalt Suburban Line, Nord-Süd-Tunnel, Berlin-Szczecin railway, Prussian Northern Railway, Kremmen Railway B Berta BI Bussard
BII Benno
(special service)SpandauSpandau (U7) – Stresow – Pichelsberg – Olympiastadion – Heerstraße – Messe Süd – Westkreuz – Charlottenburg (U7) – Savignyplatz – Zoologischer Garten (U2, U9) – Tiergarten – Bellevue – Hauptbahnhof (U5) – Friedrichstraße (U6) – Hackescher Markt – Alexanderplatz (U2, U5, U8) – Jannowitzbrücke (U8) – Ostbahnhof – Warschauer Straße (U1, U3) – Ostkreuz – Rummelsburg – Betriebsbahnhof Rummelsburg – Karlshorst – Wuhlheide – Köpenick – Hirschgarten – Friedrichshagen – Rahnsdorf – Wilhelmshagen – Erkner ErknerBerlin–Wrocław railway, Berlin Stadtbahn A Anton AI AdlerSüdkreuzBerlin RingbahnSüdkreuz (clockwise)Berlin Ringbahn R Richard RI ReiherSüdkreuzBerlin RingbahnSüdkreuz (counter-clockwise)Berlin Ringbahn D Dora DI DelphinWestendWestend – Messe Nord/ICC – Westkreuz – Halensee – Hohenzollerndamm – Heidelberger Platz (U3) – Bundesplatz (U9) – Innsbrucker Platz (U4) – Schöneberg – Südkreuz – Tempelhof (U6) – Hermannstraße (U8) – Neukölln (U7) – Köllnische Heide – Baumschulenweg – Schöneweide – Johannisthal – Adlershof – Grünau – Eichwalde – Zeuthen – Wildau – Königs WusterhausenKönigs WusterhausenBerlin-Görlitz railway, Baumschulenweg–Neukölln link line, Berliner Ringbahn K Konrad SüdkreuzSüdkreuz - Tempelhof (U6) - Hermannstraße (U8) – Neukölln (U7) – Köllnische Heide – Baumschulenweg – Schöneweide – Oberspree – SpindlersfeldSpindlersfeldSchöneweide–Spindlersfeld branch line, Berlin-Görlitz railway, Baumschulenweg–Neukölln link line, Berliner Ringbahn E Emil EI Elster
EII Eiche
EIII Erna
(late night service)
SII SiriusWestkreuzWestkreuz – Charlottenburg (U7) – Savignyplatz – Zoologischer Garten (U2, U9) – Tiergarten – Bellevue – Hauptbahnhof (U5) – Friedrichstraße (U6) – Hackescher Markt – Alexanderplatz (U2, U5, U8) – Jannowitzbrücke (U8) – Ostbahnhof – Warschauer Straße (U1, U3) – Ostkreuz – Nöldnerplatz – Lichtenberg (U5) – Friedrichsfelde Ost – Biesdorf – Wuhletal (U5) – Kaulsdorf – Mahlsdorf – Birkenstein – Hoppegarten – Neuenhagen – Fredersdorf – Petershagen Nord – Strausberg – Hegermühle – Strausberg Stadt – Strausberg Nord Strausberg NordStrausberg–Strausberg Nord railway, Prussian Eastern Railway, Berlin Stadtbahn, Spandau Suburban Line O Otto OI OlafPotsdam HauptbahnhofPotsdam Hauptbahnhof – Babelsberg – Griebnitzsee – Wannsee – Nikolassee – Grunewald – Westkreuz – Charlottenburg (U7) – Savignyplatz – Zoologischer Garten (U2, U9) – Tiergarten – Bellevue – Hauptbahnhof (U5) – Friedrichstraße (U6) – Hackescher Markt – Alexanderplatz (U2, U5, U8) – Jannowitzbrücke (U8) – Ostbahnhof – Warschauer Straße (U1, U3) – Ostkreuz – Nöldnerplatz – Lichtenberg (U5) – Friedrichsfelde Ost – Springpfuhl – Poelchaustraße – Marzahn – Raoul-Wallenberg-Straße – Mehrower Allee – AhrensfeldeAhrensfeldeWriezen Railway, Berlin Outer Ring, Prussian Eastern Railway, Berlin Stadtbahn, Berlin-Blankenheim railway, Berlin-Magdeburg railway T Theodor