Evolution of the Berlin Rapid Transit (U-Bahn, S-Bahn) 1902-2021 (geographic map)

The history of Berlin's rapid transit system, U-Bahn (Untergrundbahn, "underground railway") and S-Bahn (Stadtschnellbahn, "city rapid railway"), from 1902 to 2021 is shown in this animation.

Notes:
The nomenclature, line colours, and routes of the services, especially for S-Bahn, have constantly changed throughout history. The video only highlights major opening, suspension of the tracks in service and does not show minor name changes, route changes, etc. I did try to capture the route and name changes of the lines as much as possible, but the video may not accurately represent the actual routes of the lines at that time as there are not enough records of these changes. Hence, these changes only happen in the background and are not shown as separate event.
For the colours, the lines are shown in the colours that are used today unless they were previously part of a different line. (For e.g. current Line U4 was initially green as it was part of Line B, then changed to blue as it was designated as a separate Line 4 in 1966, then changed again to yellow for better visibility. In this video, the colour only changes in 1966 from green to yellow.)

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#Berlin

Map data ©2021 Geobasis-DE/BKG (©2009), Google

BGM:
After the Movie (by Plaid) - Remix Version by Ricardo Tobar
Rue Calme (by Ulrich Schnauss) - Remix Version by Ricardo Tobar

[ThatMikotan]

It's really cool to see the growth, decline and rebirth of the system is also tied with the history of the city as well, really interesting!

[AaronShenghao]

This is definitely much more complex to figure out than other cities...

[MarloSoBalJr]

When we're only 5 minutes in but still have 80 years worth of transport expansion to go 😲

[rockdockb]

This video tells a great story. The way the music swells after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and seeing "restores service" as the city and country heals gives such an amazing feeling.
Love your videos and I'm looking forward to whatever your next project is.

[mjw]

As a Korean, I felt same tragic feeling when they closed their railways because of division. I hope for situation of my country getting better and watch unification like Germany already done.
By the way, It's a good video. I'm looking forward to see Seoul metropolitan transit system. There are big constructions like GTX(High speed express metro like london's crossrail), and LRT going on, so hope to see video that introducing transits until future.

[janmelantu]

That moment when the wall falls and service is restored…*chef’s kiss*

[mnzfg]

You even mentioned the short lived M-Bahn. ^_^

[Skylake]

You can not only see changes of Berlin transit but also the history of the city. Incredible.

[ThaReportar]

As someone who is from Berlin and loves public transport... Thank you so much for the visualisation, its beautiful! I even shed a tear

[fionariley]

this is the most uplifting video i've ever seen on public transportation

[manugamer]

Such an amazing video. Railways are a great part of our history, and the history of the world’s cities: what you’re doing is invaluable!
Vote for Milan, Italy!

[carlosrodriguezpalleres]

Incredible! You describe the history of the city through the metro.
Finally i could understand how the metro worked during the berlin wall era

[Gulitize]

A video about the Berlin Tramway would be interesting. It would be interesting to see the Tram completely die in West-Berlin when it was abandoned in favor of buses. It is a barely known episode of history not like the S-Bahn boycott. you also don't really have any infrastructure left in west Berlin where most of the S-Bahn linies where preserved, that is way they could reactivate the S-Bahn linies so fast after the wall fell, they also Plan to reactivate the Siemensbahn until 2029. The last major reactivation of the S-Bahn after that there will probably be never be a S-Bahn expansion in the city:( Well at least the Tramway and U-Bahn is growing.

[oakewc]

I like how this keeps the balance between mentioning everything relevant (even the M1), without getting lost in details and anecdotes. Ask a Berliner like me about any of this and you'll be lost in the whys and what-ifs around all of the dead-ends and re-evaluations that led to this system.

[PauxloE]

Some notes (as I'm from Berlin):
→ The tracks for most of the S-Bahn lines ("Stadt-, Vorort- und Ringbahn") (which were added to the image in the 1920's) already existed since the 19th century, but then were run with steam powered trains. This was just the time of the "grand electrification".
→ The street map in the background is the map as it looks nowadays. It also changed quite a bit in this time frame.

[blink-oncefeat.multistan]

Yes, finally it's here. My home town! Been here since the first upload! Had some tears😂🥳🥳!!

I have learned new, too and had questions that are now answered well. Thank you soo much!! Well made and lots of praise from me and my fellow Berliners 🐻🙏

[칸나메트로]

I've been waiting for your video.
I enjoyed watching it again this time!
I will wait for Seoul, too!

[namenamename]

Props to you for spelling out all the line and station names, even with ä, ö, ü, and ß, that must've taken ages without a german keyboard

[floberlin]

Super Idee, die vielfältige Geschichte Berlins aus dieser Perspektive zu erzählen. 🤗🥰😍👏👍

[Tiberium]

I have family members working for the BVG (Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe [Berliner transport services, responsible for the U-Bahn, buses, ferries and trams, but not the S-Bahn]). Therefore I got a little bit more knowledge about it and I have to say it is quite interesting to see the transit system like this.
One thing I would like to mention is the difficulty that the land itself provides for the every underground construction project in the city. Berlin is quite the swampy area. (Berlin got more bridges then Venice) To build some tunnel the surrounding earth had to be frozen for the machinery to work, at places where the earth was just to wet, like for the U55 as example.