In 1913, the Hochbahngesellschaft, the private operating company of the Berlin Hoch- und Untergrundbahn, extended the section of the so-called "Centrum Line" from the Spittelmarkt on 1 July 1913 to Alexanderplatz and shortly thereafter to the Nordring station, today Schönhauser Allee, Although there was a connection to the tram in the direction of Pankow at Nordring station, the town of Pankow was not satisfied with it.

Already in 1905, shortly after the opening of the elevated and underground railway, between Warsaw Bridge, Potsdamer Platz and Zoologischer Garten, it demanded a route to the center of Pankow.

However, this became more and more of a problem, as the also above-ground sweeping system behind the Nordring station reached its capacity limit at a two-minute cycle.

In December 1987, the Ost-Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe had a bronze statue entitled The End of the Road by the artist Rolf Biebl set up.

Because of the various reorganization on the occasion of the German reunification and thus also the traffic networks of both halves of the city, however, the subsequent construction work for the new workshop was suspended in the following period.

Therefore, the city of Berlin resumed the construction work behind the station Pankow (Vinetastraße) to increase the capacity of the sweeper.

A new discussion sparked again around the point whether the construction of the workshop Granitzstraße should be realized or at least be prepared or whether these plans should be abandoned altogether.

Extremely difficult soil conditions, the very high groundwater level and finds from a medieval settlement nevertheless delayed the work considerably.