Berlin Metro, also called the U-Bahn (which means "underground railway" from the word Untergrundbahn), is one of the oldest in Europe. It opened in 1902 and currently serves 170 stations, which are divided into ten branches with a total length of 151.7 kilometers. Approximately 80% of the Berlin metro railway line is hidden under the earth.
During the year, this system serves more than 400 million passengers, so in 2012 507.3 million passengers used the U-Bahn. The daily passenger turnover of the subway is about 1,400,000 people. The largest municipal transport company, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe, better known under the acronym BVG, manages, repairs and maintains it.
System convenience
The frequency of movement of trains has an interval of 2.5 minutes during peak hours on weekdays and five minutes during the rest of the day. In the evening, trains arrive every 10 minutes. There is also a schedule for the night time period.
The main transport of the capital is the Berlin metro. The scheme is closely intertwined with the complex of city trains - S-Bahn. Therefore, the townspeople and guests of the city have the opportunity to quickly and comfortably get to any necessary place.
History
Berlin was the first city in Germany to build a subway, and fifth in Europe after London, Budapest, Glasgow and Paris. Werner von Siemens, a well-known German engineer and inventor, played a large role in creating the transport complex. It was he who owned the idea of building an underground train network to solve growing transport problems in the German capital at the end of the 19th century.
The first subway line was built and launched in 1902 after a long period of planning and discussion of the project. The line passed above the ground and in many respects repeated the technical decisions of the New York flyover railways. In subsequent years, the number of metro lines in Berlin grew. The scheme for the beginning of World War I had four directions.
Further planning for the construction of underground infrastructure was aimed at connecting the capital and its areas: Wedding, which was located in the northern part, with Tempelhof and Neuköll, located in the south. These works began in December 1912 and dragged on until 1930 due to the war and the emergence of a mass of financial difficulties.
State under the National Socialists
When the NSDAP came to power in 1933, Germany changed a lot. These changes affected the Berlin Underground. At all stations, Nazi flags were posted, two points were renamed in honor of the heroes of the new regime. Architect Speer has developed an ambitious expansion project for the Berlin metro. The scheme provided for the creation of a ring line that would connect other branches with each other.
During World War II, stations were used as bomb shelters. Infrastructure was often destroyed, some of which were quickly eliminated. But permanent fighting prevented the full restoration of the damage. Despite this, train traffic continued until the end of hostilities.
Only at the end of April 1945 did the Berlin metro stop temporarily. The tunnel scheme indicated that they were flooded, and power was cut off. However, after a month, part of the paths was again brought into working condition. A great merit in this belongs to the commandant of the city N.E. Berzarin.
Soviet time
The most important event in the life of the city was its division into two parts. A restriction was introduced on the movement of citizens from west to east and back. The famous Berlin Wall was erected - a fence dividing the space into two parts. This brought a lot of difficulties in the work of the subway.
Modernity
Today, the Berlin underground has 10 lines - 9 main and one auxiliary. The network has a huge length and covers the area not only of the city itself, but also of the nearest suburbs. For tourists, there is a metro map of Berlin with attractions for sale. Thanks to this, guests of the capital can travel without fear of getting lost, and explore all the interesting objects.