07.11.2014 17:00 The Berlin S-Bahn drivers’ strike still continues – but it seems it will be over soon: media reports that the train drivers’ union announced, the drivers’ strike will end already on Staurday evening, November 8th, 18 o’clock (which is 6 p.m.). Chances are that later that evening more or less all S-Bahn trains will be back on track. Well – have a nice weekend then! And please feel free to leave a comment, if you like…
06.11.2014 10:00 The good news this morning: Some S-Bahn trains are actually in service – operating on a ‘regular’ twenty-minute schedule. The bad news: by far not all S-Bahn trains are. This means basically there should be some S-Bahn train going every twenty minutes – but you can’t really be sure about it. The time table with details about the operating S-Bahn routes can be found on this page in german. I’ll shortly sum up the most important details about which connections are in operation – and which are not.
First the S-Bahn trains that are in service:
S1 • Potsdam Hbf <> Oranienburg • every 20 Minutes *1)
S2 • Blankenfelde <> Bernau • every 20 Minutes
S3 • Ostkreuz <> Erkner • every 20 Minutes *2)
S46 • Königs Wusterhausen <> Schöneberg • every 20 Minutes *3)
S5 • Friedrichstraße <> Strausberg • every 20 Minutes
S7 • Alexanderplatz <> Marzahn • every 20 Minutes
S9 • Flughafen Schönefeld <> Landsberger Allee • every 20 Minutes
*1) from saturday 4 p.m. under construction
*2) on the weekend only Karlshorst <> Erkner
*3) Friday and Saturday night under construction between 11:30 p.m. and 06:30 a.m
According to the S-Bahn information page the following trains are not in service:
S25, S41, S42, S45, S47, S75, S8, S85
So even if you want to / have to travel to Airport Schönefeld: there should be trains running every 20 Minutes… Good luck! And don’t let the S-Bahn strike ruin your weekend!
Usually crowded, now abadoned S-Bahn station Hackescher Markt
Berlin S-Bahn station Nordbahnhof – view to TV-Tower
05.11.2014 09:22 The good news: I just heard on the radio that Deutsche Bahn, the owner of Berliner S-Bahn, will try to have ‘at least’ 30 percent of the trains running. And it was also said, that “some” of Berlin’s S-Bahn trains will be in service too. However, I can not find any (official) information about such “Ersatzverkehr” – neither in german, nor in english – neither on Deutsche Bahn’s, nor on S-Bahn’s homepage.
At this point I should also add that I also couldn’t find any english information about Berlin’s S-Bahn drivers on strike – and the concequences – at least not on the websites I would expect to offer information in english for tourists and travellers.
- The Webseite of Berlin’s S-Bahn seems to have only basic ‘static’ information for tourists – in english language: sightseeing tours, ticket offers etc. No news about the strike.
- The same situation on the english language version of Deutsche Bahn’s website: city trips, interactive offer advisor – but no news about the upcoming strike.
- And even on the website of Berlin’s tourist information service: no news about the train drivers on strike, no information about alternative routes – nothing. Not even on their facebook page.
Did I miss something? Did you find any official information in english? Please leave a comment – I would be glad to add any pointers to english language information regarding the strike…
One third of the S-Bahn-Trains in operation: two S-Bahn trains parked, one train moving. The Photo was taken during the strike of 2007 near S-Bahn-Station Gesundbrunnen / between Wedding, Prenzlauer Berg and Mitte
04.11.2014 21:00 The train drivers of Deutsche Bahn will go on strike for another four days: from Thursday November 6th 2 a.m. until Monday November 10th 4 a.m.. And since Berlin’s public transport service ‘S-Bahn’ is owned by Deutsche Bahn, that means there will probably hardly any S-Bahn trains going over the weekend.
This is particularly bitter since this weekend Germany celebrates the 25th anniversary of the opening of the border between East and West Germany – and Berlin celebrates the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Probably thousands, if not tens of thousands (or even hundrets) were expected to travel on this occasion: visiting friends and family – or just visiting Berlin to be part of the great celebration, marking one of the most important turns in Berlin’s history: about 8000 illuminated ballones are placed along the former inner city border line – and most of the points of interest would usually be easiely accesssible by S-Bahn – linkr Nordbahnhof, Friedrichstrasse, Brandenburger Tor and East Side Gallery. But it seems, that visitor will have to find alternatives to travelling by S-Bahn.
Of course – there are other means of transportation in Berlin: first of all Berlin’s big yellow public transport service BVG, operating all Busses, Trams and U-Bahns. But as the past has shown, travelling with either U-Bahn or Tram or Bus can be challenging when no S-Bahn is operating.
see also:
The Local: German train drivers to strike for 98 hours
Reuters: Train drivers’ strike to mar Germany’s Berlin Wall party
pages linking here:
train strike « ZINEFEST BERLIN