U5 (Berlin U-Bahn)

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Overview
Locale	Berlin
Stations	26 (current) 37 (future)
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Berlin U-Bahn
Operator(s)	Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe
Depot(s)	Hönow
History
Opened	21 December 1930
Tierpark extension	6 June 1973
Hönow extension	1 July 1989
Extension to Berlin Hauptbahnhof	4 December 2020
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge Großprofil
hide Route map Legend Cancelled extension  show Rathaus Reinickendorf Scharnweberstraße Berlin-Spandau Ship Canal Westhafen Canal Jungfernheide Ringbahn Charlottenburg Canal Turmstraße ↑ Cancelled extension North–South tunnel Berlin Hauptbahnhof Stadtbahn North–South tunnel Bundestag Brandenburger Tor Unter den Linden Kupfergraben Museumsinsel Spree Rotes Rathaus Alexanderplatz Stadtbahn Schillingstraße Strausberger Platz Weberwiese Frankfurter Tor Samariterstraße Frankfurter Allee Ringbahn Magdalenenstraße Lichtenberg Eastern Railway Wriezen Railway Friedrichsfelde Tierpark Biesdorf-Süd Elsterwerdaer Platz Wuhletal Kaulsdorf-Nord Kienberg (Gärten der Welt) Cottbusser Platz Hellersdorf Louis-Lewin-Straße Hönow This diagram: view talk

U5 is a line on the Berlin U-Bahn. It runs from Hauptbahnhof in Mitte eastwards through Alexanderplatz, Friedrichshain, Lichtenberg and Friedrichsfelde, surfaces in Biesdorf-Süd to pass Kaulsdorf and Hellersdorf above ground and finally reaches city limits at Hönow.

History[]

Early history[]

Before control of the U-Bahn network was handed over completely to the BVG in 1929, the Hochbahngesellschaft started construction on a final line that, in contrast to its previous lines, was built as part of the Großprofil network. It was supposed to be a branch for the U2, which starts from Klosterstraße in 1908. The E line ran under Frankfurter Allee, for which the company had received the concession in 1914, between Alexanderplatz and Friedrichsfelde before the World War II.

Long before the subway section of line A from Spittelmarkt to Alexanderplatz was opened in 1913, the city of Berlin planned at the beginning of 1908 that the subway would run under Frankfurter Allee from Alexanderplatz to Frankfurter Allee station should. The drafts stipulated that the Alexanderplatz underground station should receive two adjacent platforms on the E underground line. The city of Berlin was open to this project and demanded that the entire line be run underground. But the plans of the elevated railway company provided that the line from Koppenstrasse out of town should be laid out as an elevated railway, this was rejected. In 1910, the elevated railway company changed its plans for the U-Bahn line E. Because the line E was supposed to cross under Alexanderstraße to connect it with the now approved section Spittelmarkt and Schönhauser Allee. So it would have been possible that line E would have led via Alexanderplatz into Klosterstrasse and, if the Klosterstrasse underground station had been expanded accordingly, would have been connected to the main line. The trains coming from Spittelmarkt and the trains coming from Schönhauser Allee could have passed through to Frankfurter Allee, and also in the opposite direction. This idea has not yet been implemented.

The elevated railway company had several private transport companies under itself and so at the end of the 1920s the North-South Railway took over the final planning and implementation of the U-Bahn line E as an independent line in Berlin's large profile with the possibility of extending it towards Leipziger Straße/Französische Straße and with a connection of another line to Weißensee in the course of Greifswalder Straße. The lines should be merged at Alexanderplatz and separate again at Berlin City Hall. The elevated railway company originally planned to run the E underground line through Landsberger Allee, which no longer exists in this section, from Alexanderplatz to Büschingplatz. There it should get a train station, then turn into the Weberstraße to the southeast and at Strausberger Platz turn into the Große Frankfurter Straße (today: Karl-Marx-Allee). In 1925, the city of Berlin received a suggestion from private circles to insert a 118-meter-long arch between Alexanderplatz and today's Schillingstraße subway station, so that it could get to Große Frankfurter Straße and not plan over Büschingplatz. There was also another change in planning. This provided for the underground line E not to end at Frankfurter Allee station, but to continue to Friedrichsfelde, because there was an area for a workshop available there

