Before leaving Berlin for other destinations, my view of the German railway system.
While we’ve travelled by train in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, England and Switzerland in recent years and found the service highly efficient and comfortable, the Germans excel. Railway tracks crisscross the country and most of them are electrified and seem to be very efficiently operated.
On arriving at Frankfurt, rather than board another aircraft to Berlin, approximately 420 kilometres distant ‘as the crow flies’, we boarded an Intercity Express (ICE) at the airport (the railway station is in the airport, with two levels, one for intercity and international trains and the other below ground level for regional trains) that initially took us into the main station at Frankfurt, then onto Hanover. At Hanover we transferred to another ICE that took us onto Berlin.
And on efficiency. In Australia our daughter Sarah, using the on-line train schedules information, was able to monitor the train movements on the intercity journeys we undertook and when needing to change trains enroute sent sms messages informing us of the platform to move to and the timeliness of the connecting train.
The photos below are of the concourse with booking office and shops, and the intercity/international level platforms at Frankfurt airport. The train is an ICE powered by overhead electricity. The Europeans have overcome the problem of pantograph ‘bounce’ causing intermittent disruption to the supply of electricity to high speed trains. Note the WiFi 'hotspot' in the carriage.
And on efficiency. In Australia our daughter Sarah, using the on-line train schedules information, was able to monitor the train movements on the intercity journeys we undertook and when needing to change trains enroute sent sms messages informing us of the platform to move to and the timeliness of the connecting train.
The photos below are of the concourse with booking office and shops, and the intercity/international level platforms at Frankfurt airport. The train is an ICE powered by overhead electricity. The Europeans have overcome the problem of pantograph ‘bounce’ causing intermittent disruption to the supply of electricity to high speed trains. Note the WiFi 'hotspot' in the carriage.
ICE usually means “high speed”. While rocketing along in excess of 150 kph (above the internal door at each end of the carriage there is an information board that amongst other matters displays the name of the next station and the train speed), between Hanover and Berlin the ICE cruised at 250 kph (see photo below). And, it’s a comfortable journey; a long stem wine glass can sit on its own on a table without the drink slopping over or the glass toppling.
With big windows, comfortable seats, dining car and a steward serving those who prefer to remain in their seats, and lots of room, we prefer to travel between major centres by train. Far better than the hassle of security checks associated with flying, the usual hurry up and wait at airports and cramped aircraft interiors.
This brings me to ‘suburban’ train services. Berlin is, as are the other major cities in Germany, well-served by city-wide railway networks. We made extensive use of the suburban trains to move around Berlin, some elevated and others below ground. The trains are well maintained that is no graffiti and stations are clean. And stations are largely unattended.
A ‘ticket’ is in the form of a receipt issued by the machine and is stamped with the duration of the validity of the ticket. In my travels I never saw a machine or facility for validating a ticket. The vending machines are very user-friendly in that they offer several languages, including English. And no one asked us to produce our ticket for examination or collection. Imagine that level of honesty by train travellers in Melbourne.
The series of photos below are of trains that run above and below ground serving Greater Berlin. The tiled walls of Spittelmarkt underground station, a short walk from our apartment, displays scenes of old Berlin. The first underground and elevated lines were opened in 1902 and resulted in Berlin being the fifth European city after London, Budapest, Glasgow and Paris to have an underground railway system.
Bicycle friendly, too.