BVG Class C
The BVG Class C was a series of Grossprofil (wide profile) cars used on the Berlin U-Bahn after 1926.
Due to the technical similarities between the Berlin and Moscow subway systems, 120 cars were sent to the Soviet Union after World War II as reparations.
The final CIV type was initially designated CI, but its aluminum construction deviated from the rest of the cars.
A novelty were the self-closing compressed air doors, which previously did not occur in any other rapid transit system.
Following the successful testing of the CI cars, the North-South Railway ordered the construction of another 114 single wagons.
In the further construction, these fan roofs and each had three doors per car and side with a clear opening width of 87 cm (34 in).
Another special feature in the structure was the cab, which could be folded away when needed to create more space.
Another 69 motor coaches were shipped to the Soviet Union after 1945, where they were processed until 1949 and finally operated until 1965.
The train - consisting of two traction and a sidecar (Tw 111 and 112, Bw 268) - was built in 1930/31 by the coach factory Busch in Bautzen using aluminum profiles.
Externally, the train was noticeable through the tonneau roof and the more pronounced corners on the car body and window.
Technically speaking, the vehicles would probably have arrived in Moscow, but the condition ensured that the two cars remained in Berlin.
Due to this circumstance, fifty Triebwagen and one Beiwagen trains remained with the West Berlin transport company, BVG, since they were responsible for the operation for line C and D. Most of the vehicles were processed, with the exception of CIV trains, the cars were standardised to the level of CII.
The BVG-West feared technology theft by the BVG-Ost, since they could have transferred a train to their rail network.
Only with the delivery of the D and the simultaneous cancellation of the B-cars, were the C-cars allowed to be transferred to the U8 and ran as intensifier trains between Kottbusser Tor and Leinestraße.
The total of 120 provided for the Moscow Metro cars were loaded in September 1945 and brought by rail to the Soviet capital.
In 2003, another C-car was discovered in the St. Petersburg Metro, which was probably used there as a workshop train after the end of operations in Moscow.
In 2012, a commemorative medal was awarded in St. Petersburg in honor of the 85th anniversary of the BVG C-series.
108 Triebwagen and 12 Beiwagen were exported to Soviet Union occupation forces in 1945, which were stationed in the Friedrichsfelde workshop at that time.
All the remaining CII, CIII and CIV trains were hence withdrawn from the West Berlin side in 1975.