The construction work proceeded since 1927 without delay or undue expense, and the first servicing station was established in the eastern part of the city; the line opened on 21 December 1930, named Line E. The several stations do include:

• Alexanderplatz (interchange)
• Schillingstraße
• Strausberger Platz
• Memeler Straße (today's Weberwiese)
• Petersburger Straße (today's Frankfurter Tor)
• Samariterstraße
• Frankfurter Allee (interchange with S-Bahn)
• Magdalenenstraße
• Lichtenberg (interchange with Ringbahn)
• Friedrichsfelde (end terminus and depot)

Tierpark extension[]

In the Alexanderplatz – Friedrichsfelde section, which was completed in 1930, a continuation to Karlshorst in the direction of Schöneweide was planned. After the Second World War, plans arose to extend the underground to the Tierpark Berlin, established in 1955. In 1956, plans arose to continue the underground from Friedrichsfelde underground station on two tracks and above ground to a terminal station west of the street at the zoo at the entrance to Friedrichsfelde Palace. For this purpose, two tracks of the parking facility of the Friedrichsfelde workshop were to be extended. However, this project was not carried out because it would have made it difficult to extend the route further. In addition, the zoo was not seen as sufficient for the construction of the underground. When apartments were later built in the area of the zoo, the plan was taken up again, especially since the closure of the tram line in the Alt Friedrichsfelde street as a result of the new construction of the road bridge over the Lichtenberg station created a sensitive network gap.

Heavy bomb damage caused by Allied air raids and invaded water at the end of the war severely curtailed operations in the first post-war months. Thereafter, the trains of this line had to be sent as reparations to Moscow and replaced accordingly. Only in the 1960s were comprehensively new trains procured, until 1968 still small profile trains were still in use. Line E was the only purely East Berlin line. For a long time, it was planned to extend it beyond its former terminus Friedrichsfelde and to lead via Karlshorst to Oberschöneweide. Karlshorst was especially known for its villa colony. There, after the war, the Soviet military administration established itself. But both reasons were not sufficient to extend the line E to Karlshorst. Due to the large demand for housing in Berlin, a large part of the construction capacity was needed for housing construction.

The areas intended for housing included the areas west of the Tierpark zoo. For about 25,000 residents, 9,000 apartments were to be built here. To connect this residential area better to the city center, it was decided to extend the subway line E by one stop. In addition, about 2.5 million zoo visitors per year were expected. For these expected passenger flows, it was worthwhile to extend the subway.

During the time when Berlin was divided, the U5 was the only line to fall entirely within East Berlin, and the only line to be actively extended by the East German authorities. Work on this extension was started in September 1969. On 6 June 1973, the first extension was opened, to Tierpark station, serving the zoo.

Hönow extension[]

U5 train at Elsterwerdaer Platz

Wuhletal, the connection between the S-Bahn and the U-Bahn

In the 1970s, there were also plans to extend the line over to Hellersdorf. For this purpose, the then district Marzahn was divided into Marzahn and Hellersdorf. Due to the large extent of the developing area, a rapid transit connection to the centre of East Berlin, Alexanderplatz was needed. For this purpose, several proposals were developed. The idea to build the S-Bahn, as done previously for the new residential areas in Marzahn and Hohenschönhausen, was rejected because the trams were already heavily utilised and could not accommodate another train group. An express tram, which was realised in Potsdam, would not have sufficient capacity. Only the extension of the subway (U5) fulfilled all the requirements. Again, there were several route variants. It was decided to run the underground above ground on the unused railway line of the VnK route (connection to Kaulsdorf). In addition, an interchange at Wuhletal for connection to the S5 S-Bahn line, was needed.

