Germany's shortest U-Bahn line opens in Berlin

A new U-Bahn metro train, the U55, opens in Berlin this weekend after 13 years of construction. With just three stops, it will be the shortest line in the country, but officials hope it will popular with tourists.

The U55 has earned the nickname of Kanzlerlinie, or chancellor line, because it runs under the government quarter in Berlin's city centre.

After the reunification of East and West Germany, city planners intended for the U55 to be an extension of the U5, which ends at Alexanderplatz, through the government quarter and beyond to connect with the U9. But the plans turned out to be too ambitious and construction stopped in 1999 until the government gave the city of Berlin an ultimatum – finish the U55 or pay back millions in taxpayer money.

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A shame they didn't build the full originally planned line - if it joined U9 at one end, and U5 at Alex at the other it would be really useful, but as it is, it's hard to see the point.

Yeah, it seems like a waste of money- You could walk that distance easily enough.

It isn't called the "chancellor line" because it runs under the city center - it's called the "chancellor's line" because Helmut Kohl wanted it to be built, presumably so he could get his Saumagen sent directly to the Kanzleramt from the Adlon kitchens (at least that was one theory at the time).

nvm

And I thought the U55 was the submarine that in 1918 sank the Carpathia, which 6 years earlier had picked up all of the 712 survivors of the Titanic:

As an English tourist who has visited most European capitals I would like to see much of central Berlin vehicle-free. Berlin is my favourite city but it is blighted by traffic.
Trams are the way forward. Underground is so filthy and unsafe. And the time it takes to get down, find the platform, wait for the train, you could have walked there and enjoyed the view ... if it wasn't for the cars !

In Berlin? where? why unsafe?

>In Berlin? where? why unsafe?<
OK, my apologies for the misunderstanding, you have a very clean and safe underground, as far as I'm aware - I have used it. But Germany is an exception. How do you tell tourists [who have never visited before], that ?
The point I meant is:
"... but officials hope it will popular with tourists."
Tourists will assume Berlin's underground will be filthy and unsafe, by their own country's standards, eg London, so will be reluctant to use it.
Also, undergrounds are more difficult to access by old people, young children, the disabled.
Trams are more fun and you get to see the fabulous Berlin sights ! You can hop on and off ... hop off to take photos, visit a museum, then hop back on ... much more easily than by underground.

I agree that it's a lovely part of town and is best seen on foot...

An exception to what? Maybe London Underground is the exception. From what I've seen, at least Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Bucharest undeground seem very safe to me. From what I've been told, other underground systems in Europe are OK too.

Sorry but this is nonsence. Berlin as a city with nearly 4 million inhabitants has relatively little car traffic problems - (sure Avus or Ring Autobahn on a Friday afternoon can be a pain, but compare that to M25, A40 in London anytime anyday). This is partly due to the fact that people historically do not own so many cars - especially in the east, also die to the very good public transport system, and the attitude of alot of the inhabitants, which compared to other very large cities is reasonably green.

How can a big city survive without people driving cars. What other city in the world with any significant number of inhabitants does not have traffic. I agree that traffic management could be better, and ther could be better cycle lanes etc, but it really is not so bad. Ther is no problem hiring a bicycvle, and in fact many of the key sites of interest to visitors are easily accessible bx cycling - and unlike other cities such as Dublin, Paris, London, Rome, you have a reasonable chance of cycling without a serious accident caused by motorists.

German transport is incredible. I lived down south (i know it's no Lang's Metropolis) and there was NEVER traffic and the trains, trams, buses ran on time ALWAYS.. it was almost scary how frequent they were... coming from Dublin, where one waits on a Bus for about half an hour, when it should come every 5-10 mins, Germany is heaven!

Right now the U55 is a bit of a white elephant.
Sooner or later, but more probably later, the idea is to fill in the gap to Alex where it will join the U5 out to the eastern suburbs.
Right now there is NO money for it.

A funny thing is, the route is planned to run right under the Ferkel's "Ampelladen" where Erich's used to be.
And they are not going to build that until the basic tunelling is finished.....
....so dont hold your breath on that one.

If it joined to the U5 it would be really useful anyone seen the original plan what and where are all the ghost stations that are said to have been built.