Study favours new Berlin S-Bahn line

International Railway Journal, Sept, 2008

A COST-USE study, commissioned by the Berlin Senate, has come out in favour of building a new north-south S-Balm line in the German capital. Provided a contribution from the federal government can be secured, the northern first phase could open in 2016.

The main objective of the project is to provide a second S-Bahn connection to Berlin's new Main Station, which is currently only served by an east-west S-Balm line. A metro link (Line U5) is being built, but will not open for several years because of funding and tunnelling difficulties.

The new line would connect the northern side of the existing ring line with the existing north-south S-Balm line at Potsdamer Platz. The new line would carry 80,000 passengers/day between the ring line and Main Station, and 70,000 passengers/day between there and Potsdamer Platz. However, traffic on the existing north-south line would fall by 35,000 passengers/day.

The cost of the project is estimated at 317 million [euro], or 330 million [euro] if a station is provided at Reichstag.