In 1977 the construction of the new housing estate Marzahn began, in the mid-1980s that of the new housing estate Hellersdorf. The idea was to build a rapid transit connection. At the beginning of the 1980s, the working groups of the Ministry of Transport of the GDR and the City of Berlin examined the construction of a rapid transit connection in the Kaulsdorf and Hellersdorf area. They checked and discussed a total of 13 route variants for S, U and trams. In 1983/1984 the decision was made to extend the E underground line from Tierpark to Hönow. This investigated route variant had the necessary capacity reserves, it was also economically justifiable and realizable in the planned time span. When making the decision, there were difficulties associated with the route variant to consider. We had to say goodbye to the original route planning for an extension of the subway line south to Schöneweide. In addition, the connection from the Tierpark train station to the old route of the connecting or suburban railway to Kaulsdorf (VnK) raised complicated engineering and structural issues. The new underground line had to be led directly behind the platform of the Tierpark station in a narrow arc that was just permitted to the VnK line and part of the turning system had to be demolished. It was also foreseeable that cost-intensive work would be required to widen the embankment of the VnK line and noise protection measures had to be built in Biesdorf Süd. On February 27, 1985 the magistrate of Berlin published a document that provided for the opening of the section between Tierpark and Elsterwerdaer Platz on June 30, 1988 and that of the section between Elsterwerdaer Platz and Hönow on June 30, 1989.

The GDR Ministry of Transport was responsible for the construction as a whole, the investment client (IAG) was the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR), represented by the GDR transport minister and the general director of the DR, which in turn was responsible for the Reichsbahnbaudirektion and its president commissioned the IAG. In November 1984, the State Heads Working Group was set up under the responsibility of the State Secretary in the Ministry of Transport for the state coordination and control of the ministries and offices involved in the construction of the subway and the implementation of the entire project. On October 1, 1984, the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Schnellbahnbau Berlin company was set up to carry out the subway project. The Schnellbahnbau Berlin operation, which is still under construction, had to work out the tasks and the fundamental decision in a very short time. He was responsible for the management of the construction work, for the acceptance of the completed objects and the handover to the legal entities. The stipulation was to start construction on March 1, 1985 and to finish on July 1, 1989.

The following were chosen as the main contractor for construction: VEB Kombinat Tiefbau Berlin, VEB Autobahnkombinat Magdeburg, Deutsche Reichsbahn, Electrification and Civil Engineering Company Berlin and the Engineering, Civil and Transport Construction Combine Karl-Marx-Stadt. The following main contractors were chosen for the equipment: VEB Werk für Signal- und Sicherheitstechnik Berlin, VEB Elektroprojekt und Anlagenbau Berlin, VEB Funk- und Fernmeldeanlagenbau Berlin and VEB Anlagenbau Berlin. According to the central resolutions, over 100 companies from Berlin and 20 districts of the GDR were used in the construction of the new underground line to Hönow. 5000 workers were employed on the construction sites.

The extension was planned in the years 1983 and 1984. It would be 10.1 kilometers long and have nine stations. The new building, which was almost completely above ground, was opened in two sections. Construction began on 1 March 1985. Construction was not carried out one after the other, but in several places at the same time. First of all, earthworks and civil engineering work were carried out on the route and at the planned underground stations. So that the route could be connected to the Tierpark underground station, an approx. 500 meter long tunnel was created on the complicated arched route on the VnK route. The VnK line to Kaulsdorf / long-distance railway line could not be used as it was found. Some of it had to be removed, rebuilt and compacted. There were old bridges at Elsterwerdaer Platz underground station, above Köpenicker Straße and above today's B 1 / B 5, which had to be demolished and replaced with new ones due to the expansion of both streets. A 1.1 kilometer long tunnel was built along Gülzower Strasse between today's S + U-Bahnhof Wuhletal and the U-Bahn Kaulsdorf-Nord. From there to the Cottbusser Platz underground station on Cottbusser Straße, extensive work on the Hellersdorfer Graben was necessary. Measures for lowering the groundwater and deep drainage were carried out. The parallel receiving waters from the years of sewage farming had to be piped. The water from the Hellersdorf trench was pumped into the cased trench using a lifting system. The further route from the Cottbusser Platz underground station to the Hönow underground station is roughly at street level with some ups and downs.

When the earthworks and the creation of the ballast subgrade on various sections of the route were completed, track laying began in mid-February 1987. A total of 30 kilometers of track grating was built for the 10.1 kilometer route. The multiple relocations of S-Bahn and long-distance train tracks in the area of today's Wuhletal station alone required over twelve kilometers. The S-Bahn traffic was maintained during the construction work, brief interruptions and timetable changes were included.

