Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 12, 2007

The Berlin Stadtbahn ("city railway") is a major railway thoroughfare in the German capital Berlin. The line was originally built in the 1880s and runs through Berlin from east to west. It connects the eastern borough of Friedrichshain and Charlottenburg via the stations of Berlin Ostbahnhof, Alexanderplatz, Friedrichstraße, Hauptbahnhof, and Zoologischer Garten. The Stadtbahn line mostly is built as an elevated rail line with viaducts totaling eight kilometres of length and including 731 masonry viaduct arches. Two kilometres of the line length are situated on 64 bridges, and the remaining length of the 12 km line is on an embankment. This sets the Stadtbahn apart from the previous Berliner Verbindungsbahn, built in 1851, which was built at street level and was a hindrance to travel. The Stadtbahn was originally equipped with vertical iron sleepers, however these were replaced with wooden sleepers in the early 20th century. Until the summer of 2006, the Stadtbahn was the main thoroughfare for long-distance trains, which usually stopped at Zoologischer Garten and Ostbahnhof (which was renamed in 1998). When the new Hauptbahnhof opened on May 28, 2006, the importance of the line diminished slightly, as many trains now would use the new north-south line connected to the Hauptbahnhof. The remaining intercity trains on the Stadtbahn, mainly those heading toward Hanover and Cologne, now usually call at Hauptbahnhof and Ostbahnhof.