Transport in Berlin

Berlin has developed a highly complex transportation infrastructure providing very diverse modes of urban mobility.

An equally extensive network of waterways exists within the city boundaries, providing local access and various short-cuts.

At Spandau the Spree joins the River Havel, which flows roughly north to south along the city's western boundary.

These include the Tegeler See and Großer Wannsee to the west, and the Müggelsee, Langer See, Seddinsee and Zeuthener See to the east.

This canal provides an alternative route between Hennigsdorf and Paretz, both then in East Germany, and avoids the stretch of the River Havel that was under the political control of West Berlin.

The Südhafen ("south port"), which actually lies along the Havel in Spandau, in far western Berlin, covers an area of about 103,000 m2 (1,110,000 sq ft) and also handles the shipping of pieced and heavy goods.

Sightseeing boats operate on the central section of the River Spree and its adjoining waterways on a frequent basis.

[12] Deutsche Bahn runs high speed ICE trains to domestic destinations like Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Stuttgart, Frankfurt am Main and others.

It also runs a BER airport express rail service, as well as trains to several international destinations (some of them in cooperation with railroads in other countries) like Vienna, Prague, Zürich, Warsaw, Budapest and Amsterdam.

The VBB is the planning authority for regional transport, awards service contracts to private and public companies, and sets the tariffs.

All these services are, as explained above, under the common public transport tariff run by the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB).

East German authorities extended the sole line then entirely in East Berlin (today's U5) in stages from its then terminus at Friedrichsfelde all the way to the city boundary at Hönow Since reunification, expansion has been less fast, in part due to fewer funds being available and in part due to ongoing tram expansion.

Historically it developed from commuter services provided by main line railway operators, but now runs on tracks that are separate from, but often parallel to, other trains.

[18][19][20] During the East German era the S-Bahn was run by the communist state, initially even in West Berlin.

All these services are operated by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) and use the common public transport tariff run by the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB).

Of the 22 BVG-operated tram routes, nine are designated as part of the MetroNetz, which provide a high frequency service in areas poorly served by the U-Bahn and S-Bahn.

Historically the trams were operated by several independent companies which were slowly merged in the early twentieth century under the urging of Berlin politician Ernst Reuter and brought into public ownership to form what is today the BVG.

However East Berlin retained its tram lines, and the current network is still predominantly in that area, although there have been a few extensions back across the old border.

A similar line operates within the nearby town of Strausberg, whilst the adjacent city of Potsdam has its own sizable tram network.

All these services are operated by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) and use the common public transport tariff run by the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB).

[16] Of the BVG-operated bus routes, 19 are designated as part of the MetroNetz, which provides a high frequency service in areas poorly served by the U-Bahn and S-Bahn.

Whilst such buses are common in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, their use elsewhere in Europe is extremely uncommon in regular service.

[16] Berlin has an extensive network of waterways within its city boundaries, including the Havel, Spree and Dahme rivers, and many linked lakes and canals.

These are crossed by six passenger ferry routes that are operated by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) and use the common public transport tariff managed by the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB).

[21] There are also a number of other ferry routes that are not managed by BVG, and do not form part of the VBB common tariff.

The IGA Cable Car is a 1.5 km (0.93 mi)-long Gondola lift[22] line serving and crossing the Erholungspark Marzahn.

The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Berlin, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 62 min.

Plans for future expansion bringing the terminal capacity to approximately 50 million commuters per year are in development.

The military aviation unit (Flugbereitschaft des Bundesministeriums der Verteidigung) of the Federal Republic of Germany was based there as well.

Supplies were flown in for over a year; enormous numbers of transport planes flew in and out of Berlin every day of this period.