As far as possible, construction machinery from the inventory of the Deutsche Reichsbahn was used for the track construction. For this purpose and for the supply of material, an alternative construction junction was set up on the Berlin-Rummelsburg-Biesdorfer Kreuz Südwest route. In order to enable the use of long-distance railway vehicles, which require a larger vehicle boundary profile, the cover plates of the platform edges of the affected access points were only installed after the superstructure had been completed. The new line received the K 49 superstructure and conductor rail supports of the Wannseebahn type. Wooden sleepers were installed in the tunnel sections and in places with reduced bedding thickness, otherwise concrete sleepers of type BS65. Trestle sleepers for the mounting of the conductor rail supports according to the underground railway large-profile standard were not available, so wooden sleepers were also installed for them. A problem arose from the rail inclination of 1:40 built into the concrete sleepers. The Berlin U-Bahn has been using vertical rails and matching cylindrical wheel treads since the beginning. Around 1900 it was of the opinion that the self-centering of the wheel sets in the track would not be effective in any case due to the equivalent conicity of the running surfaces under the conditions of the subway with many narrow curves. The Dresden University of Transport was therefore commissioned to investigate the running behavior of the wheelsets with cylindrical running surfaces on the superstructure according to the long-distance railway standard and to prove their safety. A positive effect, however, was the fact that there was experience both with transfers of railcars of the G and GI series from the manufacturer LEW Hennigsdorf and with test drives of subway cars examined in the RAW Schöneweide in the S-Bahn network.

The extension went into service on 1 July 1988 (Elsterwerdaer Platz) and 1 July 1989 (Hönow). The last two stations of the extension, Louis-Lewin-Straße and Hönow, were originally located outside Berlin city limit, in Bezirk Frankfurt. The area was joined to Berlin at German reunification in 1990.

All stations were designed by the Deutsche Reichsbahn (EVDR) design and surveying operations. For the first time, the stations were equipped with ramps to enable step-free access to platforms for passengers with prams and wheelchairs. At Hellersdorf a connection to the local tram was created: the stops islands can be reached via a tunnel, the crossing of the street is thus eliminated.

The Biesdorf-Süd station received three platform tracks and a subsequent single-track sweeping system because the previous one in the Tierpark station can only be used as a parking facility due to the changed routing. Another double-track was built at the northern end of the Albert-Norden-Straße station (today: Kaulsdorf-Nord). In addition, a large parking area was set up between the Paul-Verner-Straße (today: Louis-Lewin-Straße) and Hönow stations. In connection with the construction of the Wuhletal community station, the transfer group at the Wuhletal signal box created a permanently usable track connection with the long-distance railway network for the first time.

U55 and final extension[]

There have long been plans to extend the U5 westward since the 1970s. The short U55 line opened in August 2009, and ran from Berlin Hauptbahnhof via the Bundestag U-Bahn station to Brandenburger Tor station. The designation of the line as U55 indicates that it was ultimately intended to become part of the U5 line.

Construction of the link between the two segments began in April 2010^[1] and it opened on 4 December 2020.^[2] The link is 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) long, and connects Brandenburger Tor to Alexanderplatz. Along its route it serves new U-bahn stations at Berliner Rathaus, Museumsinsel and Unter den Linden, with the latter providing an interchange with line U6.^[3][4]

Signalling[]

After reunification, the U5 was upgraded to the new signalling system under "Systemtechnik für den automatischen Regelbetrieb" (STAR - System technology for automatic and regular operation). The trial stretch extended from Friedrichsfelde to Biesdorf-Süd, using H-Zug trains, which were introduced from 1996 to April 2000. The Class H, used on the U5 could be converted to fully automatic train operation, and there still exists a 1995 Bombardier trial train, which is capable of operating automatically.^[5]

In contrast to trials with LZB 501, which use dconductor loops, on line U9, and SelTrac on lines U2 and U4, STAR employed radio technology (Funkzugbeeinflussung).^[6]

In 2002 Berlin Senate decided that the U5 should not be extended further for the time being. Accordingly, the BVG announced that it would no longer pursue the project, since automatic operations would only be between U5 Alexanderplatz and Hönow and therefore not worthwhile.

At that time, the BVG was the technology leader in automatic operation in Germany. Driverless operation was used previously on the U4, however a driver continued to be present to supervise the ride. In 2008 and 2010 the underground lines U2 and U3 of the Nuremberg U-Bahn became the first automated subway lines in Germany.

Refurbishment[]

At reunification, the line was renumbered as U5 to match the naming system in use in West Berlin. Between January 2003 and December 2004, reconstruction was conducted between Alexanderplatz and Friedrichsfelde in order to repair damage dating back to World War II. Not all the stations were preserved as monumental value. 1330 meters of railway track and tracks were relocated. For this purpose, the train traffic on the route was interrupted for three months. The aim was to improve the quality of stay at the stations. The lighting has been renewed and made brighter, the technology has been brought up to date, the plaster has been extensively renovated and the walls have been clad in a vandalism-proof surface with enamelled sheet steel. The BVG took over Grenander's principle of identifying colors, but chose new color patterns. Numerous metro stations have been equipped with lifts and are now wheelchair accessible. An example of a completely new design, including the rebuilding of the northern end of the station, is the Schillingstraße station.

In time for the International Garden Exhibition 2017, and neighboring "gardens of the world", the station Neu Grottkauer Straße was redeveloped in the spring of 2017 to provide a lift, new roof and new lighting, and renamed Kienberg (Gardens of the World). The renaming occurred at the timetable change in December 2016. The cost of all measures has been estimated at around € 6.6 million.

The latest stations, built between 1973 and 1989 from Tierpark to Hönow should be placed under monument protection, with the exception of this is the already significantly changed subway station Kienberg (Garten der Welt).

A refurbishment of the other aboveground stations built in GDR times is not planned before the middle of the 2020s. Equipped with elevators for fully accessible access is not planned until the lift program is completed on the rest of the metro network. The existing ramp systems with a slope of around 10% are only considered as barrier-free.

Former U5[]

There used to be former U5 running from Deutsche Oper to Richard-Wagner-Platz, from 1 March 1966 to 1 May 1970. Before 1966, it was numbered A^I and B^I and the branch line as A^III. In 1970, the stretch was closed and in 1974, the station was demolished.

Plans[]

In the long term, there are plans to extend the line from Berlin Hauptbahnhof, via Turmstraße and Jungfernheide to Flughafen Tegel. This plan was postponed due to the route being too long, the pending closure of Tegel Airport, and Berlin's poor fiscal situation. An addition to the plan is an extension towards Rathaus Reinickendorf via Cité Pasteur Nord, Scharnweberstraße, and Eichborndamm.

The stations that were involved in the extension include:

• Alt-Moabit
• Turmstraße
• Huttenstraße
• Goslarer Platz
• Jungfernheide
• Hakenfelde
• Urban Tech Republic
• Cité Pasteur Nord
• Scharnweberstraße
• Eichborndamm
• Rathaus Reinckendorf

As of September 2016, the longer extension has been replaced by the tram extension from Hauptbahnhof, via Turmstraße, Mierendorffplatz, Jungfernheide, and towards Tegel Airport, which is planned to be redeveloped into a new Urban Tech Republic development after the airport is closed, thus allowing the U5 to be shortened to run to just Berlin Hauptbahnhof. The possibility of extending the tram line to Cité Pasteur Nord, Scharnweberstraße and Eichborndamm to Rathaus Reinickendorf remains in the vision stage. The tram extension was planned to be completed just before 2028.

At Jungfernheide, two island platforms were constructed for the planned interchange station between the U7 and U5. The finished section is used for firefighting exercises in conjunction with airport security and the BVG. Trains that are used in these exercises include 2712/2713 ('9 Zoolog. Garten') and 2714/2715 (Jakob-Kaiser-Platz), which were covered with legal spray painting. During the 1980 opening, Jungfernheide was in a deadlock because of the Berlin Wall conflict that prevented the U5 from extending towards the west.

Frequency[]

U5's frequency is about 5 minutes during peak periods. Alternate trains will terminate at Kaulsdorf-Nord during off-peak periods, thus the lower demand section is 10 minutes. Since 2003, U5 has offered 15-minute weekend night service; the replacement bus service N5 was offered on weeknights.

References[]

External links[]

Media related to U5 (Berlin U-Bahn) at Wikimedia Commons